Geinoujin Shin Unit Audition

Geinoujin Shin Unit Audition
ASAYAN promoting Geinoujin Shin Unit Audition
General Information
Total Applicants	500 Auditionees
Winners	Shinoda Miho Inaba Atsuko RuRu Kominato Miwa

Geinoujin Shin Unit Audition (芸能人新ユニットオーディション; Entertainer New Unit Audition) was an audition airing on the TV show ASAYAN from November 1998 to February 1999, featuring Tsunku looking for a a new unit to produce.

Audition Details

On November 22, 1998, Tsunku announced on the TV show ASAYAN his idea for a new girl group. He launched the idea saying: "For this time around, we are looking for girls with special talents who have enough experiences. To give you some examples: someone who can dance well, someone who has learned Minyo-style singing professionally, someone who is striving to become talented singers like Whitney Houston and Celine Dion."

On December 6, the hosts of ASAYAN receive a folder with pictures and applications from applicants. They show profiles of seven or eight girls; one of them is from Takarazuka Revue, one was in the idol group Choujotai, another appeared in a popular drama and had her CD debut cancelled, and yet another starred in a direct-to-video titled "Watashi ga Onna ni Modoru Made.

On December 20, ASAYAN aired footage of the final 16 applicants who are all between 20-29 years of age.

Picture	Name and Age	Number	Song
	Inaba Atsuko, 24	1	Sutsumikomu you ni... by MISIA
	????, 29	2
	????, 24	3
	????, 24	4
	Kobayashi Yumi, 22	5
	Kominato Miwa, 21	6	Atsukunare by Ohguro Maki
	????, 20	7
	Shinoda Miho, 26	8	Tsuyoku Hakanai Mono-tachi by Aimer
	Shihei Ayako, 20	9
	????, 22	10
	????, 27	11
	Hoshino Kyoko, 25	12
	Yamaguchi Kaori, 24	13
	????, 25	14
	RuRu, 22	15	I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
	????, 24	16

They were first interviewed in a room by a person off-camera. They later walk down a long staircase entering a room where they sing a song before being interviewed face to face by Tsunku. We are also shown a small VTR of the applicants. The interviews take four hours, and Tsunku spends an hour deciding who to choose as the finalists while they're waiting in another room. 8 candidates were selected as the finalists.

Finalists

1. Inaba Atsuko (24), a former member of the idol group Osaka Performance Doll
2. Kobayashi Yumi (22), a pop singer using the stage name ABYSS, and former member of the ASAYAN group AIS
3. Kominato Miwa (21), an experienced folk singer and mother of two
4. Shinoda Miho (26), a former Olympic gymnast
5. Shihei Ayako (20), a former member of Takarazuka Revue
6. Hoshino Kyoko (25), a former member of the idol group Milk
7. Yamaguchi Kaori (24), an actress 
8. RuRu (22), a Chinese singer

On December 20, the 8 finalists appear on stage with the hosts of ASAYAN (as well as Nakazawa Yuko and Fukuda Asuka) where the hosts talk with the finalists and have them tell a little bit about themselves. They are then watching Tsunku on screen as he says he wants them in teams. They will be separated into two units with four members, and one of the units will make their debut. The first group consisting of Shihei, Shinoda and Hoshino, RuRu; and the second consisting of Inaba, Kominato, Kobayashi and Yamaguchi. They were given the temporary names Tsunku "Team Wake Shin Unit 1" and "Tsunku Team Wake Shin Unit 2" shortly before Tsunku named the first group "San Fran", the second group "Ciscomoon" —together, they were "San Franciscomoon". After getting their names they were told they'd go to San Francisco for 40 days of boot camp training sessions.

Boot Camp Training Sessions

Each week, Tsunku checked the videos sent from San Francisco to examine each member's progress.

Performance Check 1

• San Fran: "Goody Goody"
• Ciscomoon: "Aint That Just the Way" by Lutricia McNeal

Performance Check 2

• San Fran: "I'm Every Woman" by Withney Houston
• Ciscomoon: "I'll Be There" by Jackson 5

Performance Check 3

• San Fran: "Dream on Dreamer" by The Brand New Heavies
• Ciscomoon: "Dream Lover" by Mariah Carey

Performance Check 4

• San Fran: "Hold On" by En Vogue
• Ciscomoon: "Queen of the Night" by Whitney Houston

On February 7 1999, ASAYAN aired footage from the boot camp training sessions in San Francisco. Inaba received a phone call after four weeks into the boot camp, were she reads the names of three participants Tsunku have chosen as the winners;: Inaba (from Ciscomoon), Kominato (from Ciscomoon), and Shinoda (from San Fran).

