The 5th general election to decide who should be the top member of megapopular all-girl idol group AKB48 and who will perform their next single will be held on June 8 at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama.
The general election for AKB48 is the largest annual event in Japanese music and entertainment. It has traditionally been an event where fans buy CDs (only sold in Japan) and vote on who should be the top member. Last year, over a million votes were collected, and the Japanese media and level of general awareness of the event are almost on par with a real political election.
Fans from all over the world can share in the excitement of the general election through Google+. By sending their support messages to their favorite AKB48 members through this campaign, fans from anywhere can connect with AKB48.
This time, AKB fans will also vote for which members they would like to see perform the group's 32nd as-yet-untitled single which will be released in August. The first section, starting at 3 p.m., will be a live performance by all AKB members. The second part, starting at 5:30 p.m., will be a ballot counting event. Eligibility will be expanded to include senior AKB members (over 4 years in the group).
The voting period for the fans will be from 10 a.m. on May 21 until 3 p.m. on the day before the election, June 7.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
Login to comment
AlexCook
Make sure they have paramedics with them just in case they have a seizer, heart attack, or fainting in the moment.
carney3888
Yaaaawnnn!
nath
The AKB svengali really knows how to pander to his chosen market. Genius!!! Aika Ota gets my vote.
himawari
This quote made me sad.
Ranger_Miffy2
I will vote AKB48 for PM.
Ewan Huzarmy
This manufactured pop shows that we're heading to hell in a handbasket, this and anything related to Simon Cowell , or Johnny's should be outlawed for the sake of humanity.
Dave Grohl recently commented, " Could you imagine Bod Dylan singing 'Blowing in the Wind' in front of Christine Aguilera". If John Lennon or Jim Morisson were starting today, they wouldn't get signed in a million years (Jello Biaffra).
DudeDeuce
and their messages will end up in the trash unread like Taylor Swift's fan mail.
Surf O'Holic
How about a vote to exile the whole lot of them to populate the Senkakus. Their fans are invited to join them.
Disillusioned
I am curious about the AKB voter turnout compared to the federal election.
Icecreampoliticsfova
I hope Mayuyu takes first place and Paruru second :-)
Mirai Hayashi
The downfall of the Japanese music industry.
nath
Not exactly anything to fall from THAT great a height though is there...?!
greenlight
@Ewan Huzarmy: As if manufactured pop never existed before? It's not that music in general was better before, it's that the crap tends to get forgotten. There was lots of completely manufactured super-popular music like "The Archies", or even The Monkees in the beginning
DaveAllTogether
These elections suck. The girls at the top will keep getting elected, though their actual rank may change. Since Atsuko Maeda left Yuko Oshima will probably come out on top again. This means that we will continue to see her fronting the group, which in turn means her popularity will not decrease, and therefore she will be elected number one again. It's a vicious cycle.
Come on eveybody Let's cast our votes and take down Oshima. I want to see a member with something that resembles a personality. Vote Miyazawa Sae!
Netemo Sametemo
AKB48 32nd single Senbatsu General Election How To Install and Vote AKB Mobile Apps for iOS Let's Vote for Kashiwagi Yuki ! Yukirin !(period 5.21-6.7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqGx5oupkac