Hello! Project Kids (ハロー！プロジェクト・キッズ, Harō! Purojekuto Kizzu^?) is a Japanese music group of fifteen young girls chosen out of 27,958 applicants in 2002. The group was formed as a part of the Hello! Project. The group has so far published a number of records under both group names and the Hello! Project Kids title.

Some of them were selected for members of ZYX and Aa! in 2003, but which were both short-lived groups and, for some time, virtually dormant. Both these units were revived, recently, each containing only 2 of the original members. ZYX was renamed ZYX-α as well, while Aa! kept its original name, the only revived group to do this. Hello! Project Kids is currently organized into two groups—Berryz Kobo and C-ute. Buono! is also a newly formed unit consisting of three Hello! Project Kids.

Members[link]

• Erika Umeda (梅田 えりか) – graduated on October 25, 2009, to study to become a fashion model
• Saki Shimizu (清水 佐紀)
• Maimi Yajima (矢島 舞美)
• Momoko Tsugunaga (嗣永 桃子)
• Chinami Tokunaga (徳永 千奈美)
• Megumi Murakami (村上 愛) – retired on October 31, 2006, to continue schooling and lead a private life
• Maasa Sudō (須藤 茉麻)
• Miyabi Natsuyaki (夏焼 雅)
• Maiha Ishimura (石村 舞波) – graduated on October 2, 2005 to continue her schooling full-time
• Yurina Kumai (熊井 友理奈)
• Saki Nakajima (中島 早貴)
• Risako Sugaya (菅谷 梨沙子)
• Airi Suzuki (鈴木 愛理)
• Chisato Okai (岡井 千聖)
• Mai Hagiwara (萩原 舞)

※ Kanna Arihara – who was member of Hello! Project eggs, was not an original member of Hello! Project Kids

Groups featuring Hello! Project Kids[link]

• 4Kids
• Aa!
• Athena & Robikerottsu
• Berryz Kobo
• Buono!
• C-ute
• Guardians 4
• High-King
• Kira Pika
• Petitmoni (Petitmoni V)
• Tanpopo (Tanpopo #)
• v-u-den (Zoku v-u-den)
• ZYX (ZYX-α)

External links[link]

• Hello! Project.com

Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト, Harō! Purojekuto^?) is the umbrella name for all female idol Japanese pop recording artists collective that are under contract with the Up-Front Group. The "mothership" group of Hello! Project is the super-group Morning Musume. The main producer and songwriter is Tsunku, the lead singer of Sharam Q.

History[link]

1997-2000[link]

In 1997, rock group Sharam Q, fronted by Tsunku, began auditions for a female vocalist. These auditions aired via reality show Asayan, and resulted in Michiyo Heike being crowned winner. Tsunku, however, decided to give five of the runners-up, Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda and Aya Ishiguro, a chance to become a group in their own right. The girls were set the task of selling 50,000 copies of "Ai no Tane", their demo single, in just five days. The girls sold the required number of copies in four days, and subsequently became an official group.

Morning Musume's debut single, "Morning Coffee", was released on January 28, 1998 on the One Up Music label and charted at #6 on the Oricon weekly chart. The group's first official appearance was a joint live in August 1998, at Shibuya Public Hall (now Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall), under the name "Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume" (平家みちよとモーニング娘。^?), the fanclub of the two acts called "Hello!". The first official "units" were Tanpopo and Petitmoni, created in October 1998. The first "Michiyo Heike & Morning Musume Imotōbun Audition" took place, resulting in the "second generation" of Morning Musume to be added, made up of Sayaka Ichii, Mari Yaguchi and Kei Yasuda.

In January 1999, auditions for Country Musume were held on "Idol o Sagase!" (アイドルをさがせ!, Search For an Idol!^?). In April of that year the girls' official fanclub was renamed "Hello! Project". Auditions were once again held on Asayan between April and July, resulting in Taiyō to Ciscomoon and Coconuts Musume, with Country Musume's official formation announced. In July, the first live concert as Hello! Project, "Hello! Project '99 at Yokohama Arena", was held.

