Morning Musume '14 (Golden) Audition!

55452 — **Morning Musume '14 promoting 12th Generation Member Audition**
**Morning Musume Audition Chronology**
**Previous**: "Mirai Shoujo" Audition (2013)

Morning Musume '14 <Golden> Audition! (モーニング娘。'14 ＜黄金＞オーディション！) is the second Morning Musume 12th generation auditions. It was announced on March 15, 2014 at the 2014 spring tour.^[1] The winner(s) of the audition will receive lessons and be able to participate in fall 2014 events, and will become full member(s) in 2015. Girls who fail the audition may have the opportunity to join Hello Pro Kenshuusei, receiving free training.

Audition Details

Application Requirements:
1. Female, Minimum of age 10 and maximum of 17 years of age by March 31, 2014.
2. Must not currently be under contract with any agencies.
3. Must have consent from legal guardian if under age.
Application Deadline: May 11, 2014
Total Applicants: 8,000+ Auditionees
Training Camp Choreographer: YOSHIKO (Morning Musume's Choreographer)
Training Camp Singing Teacher: Marron
Broadcast: On Hello! Project Station

Audition Process

First Round

The application deadline was May 11, 2014.

Second Round

The second round started on May 12th. Each girl's profile were viewed by Tsunku, who then arbitrarily selected the ones he wanted to go onto the third round. All the candidates were interviewed as well.

On July 7, it was announced on the audition website that the second round was finished and continuing candidates would be contacted directly.

Third Round

On July 19, the candidates gathered in Tokyo for further screening. From there, they were selected, and invited to the training camp. Kenshuusei joined in this round.

In this round the girls had to:
1. Show a special skill.
2. Dance TBA.
3. Give a performance to the rhythm of Toki wo Koe Sora wo Koe.
4. Sing song of their choice.

Fourth Round

The fourth round began in mid August and concluded on August 24th. The finalists were taken to a training camp from where they received dance and vocal lessons, individually recorded Date ja nai yo Uchi no Jinsei wa and danced to Seishun Beat wa 16 in a group in front of Tsunku and the dance teacher.

9 girls were chosen to participate in the fourth round. They include:

Ogata Haruna (尾形春水), 15
Nonaka Miki (野中美希), 14
Kamikokuryo Moe (上國料萌衣), 14
Tanimoto Ami (谷本安美), 14
Shimamura Uta (島村嬉唄), 14
Ozeki Mai (小関舞), 12

Results

12thgengroup — **Audition Winners:** Ogata Haruna, Nonaka Miki, Haga Akane & Makino Maria

The winners of the Golden Auditions have been chosen and were revealed on September 30 at Nippon Budokan:^[2]

The following Hello Pro Kenshuusei members were selected to join Morning Musume as 12th generation members alongside the audition winners:

Video Messages from Tsunku and Members

Comments by Tsunku and Members

Comments by Tsunku:
- Profile: A girl who loves singing, and who strongly believes in her own future. And even though she is not so certain about her confidence, she still wants to try.
- The winner(s) who pass will participate in events that Morning Musume '14 have in fall and will take lessons. They will fully start working as a part of the group in 2015.
- If no one gets picked, there will be the possibility to join Hello Pro Kenshuusei and get free lessons and take part in lives that way. Then it's possible to take part in Morning Musume's next audition and/or join a new Hello! Project unit.
- The skills of the girls in Morning Musume '14 these days is really high and because of that the requirements are higher too. But we believe that there are still a lot of talent out there that will shock us.
Comments by Members at the Morning Musume '14 Concert Tour Haru ~Evolution~:
- Michishige Sayumi: The last time we had an audition I remember saying "I want outstandingly cute girls to join!". One that kind of have the same image of Ogura Yuko-san. A girl that just by glancing at her you could immediately see her dazzling beauty. But when thinking about it calmly I realize that's not quite right. In the first place Morning Musume's beginning are a gathering of girls that failed their audition once, and yet in spite of that they somehow persevere and keep trying to do their best until they were able to form this group. I myself after watching their figures at the time on ASAYAN began to actually want to buy their CD. So in short, watching those figure of the girls trying their best with all their might makes you start feeling like you want to support them. That's why I want the new girls who have that very foundation of Morning Musume's spirit, always trying their best one way or another, frantically persevering on no matter what. Of course if they happen to be good at dancing from the first place that would be even more wonderful, although I still prefers it if there's a cute girl among them too. But before all that, as expected in the end the feeling is the most important. The feeling of love towards Morning Musume '14.
- Ikuta Erina: "Well since it’s a golden audition maybe some kouhai who’d be in the center would join and as you can see when we’re lined up like this I’m always standing at the very edge. I don’t want to lose to my kouhais either so I’ll always work hard to get closer to the center position and as Morning Musume ‘14 I’ll do my best to get on more golden (timeslot) shows as well!"
- Suzuki Kanon: "I am confident that I can do anything that was said. In order for Morning Musume '14 to be more electric, I want girls who are not just cute and humble but, who is ready for fighting with me!"
- Sato Masaki: "You see, I’ve been telling myself “I’ll pass Sayashi-san!” for a while but even now I still haven’t reached that point yet. So if this “golden” girl joins now…uhm… maybe she’ll take the center position just as Ikuta-san said. That’ll be bothersome for me. But it’ll be nice if I can be friends with them, even closer than I am now with Sakura-chan."
- Kudo Haruka: "I’m 14 years old right now. I was born in 1999 so anyone younger than me would have to be born after 2000. I wonder if I’ll lose opportunities to talk as the youngest… I was asked about a lot of things in interviews/shows as the youngest so I can’t help but wonder.
  But putting that aside I’m still looking forward to have girls younger than me join."
- Oda Sakura: "I'm not ready to be a senpai because formation dance is already tough but I will work hard to be a reliable senpai."
Comments by Members at the media interview for Morning Musume's 17th anniversary event:
- Ikuta Erina: "Anyone who doesn’t push me even further away from the center."
- Suzuki Kanon: "I’d like to have another chubby one."
- Ishida Ayumi: "A girl who doesn’t complain about our tough works."
- Kudo Haruka: "Youngest and beloved girl."

Trivia

The audition was not limited to Japan, girls from different nationalities were allowed to audition.
People who participated in the auditions but failed include Kamikokuryo Moe, Tanimoto Ami, Morito Chisaki, Shimamura Uta, Asakura Kiki and Ozeki Mai.
- Morito, Shimamura and Ozeki were later selected to join Country Girls.
- Asakura and Tanimoto were later added to Hello Pro Kenshuusei and both became members of Tsubaki Factory in April 2015.
- Kamikokuryo later participated in 2015 ANGERME Shin Member Audition and won.