Reborn Japan for entertainment

Chapter 699: Ninety-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-one people

In 2011, this is the sixth year of AKB48's debut.

In the past six years, AKB tried to be abandoned by Sony, and was once caught in a disbandment storm; it also tried for as long as eight months, and could not release new singles in the mainstream market. . .

However, these girls with idol dreams in their hearts, faced all kinds of difficulties and survived!

Since the song "RIVER", a strong whirlwind has officially blown up in the Japanese entertainment industry, and since then it has slowly reached the pinnacle of idols!
In the past two years, no matter whether they were despised by many musicians or criticized by the media, AKB48 still maintained an invincible attitude, and Zhang Zhang's singles broke one million. Step by step, it has become a leader in the Japanese music scene. The unshakable national girl group!

Even the debut single of the sister group, with its huge influence, set a new record for the first week sales of female singers!
It can be said that today's Japanese music scene is the era of AKB!
So, when Sony called out the name "AKB Formula Rival" and announced the creation of a brand new female idol group, how strong was the public's reaction to this!

Not only Tokyo, but people in big cities such as Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, etc., are all attracted by this breaking news from Sony!
The selection this time is much more grand than the grand occasion when AKB held the first-term selection six years ago!

After all, this is an idol girl group jointly produced by Sony, Dentsu, and Asahi. The resources and contacts that can be mobilized can be said to be no worse than AKB, which is at its peak and has major firms involved!

The advertisement of "Nogizaka is recruiting first-year students" was placed in more than [-] cities across the country, and the coverage reached the whole of Japan!

The major media, the Internet, newspapers and magazines all focused on reporting this national selection activity.

Moreover, in order to make full use of Kiyoshi Sakamoto's fame, Sony specially asked him to shoot a short selection video, sending the most sincere greetings to girls all over the country.

In the picture, Kiyoshi Sakamoto, wearing a leisurely suit, sat on the sofa, faced the camera, and smiled:

"Hi everyone, I'm Kiyoshi Sakamoto, and I'm also the producer of Nogizaka46. Please give me your advice."

"Nogizaka46, as the "AKB official opponent", will hold a nationwide audition this June to recruit Nogizaka's first-year students! If you like the stage, also like singing and dancing, and show your truest charm, then you should come to participate Selection!"

"Dreams are not just dreams! As long as you dare to take the first step, maybe the dream is in front of you!"

"I'm waiting for you at Sony!"

Kiyoshi Sakamoto's VTR is like adding fuel to the fire, completely making the girls in Japan boil!

They don't care whether Kiyoshi Sakamoto has any experience in making idol girl groups.

Kiyoshi Sakamoto's handsome face was enough to make them decide to sign up.

What's more, Nogizaka's primary election requirements are not many, but very few.

You only need to be between the ages of 12 and 22, and then send a document with your own photo and basic information.

Even, for the convenience of girls, Sony has specially opened a registration channel on the official website, so that girls can participate in it more simply and quickly.

It is precisely because of such a simple registration process, coupled with overwhelming publicity, the fame of Sony and Kiyoshi Sakamoto, that all the girls across the country who dream of becoming an idol and singing and dancing on stage are eager to try.

Numerous mails and envelopes seemed to have grown a pair of wings, carrying the dreams of girls, and flew to Sony's mailbox one after another.

In just one week, the number of applicants for the Nogizaka selection reached an astonishing 2 people!

This number directly delighted Masaki Chiba, Kenji Kitagawa and the others at the meeting.

The more applicants, the more choices Sony can make.

And the quality of qualified members of Nogizaka will only get higher. . .

Kiyoshi Sakamoto, who was working on the production of "Tong Island" at the film studio, also got the good news by phone.

After briefly encouraging Masaki Chiba, Kiyoshi Sakamoto, who hung up the phone, also looked at the movie film in his hand, and muttered to himself involuntarily:

"Has it started..."

. . .

This selection, like a sudden storm, gathered the attention of the entire entertainment industry and the public.

Many people think that this is the most idle young man in Japan, and he is trying again in the idol field!
Singer, actor, writer, film supervisor, screenwriter and other multiple identities, Sakamoto Kiyoshi, this time, wants to add a new identity for himself: idol girl group producer!
Moreover, he also directly pointed the finger at Yasushi Akimoto, the founder of the idol girl group and the father of AKB!

The title of "AKB Official Opponent" is a challenge sent by Kiyoshi Sakamoto to Yasushi Akimoto, and it is also a goal for Nogizaka46 who has not yet debuted: AKB48!

This duel is not without people's attention. . .

Some people boldly speculate whether Akimoto Yasushi's AKB will continue to dominate the female idols, or Sakamoto Kiyoshi's Nogizaka, like David challenging the giant Goliath, will become the person who personally pushes AKB down from the altar. This may be the next few years. The most interesting long-term life TV series!
. . . . . .

On June 6, the three-week registration period finally came to an end.

In the initial selection, there was no information about Mai Shiraishi, Nanami Hashimoto, and Nanase Nishino.

Although they had already decided to join the group, the three of them still had to participate in Nogizaka's selection, just a formality.

It's just that the three people who signed contracts with Sony earlier will not participate in the primary selection, but will directly enter the second round of selection, which is the interview review stage. . .

On the other hand, after the registration was over, the staff was allowed to conduct a preliminary selection. Masaki Chiba, the executive producer, also immediately called Kiyoshi Sakamoto.

As soon as the call came, Kiyoshi Sakamoto knew that Chiba Masaki was here to report work.

Without too much politeness, he put down the scissors in his hand and asked directly: "Is the primary election over?"

"Well, registration was closed yesterday."

On the phone, Chiba Masaki's tone was filled with unbearable excitement, "Guess how many final applicants we have this time?"

"Uh... [-]?" Kiyoshi Sakamoto was helpless, and just reported a number that was neither high nor low.

"Ding! Wrong! It's 350 people!!!"

"...So many?!" Although Kiyoshi Sakamoto wanted to complain, "Just say more than 9 people." However, he was somewhat taken aback by this number.

"By the way, Qing, the interview review will be held on the water day next week. Are you done with it?"

"Well, it's almost there."

"That's good..."

After hanging up the phone, Sakamoto Kiyoshi did not immediately devote himself to editing the film, but fell into deep thought.

"Song, which one should I use..."

(End of this chapter)