The first shuffle units were formed in March 2000, releasing the "theme" of Hello! Project as a B-side. The first Hello! Project television show, "Hello! Morning", was created in April.

2001-2005[link]

In March 2001, Morning Musume co-founder and leader Yuko Nakazawa announced her graduation from the group. The actual graduation took place in April, and Nakazawa was subsequently named as leader of the entirety of Hello! Project. Nakazawa's was the first graduation in the history of Hello! Project, and garnered considerable media attention as a result, the first time the group had truly caught the attention of the mainstream press.

Between April and June 2002, the first, and to date only, Hello! Project Kids auditions were held. These auditions resulted in the future members of Berryz Kobo and Cute, also spawning off-shoot auditions such as auditions for Hello! Pro Egg and Hello! Project Kansai. On July 31, a major reform of all of the groups within Hello! Project began, which was referred to as "Haromageddon" (ハローマゲドン^?) (a pun on Hello (ハロー, Harō) and Armageddon (ハルマゲドン, "Harumagedon")) and "the 7/31 incident" by fans.

2006-present[link]

In February 2006, former Morning Musume member and sub-leader of duo W, Ai Kago was caught smoking in public while underage and dating a much older man. Kago was suspended from her activities and eventually began an attempt to return to recording.

On March 26, 2007, Kago was again caught smoking. Her contract was instantly terminated and she underwent no graduation ceremony, as had become standard for leaving members, due to having disgraced herself. In June, it was announced that Asami Konno, who had graduated from Hello! Project a year prior to study at university, would be returning. Konno became the first person to have graduated from Hello! Project to return. In October Tsunku established a new unit, the Nice Girl Project, as well as The Possible, a group made up of Hello! Pro Eggs. Soon after, Maki Goto, who had been inactive for some time, graduated from Hello! Project as a soloist. She later transferred to Avex.

In 2007, Hello! Project started the Taiwanese "Morning Family New Star Audition"; an audition aimed at recruiting new Taiwanese members to join Hello! Project.^[1][2]

In April 2008, the debut of Hello! Project Kansai group Sina (SI☆NA^?) was announced. The group still have yet to actually debut; though they occasionally appear on television shows and radio they have never recorded a song. In September it was announced that, as a result of the Taiwanese auditions, the group Ice Creamusume (アイスクリー娘。^?) would be formed, consisting of six members.^[3] Duo Francis & Aiko, both still only children, was also announced from the same audition. On October 19, 2008, Hello! Project announced its entire Elder Club would be graduating on March 31, 2009.^[4] 2008 also marked the first time in a decade that Morning Musume had not performed at the annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen event, after ten consecutive appearances. The only Hello! Project member to appear on that year's show was Mai Satoda, marking the first appearance of a member of Country Musume.

In February 2009, it was announced that Hello! Project would begin a series of auditions in South Korea.^[5][6] On February 1, 2009, at the Yokohama Arena, Hello! Project held its largest concert ever—the Hello! Pro Awards '09: Elder Club Graduation Special (決定！ハロ☆プロアワード’０９　～エルダークラブ卒業記念スべシャル～, Kettei! Hello Pro Awards '09: Elder Club Sotsugyō Kinen Special^?)—featuring 21 groups and 72 members. Former Morning Musume member Nozomi Tsuji performed in her first official event in a year and nine months, after marrying actor Taiyō Sugiura in June 2007 and giving birth to her daughter, Noa, that November. During the concert, former Hello! Project leader Yuko Nakazawa passed her leadership position to Morning Musume leader Ai Takahashi.^[7] This mass-graduation caused another large surge of fan backlash, resulting in even more fanclub cancellations and merchandise boycotts, and is considered the "third coming of Haromageddon". Later in 2009, several of the old, dormant units were revived. Tanpopo, Minimoni, Petitmoni, ZYX, Aa! and v-u-den all returned with new line-ups, and High-King returned from hiatus with its original members. These groups became a new concert unit, "Champloo". In August 2009, Morning Musume released their 40th single, 'Nanchatte Ren'ai'.

