Konno Asami

Konno Asami (紺野 あさ美) born May 7, 1987 is a Japanese pop singer formerly under the Hello! Project label, having since graduated from the label along with the rest of the Elder Club on March 31, 2009. Before her graduation, Konno Asami had been a former member of Morning Musume, Country Musume and Tanpopo, as well as having taken part in the shuffle units Odoru 11, 11WATER and H.P. All Stars. She was also a member of the Morning Musume splinter group, Morning Musume Sakura Gumi. She joined Morning Musume through the 2001 auditions as a part of the fifth generation.

2001
Konno auditioned for the japanese pop group Morning Musume while it was holding it's fifth generation auditions. She very nearly didn't get into the group, as the competitions judge and even Morning Musume's producer, Tsunku, said her performance was mediocre at best. However Tsunku decided to give her a chance and she made it into the fifth generation line-up alongside Takahashi Ai, Niigak Risa and Ogawa Makoto. Tsunku he said that Konno passed the audition because of her potential and because of the amount of effort she'd put into her performance.

She debuted on the group's thirteenth single, "Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~", released on October 31, 2001. In the same month, during a filming of music variety show Utaban, she injured her leg and was not able to participate in the remaining performances of the group's national tour at that time.

She is considered to be one of the most intelligent members of the group after achieving the highest mark during a special episode of Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! in 2001 (shortly after the fifth generation joined) where the Bakajo Test was given to see who was the "idiot girl" of Morning Musume.

2002
Konno's first major event of 2002 was when she made her first album appearance as a part of Morning Musume on the group's fourth album, "4th Ikimasshoi!", released on March 27, 2002. The album is currently their second hisghest selling album. Two months later in May of 2002, Konno was unexpectedly given the lead role for the second half of Morning Musume's annual play, Morning Town.

It was also in this year that Konno was put into her first shuffle unit, Odoru 11. Coincidentally, she was separated from all the other fifth generation members, who were in Happy 7. Later in September, all the fifth generation members were placed into a subgroup. Along with Niigaki Risa, Konno was put into Tanpopo as the group's third generation. They only released one single before becoming inactive.

Konno, along with many other members of Morning Musume at that time, starred in a drama entitled Angel Hearts which was released in 2002. She also participated in the 2002 Happiness Groups as a member of Odoru 11.

2003
In 2003, Morning Musume was split into two seperate groups, Morning Musume Sakura Gumi and Morning Musume Otome Gumi. Konno was placed into Sakura Gumi and released two singles before the two groups merged to form the whole Morning Musume again. Gatas Brilhantes H.P., Hello! Project's futsal team, was also formed in this year. Konno became one of its founding members, quitting only when she was graduating entirely from Hello! Project.

In July of the same year, she was added into Country Musume, (whose theme was "girls from Hokkaidō") with fellow Morning Musume member Fujimoto Miki. Under this new formation, named "Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto", three singles were released. She also made a guest appearance in a drama, Kochira Hon Ikegami Sho 2 (which Kago Ai starred in as a regular) that year, as a hit-and-run victim's sister.

In another special episode of the television show Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! that Morning Musume had starred in two years ago, Konno was proven to also be quite athletic, placing as fifth most athletic member of Morning Musume.

Morning Musume released the singles "Do it! Now" and "Koko ni Iruzee!" as well as their fifth studio album, "NO.5", on March 26, 2003. Konno was included in the 2003 Elemental Shuffle Groups as a member of 11WATER.

2004
In late 2004, Tsunku's choice of putting Konno on the main vocals for "Namida ga Tomaranai Hōkago" yet again surprised many people, as it is known that she has rather weak vocals when compared to the other members of Morning Musume. Morning Musume's sixth album, "Ai no Dai 6 Kan", was released in this year. In December 2004, Konno joined her fellow Hello! Project members on the 2004 shuffle unit single, "All for One and One for All", credited to the H.P. All Stars.

2005
Konno continued her duties within Morning Musume, releasing within the group four singles, those being "The Mapower!!", !"Osaka Koi no Uta", "Iroppoi Jirettai" and "Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ōkiizo!~". She also joined the Hello! Project concert unit, Hello! Project Akagumi.

2006
In February of 2006, Konno featured on Morning Musume's seventh album, "Rainbow 7". It was to be her last release as a member of Morning Musume before she graduated other than the single "Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan".

In March 2006, she proved her athletic abilities once more by placing first in the 1500 meter race at Hello! Project's 2006 sports festival in the time of six minutes and thirteen seconds, getting her the MVP award plus defeating the previous winner, Yajima Maimi, whom Konno had lost to in Hello! Project's 2003 sports festival.

On July 23, 2006, Konno graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project to continue her studies at a university. The news of Konno's acceptance to Keio University, one of the top private universities in Japan, known for producing two prime ministers, was announced on December 11, 2006 by several news sources. On December 28, 2006, she has confirmed these claims personally, in a message she sent to Hello! Project which was posted on the main website.

2007
On June 18, 2007, Up-Front Agency confirmed that Konno was returning to Hello! Project to rejoin members of Gatas Brilhantes H.P. in the group Ongaku Gatas. Their first single, titled "Narihajimeta Koi no Bell" was released on August 22, 2007. Konno is to remain an active member within the agency and Ongaku Gatas while continuing her university studies. In this year Ongaku Gatas released one more single, "Yattarōze!".

2008
Konno continued playing for Gatas Brillhantes and released within Ongaku Gatas the group's third single, "Come Together". Ongaku Gatas released their debut album, "1st Goodsal" on February 6, 2008.

2009
Konno Asami is set to graduate by March 31, 2009 alongside the rest of the Elder Club. She performed at the Hello Pro Award '09 ~Elder Club Sotsugyō Kinen Special~ concert on February 1, 2009.

Trivia

 * Konno's Love Audition 21 audition songs were "Ai no Bakayarō" (Goto Maki) for round 1, and "Dokki Doki! Love Mail" (Matsuura Aya) for round 2.
 * In her primary school days, her friends called her "Imonee" (イモネェ)
 * She did track & field during middle school.
 * She is certified level 3 for the Japanese Kanji Aptitude Test.
 * She has a brown belt in karate.
 * Her nickname "Pon-chan" was given to her by Matthew Minami, when he made a mistake while wanting to say "Kon-chan." Tanaka Reina now uses the nickname for her.

Dramas

 * 2002 Angel Hearts
 * 2002 Ore ga Aitsu de Aitsu ga Ore de (おれがあいつであいつがおれで)
 * 2003 Kochira Hon Ikegami Sho 2 (こちら本池上署2) (Guest appearance in episode 11)
 * 2004 New Cyborg Shibata (新サイボーグしばたっ!!)
 * 2005 Fight! Cyborg Shibata 3 (闘え!!サイボーグしばた 3)

Movies

 * 2002 Tokkaekko (とっかえっ娘. )
 * 2003 Koinu Dan no Monogatari (子犬ダンの物語)