Cute (Japanese idol group)
| Cute | |
|---|---|
°C-ute at Japan Expo 2014
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | ℃-ute, C-ute |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2005–present (disbandment announced for 2017) |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | |
| Website | helloproject.com/c-ute |
| Members |
Maimi Yajima Saki Nakajima Airi Suzuki Chisato Okai Mai Hagiwara |
| Past members |
Megumi Murakami (2005–2006) Kanna Arihara (2006–2009) Erika Umeda (2005–2009) |
Cute, stylized as ℃-ute (キュート Kyūto?), is a Japanese idol girl group, consisting of five members. Cute is part of Hello! Project, produced by Tsunku, who also writes almost all the group's songs.
Cute made its major debut in 2007 and that year won the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist. In 2008, the group was nominated for the main Japan Record Award, the Grand Prix, its song being named one of the year's best songs. As of April 2016,, all of the group's major-label singles have debuted in the top 10 of the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.
Practically all the group's works are written and composed by Tsunku, the group's producer.
As of 2012, the group's image was considered bright and energetic. Cute's 16th and 17th singles (2011) were happy songs in a major key, but the 18th single "Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku" (April 2012) was quite unusual. It was a rock ballad about saying goodbye (it is time to go home; the song's young female protagonist must part with the boy she loves). Since then, the group's songs have generally been more mature.
All the group's members were initially selected during the audition for Hello! Project Kids in 2002. Since then, the girls undertook serious professional training in Hello! Project.
In 2002, Airi Suzuki and Mai Hagiwara, as members of the group 4Kids, played in the Minimoni movie Okashi na Daibōken!
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