On September 30, 2011, Ai Takahashi graduated and handed her position as leader of Morning Musume and Hello! Project over to Risa Niigaki. On January 2nd, at the Hello! Project 2012 Winter concert, Morning Musume and Hello! Project leader Risa Niigaki announced that she will graduate at the end of Morning Musume's 2012 Spring tour. She will be passing on the leadership of Hello! Project to Berryz Koubou's Captain, Shimizu Saki. It has not yet been decided who will be leader of Morning Musume after Niigaki's graduation.

Current line-up[link]

Hello! Project[link]

• Morning Musume
• Berryz Kobo
• °C-ute
• Erina Mano
• S/mileage^[8]
  • Lilpri
• Aika Mitsui
• Buono!
• Hello! Project Eggs (ハロプロエッグ^?)
  • Tomoiki: Ki o Uetai (ともいき・木を植えたい^?)

Hello! Pro Korea[link]

• Jang Da Yeon^[9]

Former artists and groups[link]

To leave Hello! Project is referred to as a graduation (卒業, sotsugyō^?). There is also the possibility of a singer graduating from a subgroup and remaining in Hello! Project as a soloist.

A graduation is a member's final performance either with Morning Musume or one of its many subgroups or associated acts, in which case they are either beginning a solo career or new group within Hello! Project— or, rarely, leaving the Hello! Project umbrella entirely. These departures are usually voluntary and amicable.

The magazine Friday has, on three occasions, published photographs of Morning Musume members that has caused them either to quit the group or be fired. These members are Mari Yaguchi, Miki Fujimoto and Ai Kago. Because of these "scandals", and their subsequent sudden departures from the group, Mari Yaguchi and Miki Fujimoto are the only members of Morning Musume to have not undergone a "graduation ceremony" from the band before starting or resuming a solo career. Yaguchi was photographed with her then-boyfriend Shun Oguri in 2005, and although 22 at the time left voluntarily, stating that she could not maintain the "idol" image required to stay in the group. Yaguchi did have a graduation ceremony three years earlier when she departed MiniMoni, the subgroup she co-founded, in 2002, but did not receive another. Fujimoto was photographed with boyfriend Shōji Tomoharu (whom she later married) in 2007. Ai Kago, although having a graduation ceremony from Morning Musume, did not have a ceremony for leaving Hello! Project, since her repeated scandals resulted in her contract being dissolved and later fired from the agency.

Conversely, Melon Kinenbi is the only group in the history of Hello! Project to not undergo a graduation or other personnel change in its entire existence.

On March 31, 2009, the entire 'Elder Club' Hello! Project Concert unit graduated from Hello! Project. This included group Melon Kinenbi and soloists such as Natsumi Abe and Aya Matsuura.

Leaderships[link]

Hello! Project Leaders[link]

Main Group Leaders[link]

Acts and performances[link]

TV[link]

• Hello! Morning (ハロー!モーニング。^?) on TV Tokyo
• Utaban (うたばん^?) on TBS
• Haromoni@ (ハロモニ＠^?) on TV Tokyo
• Yorosen! (よろセン!^?) on TV Tokyo
• Hello! ProTime (ハロー!プロタイム^?) on TV Tokyo

Radio[link]

• MBS Young Town Saturday on MBS Radio (the Kansai area)
• HelloPro Yanen! on ABC Radio

Concerts[link]

Musicals[link]

• Ribbon no Kishi: The Musical (August 1, 2006 – August 27, 2006)
• Cinderella: The Musical (2008)
• Fashionable: The Musical (2010)

Sports festivals[link]

• Hello! Project Daiundōkai (March 31, 2001 at Saitama Super Arena)
• Hello! Project Daiundōkai (November 3, 2002 at Osaka Dome)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2003 (November 16, 2003 at Osaka Dome)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2003 (November 22, 2003 at Tokyo Dome)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2004 (November 14, 2004 at Toyota Stadium)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2004 (December 5, 2004 at Saitama Super Arena)
• Hello! Project Sports Festival 2006 ~Hello!Diva Athlete~ (March 19, 2006 at Saitama Super Arena)

