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Good evening! Morning Musume's Takahashi Ai here!
"Aiming for the shining stars, five groups, from Monday to Friday, presenting one daily, FIVE STARS! On Thursdays it’s being presented by me, Morning Musume's Takahashi Ai!”
So, this week’s opening theme is “Hot”, so if you say hot, recently it’s so hot I sleep with some ice bags under my arms *laughs*. Because it’s hot is one reason why I do this, but this is also for my throat. When we sing or just use our voice, the... what is it again? temperature! Rises, so, I do this to cool it, it’s good for the throat. Killing two birds with one stone, right. At first, after I heard of this and gave it a try… it really hurts! But you have to endure it, and if you get through this, it feels so nice *laughs*. So, at first it’s kinda troubling, but when you get accustomed to it, it’s refreshing. I do this especially on the summer, but I’ve done this on the winter too, although it’s so cold. *laughs* I’m get under the blanket but have some ice bags with me. But you get to always keep your throat well this way, it’s something I recommend. Also, air conditioners aren’t really my thing, hmm, I have one on my room, but it gets too much on my head, (not sure this part) *and I don’t use anything against it*. As for electric fans, it’s too troublesome to bring it to my room, since it’s a big round one, so it takes time to bring it. *laughs* “That’s why?”, but… ice bags are good enough, I recommend.
So, please listen to tonight’s Takahashi Ai FIVE STARS first song: Morning Musume’s Moonlight Night ~Tsukiyo no Ban da yo~

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Morning Musume - Moonlight night ~~Tsukiyo no Ban da yo~

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Morning Musume Takahashi Ai presents FIVE STARS Thursdays. This is the FIVE PLEASURES corner. On Thursdays’ Five Pleasures, I, Takahashi Ai, will talk about what I’m most interested in at the moment.
Tonight I want to talk about Kuraki Mai. First, please listen to this song: Kuraki Mai in Stepping out.

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Kuraki Mai - Stepping Out

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This is Kuraki Mai’s Stepping out, and I just love this song. I used to do Classic ballet, and on the way to my classes, I had my mom play this song all the time. We had the album but I only listened to this one *laughs*, always repeating this one. “One more time, one more time!” I used to say. This is just how much I love this one. I was in the third year of middle school, maybe? It was just released. And Kuraki Mai-san… ah, let me explain this first, Kuraki Mai-san was born in Octover 28, 1982, and it seems that when she watched Michael Jackson’s video clips, it got to her, and after she watched a Whitney Houston live video, she decided to try to be a professional singer. And then when she was on second year of middle school, she began composing by herself her own demonstration tape (is there a better way to say this?)! Amazing! Really amazing! Because, you know, all by herself! Well, Utada Hikaru-san is amazing too, and they both begun kinda at the same time, right? At the time I was in third year of middle school, and at that time, people (at her school, I think) were, like, divided between Utada Hikaru-san’s fans or Kuraki Mai-san’s. I liked both of them, and found someone thatwas more of a Utada Hikaru fan, I was always “Why? Kuraki Mai is so blah blah…” and I would go into a long explanation, “Here, listen to this song! It’s really nice!” and I would forcibly lend an album or something. *laughs* I’d also record some cassette tapes and give them away. At that time, I loved to watch detective Conan, and the theme song was sung by Kuraki Mai, “Secret of my heart”. I even learned that song.
I wonder why, like, I love her face. Isn’t she normally cute? And her live performances, I used to buy them myself and watch it, I still do this nowadays. And, like, I’m not very good when it comes to speaking, for example, on Morning Musume’s concerts, there’re many other members who can speak properly, actually, it’s just me who has this problem *laughs*, I guess I got like this because they’d always cover for me. Anyway, there are many characteristics of her that I can relate to, Kuraki Mai-san too is like, kinda childish sometimes, the two of us together would be disastrous *laughs*. She’s my senpai, my great senpai and I have a huge respect for her, so I’d like her to continue like this! That’s why she’s cute! It’s like she can’t talk properly, but she gives her best to transmit what she wants to say. She can convey it in the end, and she’s older than me, so it turns out I find her cute because of this. I look up to her (kinda suspicious, this part lol). But she’s good at making songs!
Seriousley, when I first got to know that she made her own demo tape at her second year of middle school, I could only think “Wow! Amazing!” She made it herself, maybe I should try it too, nah, I’m no good *laughs*. But Linlin seems to compose too! (oh, the river of tears in December…) She plays guitar on her free time (and well! Anyone who never saw her play and is interested, I can send you a link! =]), and some times, out of nowhere, she thinks of something good and begins writing some lyrics. Just like an artist! Hm.. I kinda look up to Linlin too, secretly *laughs*.
Ne? But Kuraki Mai-san, I really respect her. I actually sang some of her songs at my audition, at the first and second screening. The first screening was so sudden, and I was certain I wouldn’t pass the document examination. But 2, 3 days later they called me, and I had to buy a MD (minidisc?), choose the repertoire, and then memorize the songs. But I can’t memorize it, if it’s not a song that I like, so I chose Kuraki Mai-san’s “Tsumetai Umi”. This was the first song I chose. I could only listen to this song, so it was the only one I memorized, but at the audition, I had to sing another one, since no one stopped me. So, the first one was ok for me to sing, but the second one *laughs* I though “Eh, but I didn’t listen to it!”, and my heart was pounding so fast, so… at the first screening, I wasn’t able to sing the second song well, but for the second screening we were able to choose another songs, but I kept the same. I learned both, thinking “This time I’ll get it right!” but they asked me to stop after the first one *laughs*.
Yeah, I’d like you to listen to this song that I have these kind of memories, Kuraki Mai in Tsumetai Umi.

