Television station TBS recently announced the details for Countdown TV’s New Year’s Eve special, subtitled “Toshikoshi Premiere Live 2014⇒ 2015”. The program will air starting from 11:45pm on December 31st and is set to continue well into 2015, with no end time specified as of yet.
Also revealed was the first set of artists who will participating in the show, which features such notable names as B’z and Yuzu. A second group of performers is to be published in the weeks leading up to New Year’s Eve.
Check out the full set of artists set to perform thus far below, and look forward to additional information about the program in the coming weeks.
KAT-TUN has released the song preview, single covers and tracklist for their new single “Dead or Alive” to be released on January 21, 2015. It is their first single in eight months, since the release of “In Fact”! This new single includes the theme song from Kamenashi Kazuya’s starring role in the movie Joker Game coming to theaters January 31st, 2015, and also his solo song and music video for “Hanasanaide Ai”
Lyrics, music and arrangement of “Dead or Alive” is by Jovette Rivera and Maiko Kawabe Rivera, the couple who are also responsible for KAT-TUN’s past album highlights (PHOENIX, MOON, 1582, TABOO, Water Dance). It is the first time their track is used as KAT-TUN’s A-side single. The song is described as a hard tune which depicts the paper-thin extremity between life and death as geniuses put their intelligence to the test for this dramatically impactful and large-scale game. This work shows how KAT-TUN continues to dig even deeper as they mature.
Prior to the release, KAT-TUN will be holding their Countdown Live/ come Here Tour at Kyocera Dome on December 30 and 31. Check out their new song below!
Sukima Switch – Hoshi no Utsuwa
Aqua Timez – Ikite
SKE48 – 12gatsu no Kangaroo
JUJU – ANNIVERSARY
Aqua Timez – Ikite
FLOWxGRANRODEO – 7-seven-
Asakura Saya – Saba no Miso ni
Check out the music video for “So Beautiful” the lead track of May J.’s upcoming W BEST -Original & Covers- album, to be released on January 1, 2015. The 2-disc album will include original songs and covers that May J. have since released.
In the “Original Best” CD, a total of 16 songs are included such as “Let It Go ~Ari no Mama de~ (End Song)” and “HERE WE GO feat. VERBAL (m-flo)”, her first single under Sony Entertainment. New songs titled “So Beautiful” and “My Sweet Dreams” are also included. For the “Cover Best” CD, a total of 15 songs are included such as “Garden”, “Hanamizuki”, “Nada Sou Sou”, “First Love”, and a duet song with Chris Hart of “A Whole New World”.
May J. sings with a band, dances and mingles with her girls in her newest PV. Check out her new video and the best album’s massive tracklist below.
New trailers for the upcoming live-action film adaption of Sakisaka Io’s romance manga Strobe Edge are released. Aside from comparing the film’s scenes to memorable scenes in the original manga, the videos also feature the theme song “Ai Uta~since 2007~” orginally performed by GReeeeN and now covered by the new four-member unit whiteeeen.
Instead of singing the vocals on “Ai Uta” for the film, GReeeeN suggested that a female vocalist should sing the movie’s cover version instead. The group held auditions for the vocalist on their official account on the Line messaging service in October. At the beginning of November, the final candidates were narrowed down to 11 people, 4 people eventually made it as audition winners. Four girls in their teens were chosen to debut in the vocal unit “whiteeeen”, singing Ai Uta as theme song for the movie. The members are: meri (15), kana (15), hima (16) and noa (17).
The film stars Fukushi Sota and Arimura Kasumi and will open on March 14, 2015 (White Day). Check out the new trailers below and the preview to whiteeeen’s “Ai Uta”.
“HEY! HEY! HEY! MUSIC CHAMP 20th Anniversary Thanksgiving” with Downtown as MC will broadcast on December 29 at FujiTV. The program also aired a special program in January this year to celebrate the 20th year since it started.
The 3 hour special has announced its line up of guests. Check out the artists attending below.
SKE48/ NMB48’s Watanabe Miyuki has released the music video for debut solo single “Yasashiku Yori Kiss wo Shite” (Instead of being kind to me, Kiss me), slated to drop on December 24. Watanabe was granted a solo debut after winning AKB48 5th Janken Tournament held in Spetember.
The single cover also shows Watanabe with a “Seiko-chan” cut, a hairstyle popular in the 80s, the golden age of solo idols and donning Matsuda Seiko’s famous “Burriko” expression. The music video is set in the 80’s, showing Watanabe aspiring to become an idol. In the PV, she wears different costumes such as idol costumes, uniform, maid cafe, summer and winter dresses. Also, the number “71” used in the audition scene was actually the number she used during her auditions.
Check out her new music video and single details below.