See also[link]

• Hello! Project's futsal team Gatas Brilhantes H.P.
• Hello! Project shuffle units

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Japanese) Hello! Project official website
• (Chinese) Hello! Project official Taiwanese website
• (English) Hello! Project news feeds at Hello!Online

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

10 Years is an American alternative metal band, formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999.

History[link]

[edit] Early Years, Into the Half Moon (1999–2001)

10 Years was initially formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999 with singer Mike Underdown, drummer Brian Vodinh, bassist Lewis Cosby, and guitarists Ryan "Tater" Johnson (also of The American Plague) and Matt Wantland. In 2001, Cosby left and the band recruited Andy Parks on bass. They independently recorded Into the Half Moon the same year.

[edit] Killing All That Holds You, The Autumn Effect (2002–2006)

Lead vocalist Mike Underdown left the band to pursue a career in acting and start up a new band 'Courage, You Bastards' in Los Angeles, Ca. 10 Years soon recruited current vocalist Jesse Hasek from another local band. In 2002, Parks decided to leave the band and Cosby returned. The band then released their independent album Killing All That Holds You in 2004.

10 Years was then signed to Universal Records in 2005 and released their major label debut, The Autumn Effect on August 16, 2005 with the songs "Wasteland" and "Through the Iris" picking up regional radio play. Their first single, "Wasteland" spent over 12 months on the rock charts, finally reaching #1 at active rock radio in December 2005.

That same summer, the band toured with Disturbed and Ill Niño. In the fall of 2005, they toured with Breaking Benjamin and Smile Empty Soul, then followed up with the Masters of Horror tour with Mudvayne and Sevendust. They opened for Korn and Mudvayne on Korn's See You on the Other Side tour. They also toured with Korn and Deftones on the Family Values Tour, which started in late July 2006.

In mid February 2006, "Wasteland" reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. "Wasteland" has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

In mid-2006, the band toured Australia in a lineup which included Hatebreed, Disturbed and Korn.

Their first music video, "Wasteland", addresses the social problem of human rights as well as addiction around the world. The video received a nomination for Best Direction and Best Art Direction at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, but did not win either.

On March 27, 2006, an EP was released on iTunes containing acoustic versions of "Wasteland" and other tracks from The Autumn Effect.

[edit] Division (2006–2008)

On November 19, 2006, 10 Years unveiled and confirmed the title Division for their second album.^[1] The band would begin recording Division in late June 2007 after spending the better part of a year writing.

Lewis told in an interview that the album is "so different from the first one [The Autumn Effect], but it's still 10 Years," and, "It just sounds like [the songs] would be from a totally different album, which was, you know, the goal."^[2] It was also revealed that the track titled "Focus" was co-written with Stone Temple Pilots and former Army of Anyone guitarist Dean DeLeo.^[1]

On May 21, 2007 a demo song titled "All Your Lies" from Division was released onto their MySpace along with a post stating the band had chosen producer Rick Parasher to produce the new album.^[3] On September 7, the band announced on their MySpace that the album was finished and would be released in 2008, following a tour with Dir En Grey, Sevendust, Operator, Thousand Foot Krutch and Chevelle.

On January 29, 2008, "Beautiful," the new single from Division, was released to iTunes and a snippet was also posted on the band's MySpace page. Division was released on May 13, 2008 after being pushed back due to finalization of the album's artwork.^[4]

10 Years was featured on the Revolution Stage of Linkin Park's Summer Projekt Revolution 2008 tour with Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights and Armor For Sleep.

They went on tour with Mudvayne until mid December 2008.

[edit] Feeding the Wolves (2009–2011)

10 Years announced that their upcoming third major label album would be entitled Feeding the Wolves. The album was produced by Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson and mixed by Chris "Lord" Alge. The band has mentioned the album is of their heaviest material to date and "very similar to some of their early songs."