The five remaining participants are to give a fifth and final performance, and Tsunku will choose one or two participants as the winner(s), making the new unit either a 4nin unit or a 5nin unit. It is announced they'll sing Fukuda Asuka's lines in Daite HOLD ON ME! and dance an original dance.

On February 8, ASAYAN aired footage from the five remaining participants, showing them practicing dance routines as well as the participants talking straight to camera about their thoughts and feelings.

For the performance, the three participants already chosen did the routine five times, each time with one of the five participants. After watching the performance video, Tsunku decides that Shihei Ayako and Hoshino Kyoko wont move forward. Of the three remaining participants, RuRu was selected as the fourth and final member of the unit after showing her devotion to music and vocal skills.

Results

From Taiyou to Ciscomoon's Debut Event in April 1999

Winners

• Inaba Atsuko
• Kominato Miwa
• Shinoda Miho
• RuRu

Before making their debut

On February 21, 1999, the winners appeared on stage in the ASAYAN studio with the hosts. Here, Tsunku pointed out each member's weakness and said they were going to go back to the US for private lessons. He said Kominato needed to practice her dancing skills, RuRu her rhythm, and Inaba and Shinoda their singing. He also suggested names for the unit; Guts 1.2.3, Cisco3, Adult Queens, Morning Ookami (Morning Wolves), Moonlight Zoku (Moonlight Tribe), Taiyou to Moonlight Musume, Taiyou to Morning Ookami. He eventually chose the name Taiyou to Ciscomoon.

For three weeks, from February to March, ASAYAN covered the members' journeys. They were sent to four different cities: Inaba was sent to Atlanta (famous for gospel and soul), Kominato to Detroit (famous for Motown), Shinoda to Memphis (famous for southern blues music), and Honda to Chicago (famous for blues and rhythm). They spent three weeks improving themselves, with the final task being singing live. Kominato sang "A Deeper Love" and "Sotoyamabushi" (since her coach also wanted her to sing a minyo song) at Bakers Keyboard Lounge, RuRu sang "Hot Stuff" at a Chicago club, Shinoda sang at a service in a curch, and Inaba sang in the apartment for the people she had worked with.

On April 10, ASAYAN aired footage of Taiyou to Ciscomoon attending Morning Musume's concert in Fukuoka. It was announced that if Taiyou to Ciscomoon's debut single placed lower than Morning Musume's debut single (which placed #6), there was no point in continuing producing this group. They visited Morning Musume back stage after the concert, told them the news, and Morning Musume encouraged them to do their best.

From April 3 to April 17, they held their debut event in six different cities: on April 3 in Osaka, on April 6 in Takamatsu, on April 10 in Hiroshima, on April 14 in Yokohama, on April 16 in Kanazawa, and on April 17 in Nagoya.

On April 21, they released their debut single, Tsuki to Taiyou.

On May 2, ASAYAN showed footage of Taiyou to Ciscomoon placed in a room watching the Oricon countdown from 30th place. They were surprised when MISIA's "Believe" placed #23, meaning their single placed higher. When they saw Tube's "Himawari" placed #7, they started crying, and didn't stop until they saw their single placed #4 when they started cheering.

Trivia

• Japanese pop-singer aiko revealed that she took part in the Taiyou to Ciscomoon auditions.
• The group got their name from combining the names of the two groups they were split into during their audition process (San Fran and Cisco Moon).
• Kobayashi Yumi had participated in the ASAYAN audition Komu-ro Garçons (ASAYAN Idol Group Audition 96).
• Kominato later recorded Sotoyamabushi as part of Priest for their debut single. The song also made it to their debut album Mahora no Tsuki, released in 2006.

External Links

• ASAYAN (January 17, 1999 to May 2, 1999)
• Interview, Part 1 (tvtokyo.co.jp, 2020.02.24)
• https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/plus/entertainment/entry/2020/021300.html Interview Part 2 (tvtokyo.co.jp, 2020.02.24)]