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Kuraki Mai - Tsumetai Umi

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The song just now was Kuraki Mai in Tsumetai Umi. So, this was Takahashi Ai’s Five Pleasures, and I talked about Kuraki Mai!


Stay tuned, will be right back, 76.1, InterFM.

Messages corner
Five Stars Thursdays, presented by Takahashi Ai. Now, I’d like to introduce some messages.
First mail:
“Ai-chan, good evening. When I listen to this program, it remembers me of the English Teacher Yoshiko when he was in middle school. Yoshiko sensei went to study abroad in an American university. His pronunciation is really good, but he was raised in Aomori, so there were many times I had no idea what he was talking about since his Japanese had that northeastern accent. This made him so funny he was really popular among the students. Ai-chan, did you have any teachers that left some kind of impression like this on you too?”
Yeah, I had. He was my English teacher too, but I don’t really remember his name *laughs*. Ano ne, I’m not good with names, I can’t remember them very well (lol she mentioned this before =p, seems she had a manager once she frequently forgot the name^^), although I’m confident when it comes to remembering people’s faces. Anyway, about this teacher of mine, one of his traits was that even though he was an English Teacher, he would always say “aiMU (I’m)”. He would always focus on “aimu”, and this was so funny, it always made me laugh, like “Ah, there it is, there it is!” It’s not something we talked about behind his back, we would talk about it in front of him. This was a peculiarity of his so known on the school that everyone imitated him. Because saying “I’m” it’s not something that hard for us *laughs*, it’s not like “V”.
And our Japanese teacher would say “You, do not you think so?” (this isn’t literal lol, this is the best way I found to say something like it^^), we’d talk about this with our classmates “What creepy way of talking he has, ‘do not you think so’, sup with that?” (this Ai-chan says with Fukui accent =]), we made so much fun of him for speaking like that, and the when I came to Tokyo, I was the one speaking with accent and only then I noticed that he was only speaking in standard Japanese *laughs*. Seriously, before I came to Tokyo I had no idea Fukui dialect was this hard to be understood by others. Well, on TV I’ve heard some of Hokuriku’s dialects (it’s an area to the west of Tokyo, which includes Fukui^^)… ah, that’s not it! I’m the one who speaks a dialect from Hokuriku. It’s northeastern dialect, or was it called zuuzuu dialect too? (it seems it’s called like this too… don’t take this for sure though) also Hokkaido dialect, I’ve seen how it’s hard to communicate with these, but with Fukui-dialect it’s like I’m speaking in English. Like “Hayo shinema!”, it means hayo… “hayaku shite (hurry up!)”, for example, when I said this to Ogawa Makoto-chan, one of the other three 5th gen members, she’s from the Niigata prefecture, anyway, when I casually said to her “hayo shinema!”, she said “Eh? Why would you say something this scary?” while keeping some distance from me (this is Ai-chan’s classical example of Fukui dialect lol, she spoke of this on some TV shows, and even on Ichigo Ichie, it kinda sounds like “hurry and die” or something like this for those who aren’t accustomed to it lol). “That’s not it, it means hurry up”. That’s why it was really troublesome at first, this accent of mine seemed scary. Also, Fukui prefecture is not that much known, I heard it was the “most unknown” prefecture… Hai, that’s where I was raised *laughs*. But I’d like it to become more known, so I think I’ll speak in Fukui dialect once in a while, so yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
So, this corner is for trouble consultations, questions you might have for me, I’ll be waiting for your mails! The address is five-ai@interfm.jp


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Morning Musume - Seishun Collection

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S/mileage - ○○ ganbaranakute mo eenende

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Morning Musume Takahashi Ai presented FIVE STARS, it’s time to go now. Today I was able to talk about Fukui, and it was kinda fun *laughs*, from now on, I’ll speak in Fukui dialect once in a while, but it definitely will be hard to understand!
Then, let me speak a bit on Fukui Dialect.
“Morning Musume (noO) Takahashi Ai (YA) presented Five Stars, it’s time for the ending (YA WAA)”
*laughs* Did you understand?
Eh? My impression’s of today too? Then, I’ll say it on Fukui dialect too.
(well, there’s no way to translate the dialect, I’ll just translate what she says, and you’ll have to listen to it lol, you should be able to notice the difference in intonation and etc. =])
“To speak using my home town accent, like, it’s a bit nostalgic. Now, when I go back there and end up saying ‘jan’ (this is normal for people in Tokyo, not in Fukui) ‘you said ‘jan’ just now! You’re turning into one of them!’ they say to me. That’s not it, I’m not being affected at all. Like, like *laughs*. When I go back to my home town, I try my best to talk in Fukui-dialect too. This might be some frutless… fruitless effort *laughs*.”
Ok, that’s all for today, like *laughs*, so nostalgic! On the beginning, they told me I had to try and hide my Fukui accent. At first, I didn’t really thought of trying to lose it, and it’s not something you do naturally, since it was troubling because no one could understand me well, I had to work hard to speak in standard Japanese. When I watch a TV show from that time, it makes me realize how much I lost of it, and when someone asks if I fixed my accent and can now speak in standard Japanese, I answer “yes!” with an smile, but the other members always say “Oh, really?” *laughs*. But it’s true if you compare with how I used to be. I think I was able to grow on this time… or maybe not *laughs*. But if I speak in Fukui dialect, it pleases people in Fukui, also some of the fans get really excited when I speak with accent, so maybe I should use it once in a while (yes!! Please! =]). No one will understand a thing though *laughs*. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Email address (with an accent^^) five-ai@interfm.jp
Fan Kora promo.
Mornins Musue… Musume concert tour 2010 Fall promo

So, let’s meet again next Thursday!
Baibai!