Throughout the first half of 2010, the band went back and forth between putting on live shows and working in the studio. Before the album was released, the band debuted new songs at live performances such as "Dead in the Water", "Now is the Time", and the new album's first single ""Shoot It Out" ". ^[5][6]

On June 12, 2010, ""Shoot It Out" " was featured on Sirius/XM Radio. The track was released to radio later that month,^[7] and was made available for download on iTunes July 6.^[8] Feeding the Wolves was released on August 31, 2010.

To promote the album's release, the band opened Shinedown's 2010 Carnival of Madness summer tour alongside Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, and Sevendust.^[9] In the fall they joined Sevendust again on the Hard Drive Live tour with support from Since October and Anew Revolution.

In December, the band went on a mini-headline tour,^[10] where they played some older songs that they had not played in some time. February 2011, their new single "Fix Me" releases to radio while they headline a spring tour with Hollywood Undead.

On June 17 and 18 the band shot a music video for "Fix Me" in Columbus, Ohio with production company Thunder Down Country.^[11] The video was released via YouTube on August 9, 2011.^[12]

[edit] Minus The Machine Palehorse Records (2012-present)

On twitter the band has shown pictures of Brian Vodinh's home basement turned studio for future workings on their next album.

On April 2nd, 2012, the band announced on Facebook that their upcoming record, Minus The Machine, is to be released on July 30th on their own independent label, Palehorse Records, which the band stated is a part of Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. They also announced a 4-week headlining tour to support the record, which begins on June 27th in New Orleans.

On May 11th, the band unveiled the cover art of the album and it was announced that the album's release has been pushed back to July 31st.^{[citation needed]} 10 Years will release their first single "Backlash" on radio and iTunes on June 21st.

Band members[link]

Current

• Jesse Hasek – Vocals (2002–present)
• Ryan "Tater" Johnson – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals (1999–present)
• Lewis "Big Lew" Cosby – Bass (1999–2001, 2002-present)
• Brian Vodinh – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals (2009–present) Drums (1999–present)

Live

• Matt Brown – Drums (2010-present)
• Sam Anderson – Drums (2010)
• Kyle Mayer – Drums (2010)
• Brandon Estelle - Drums (2010-2011) and select dates.

Former

• Mike Underdown – Vocals (1999–2001)
• Andy Parks - Bass (2001–2002)
• Matt Wantland – Guitar (1999–2009)

Timeline[link]

id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:Bass value:orange legend:Bass
id:Rhythm_Guitar value:blue legend:Rhythm_Guitar
id:Lead_guitar value:green legend:Lead_Guitar
id:drums value:yellow legend:Drums
id:lines value:black legend:Studio Albums

at:01/01/2001 color:black layer:back
at:27/08/2004 color:black layer:back
at:16/08/2005 color:black layer:back
at:01/05/2008 color:black layer:back
at:31/08/2010 color:black layer:back

bar:mike text:"Mike Underdown"
bar:jesse text:"Jesse Hasek"
bar:tater text:"Ryan Tater Johnson"
bar:wantland text:"Matt Wantland"
bar:andy text:"Andy Parks"
bar:lewis text:"Lewis Cosby"
bar:brian text:"Brian Vodinh"
bar:kyle text:"Kyle Mayer"
bar:sam text:"Sam Anderson"
bar:matt text:"Matt Brown"

width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:mike from:start till:01/01/2001 color:Vocals
bar:jesse from:02/01/2001 till:end color:Vocals
bar:tater from:start till:end color:Lead_Guitar
bar:wantland from:start till:03/05/2009 color:Rhythm_Guitar
bar:brian from:start till:31/08/2010 color:Drums
bar:brian from:05/05/2009 till:end color:Rhythm_Guitar
bar:lewis from:start till:01/01/2001 color:Bass
bar:lewis from:02/01/2002 till:end color:Bass
bar:andy from:02/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 color:Bass
bar:kyle from:06/06/2010 till:05/07/2010 color:Drums
bar:sam from:06/07/2010 till:31/07/2010 color:Drums
bar:matt from:01/08/2010 till:end color:Drums

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

• 2006: Acoustic EP

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• 10 Years on Myspace