From “Shin Sanjin Musume” to “Sta-birth” and “The Best Ten”… Saori Minami, the sparkle of a gem that established the origin of “idols” in Japan

A Star is Born! Start

In the fall of 1971, a program that would become a major event in the history of idols was launched, a program that allowed viewers to experience the freshness of the era in which television played a leading role.

Star Birth! (Nippon Television Network Corporation).

(NTV), also known as “Star Birth,” was a public audition program for singers, in which the winners were awarded a contract with a record company or production company that wanted to sign them. As the title suggests, many stars, both male and female, were born from this program.

Among the successful candidates in the early years of the program, three of the most significant were Masako Mori, Junko Sakurada, and Momoe Yamaguchi. Because they were in the same grade, they were later called the “Hana no Chuzan Trio” (the three flower girls).

The following year, in 1972, AgnesChan appeared on the scene with “Hinageshi no Hana” (The Flower of the Hijari) and other songs, winning favorable reviews for her singing, which seemed to further develop the faltering and primitive Japanese lyrics of a Hong Kong singer. In the same year, Megumi Asaoka made her debut with the hit song “Watashi no Kataoki” in 1973. Masako Mori also made her debut in July of the same year with “Sensei.

In the male idol world, the “New Trio” of Goro Noguchi, Hiromi Go, and Hideki Saishiro also debuted in the same year, with Noguchi in 1971 and Hiromi Go and Saishiro in 1972, and dominated as top idol singers. The faces on the covers of the popular idol gravure magazines “Meisei” and “Heibon” also changed to focus on this generation, the Chuzan trio and the New Gosanke.

The year was 1973. Shizue Abe (In a Coffee Shop), Miyoko Asada (Akai Fuusen), Maria Anzai (Tears in the Sun), and others made their debuts, as did Junko Sakurada and Momoe Yamaguchi of the “Sta-birth” group.

I want to be a normal girl again.

In the same year, a group was born.

Candies. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the group consisted of Ran Ito (Ran), Yoshiko Tanaka (Sue), and Miki Fujimura (Miki), who performed a Candy’s medley at the “NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen” in 1923, which was very well received. They made their debut in 1973 with “Anata ni Mumu” (I’m crazy about you), and were featured in “8 o’clock! (TBS), but they did not have many hits in their debut. However, in ’75, they changed the center from Sue to Ran and released their fifth single, “Younger Boy,” which became their first Top Ten hit. In 1976, he co-starred with Shiro Ito and Masao Komatsu in “Migoro,” which became popular for its characters such as Densenman and Shirake Tori! Migoro! Laughing! in which she appeared regularly with Shiro Ito and Masao Komatsu, and her characters such as Densenman and Shirakegori became popular, expanding her popularity as an idol among the audience.

As Candy’s popularity continued to grow and the group headed toward its peak, it came as a great shock when the group announced its dissolution at a concert at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in July 1977, along with the statement, “I want to be a normal girl again.

Candy’s fans’ enthusiastic support, which could be seen in glimpses in Kohaku, such as throwing paper tapes toward the stage and calling out the members’ names, greatly expanded the enjoyment of idols, which has led to the present day, where people grow together in support of the group. However, the group’s statement made us realize once again that idols are fictional entities that are created together with their fans, and that they are different from “ordinary girls.

The group’s last single, “Soumo gaeshi,” which included emo lyrics that incorporated the song titles of their previous singles, became Candy’s first and last No. 1 single on the Oricon charts.