Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト) is the umbrella name for all female recording artists and groups under the Japanese idol entertainment company Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. Until 2014, their songs were primarily produced by Tsunku.
In 1997, Japanese rock group Sharam Q, fronted by Tsunku, began auditions for a female vocalist. These auditions aired via the reality show Asayan, and resulted in Michiyo Heike being crowned winner. Tsunku decided to give five of the runners-up a chance to become a group by selling 50,000 copies of their demo single "Ai no Tane" in just five days. The girls sold the required number of copies in four days, and subsequently became an official group.
Morning Musume's debut single, "Morning Coffee," was released on January 28, 1998 on the One Up Music label and charted at #6 on the Oricon weekly chart.
Between April and June 2002, the first, and to date only, Hello! Project Kids auditions were held. These auditions resulted in the future members of Japanese idol groups Berryz Kobo and Cute, who would go on to debut in March 2004 and February 2007 respectively, also spawning offshoot auditions such as auditions for Hello! Pro Egg and Hello! Project Kansai.
In 2007, Hello! Project attempted to expand towards the Chinese market by inviting prospective Chinese artists to audition in secret, eventually resulting in Li Chun and Qian Lin to Morning Musume's roster. Hello! Project also set up an overseas branch in Taiwan, titled Hello! Project Taiwan, and held the "Hello! Project New Star Audition" to recruit members. In September 2008, the group Ice Creamusume (アイスクリー娘。) was formed under a Taiwanese-affiliated label as Hello! Project's first overseas group. In February 2009, Hello! Project also held a series of auditions in South Korea. However, Hello! Project failed to break into the Chinese market due to piracy and their Chinese artists failing to draw an audience. Ice Creamusume also performed below expectations. Hello! Project scaled back on initial plans to expand overseas around 2010 and refocused their interests in Japan.
In April 2009, Tsunku announced a new group consisting of four Hello! Pro Egg members, named S/mileage, who later debuted on a major label in May 2010 with the single "Yume Miru 15".
During the last concert of the Winter 2013 Hello! Project concert, Juice=Juice, a new unit consisting of Hello! Pro Kenshusei members was announced, They previewed their debut song at the Hello Project concert series held on March 2–3.
On November 26, 2014, Sayumi Michishige graduated and handed her position as Hello! Project's leader to C-ute's Maimi Yajima.
Tsunku revealed in his 2015 memoir, Dakara, Ikiru that he stepped down as Hello! Project's general manager sometime after Morning Musume's New York concert in 2014; however, he still remains involved with Morning Musume as their sound producer.
On January 2, 2015, during the Hello! Project 2015 WINTER concert, a new Hello! Project unit consisting of Hello Pro Kenshusei members was announced and was named Magnolia Factory. On April 29, 2015, Magnolia Factory's sister group, Camellia Factory was also formed. Former Berryz Kobo member Saki Shimizu helped pick out the group name which carries on Berryz Koubou's spirit similar to Kobushi Factory.
There is no schedule or ticket right now.
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