Umeda Erika

Umeda Erika (梅田 えりか) born on May 24, 1991 is a Japanese pop singer signed to Hello! Project. She is currently a member of the group °C-ute as well as being a member of the Hello! Project Kids. She joined Hello! Project Kids in 2002 through the audition and was later put into°C-ute in 2005. As well as being in both °C-ute and Hello! Project Kids, Umeda has also been a member of the group ZYX in 2003.

2002
Umeda Erika took part in the 2002 auditions held to determine the line-up of the new Hello! Project Kids and passed along with fourteen other girls.

2003 - 2004
Umeda made her first official appearance in the entertainment industry when she was included in the line-up of the new unit, ZYX, along with four other Hello! Project Kids members and Morning Musume's Yaguchi Mari. Umeda released two singles with the unit before it became inactive. While she was in ZYX, Umeda continued her duties as a member of Hello! Project Kids, namely performing as backing dancers for Morning Musume at concerts. In late 2004 Umeda took part in her first Hello! Project shuffle unit, H.P. All Stars, taking part alongside all the members of Hello! Project at the time. The shuffle unit released one single and became inactive by January 2005.

In 2004 Umeda joined Little Gatas.

2005
In 2005 Umeda Erika was assigned as a member of Hello! Project group °C-ute alongside seven other Hello! Project Kids members. These seven members had been passed over when it came to the forming of Berryz Koubou, which had originally been formed to teach the Hello! Project Kids about being in a group by rotating the line-up amongst the Kids. Originally °C-ute was releasing on an indie label, but in 2007 they made their major debut.

2006
Umeda Erika released four indie singles as a part of °C-ute in this year as a preparation for their major debut in 2007. °C-ute also released their first album, "Cutie Queen Vol. 1".

2007
On February 21, 2007 °C-ute released their debut single, "Sakura Chirari". On the first day in the charts it ranked third on the Oricon charts, a feat not even accomplished by Hello! Project's mother group Morning Musume (who had ranked 6th on their debut single). With their debut single, they became the youngest group (with the average age of 13) to rank in the top 10.

On April 23, Umeda joined the Hello! Project futsal team, Gatas Brillhantes H.P., from Mix Gatas as a goalkeeper.

2008
Umeda continued her duties within °C-ute, releasing four singles and a third studio album.

2009
°C-ute released their fourth studio album, "4 Akogare My Star", on January 28th and their 8th major single is scheduled to be released on April 15th, titled "Bye Bye Bye!". Five members of °C-ute and Berryz Koubou left the Hello! Project futsal team, Gatas Brillhantes H.P.this year but Umeda Erika remained on in her role as goalkeeper. On August 1, rumors surfaced that Umeda would be graduating from C-ute in October. This was officially confirmed by Hello! Project a few hours later.

Profile
Name: Umeda Erika

Birth Date: 1991-05-24

Nickname: Ume-san, Ume-chan, Eri-chan

Blood type: A

Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan

Height: 170 cm

Favorite Subject: Music

Favorite Brand/Designer: CECIL McBEE, JSG '''Hello! Project Groups:'''


 * Hello! Project Kids


 * ZYX (2003)
 * °C-ute (2005–2009)

Shuffle Groups:


 * H.P. All Stars (2004)

Other:


 * Little Gatas (2004–2007)
 * Mix Gatas (2006–2007)


 * Gatas Brilhantes H.P. (2007–2009)

Trivia

 * Umeda Erika is the oldest member of the Hello! Project Kids.
 * Umeda's Gatas Brillhantes number is 18 and her position was the goalkeeper.
 * Umeda was also a back-up dancer in performances of Fujimoto Miki's "Boogie Train '03".
 * She has three Shih Tzus (RAMU-chan, MUU-chan, RUNA-chan.)
 * More recently, she has named her favorite food as yakiniku, her least favorite food as bitter melon, her charm point as "a row of 3 moles on the right of my cheek", her strong point as "I have a lot of energy", her weak point as "short tempered" and her hobbies as shopping and eating tapioca.
 * Yaguchi Mari gave her the nickname Ume-chan.
 * She has an older sister.
 * Despite being the oldest of the Hello! Project Kids, she felt that she wouldn't have been responsible enough to be leader, so she passed down leadership of °C-ute to the second oldest member Yajima Maimi.
 * She is one of only two members to be in both ZYX and ZYX-Alpha.