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Ohohoho! Well, I got to admit, SMAP isn't necessarily the best vocal group in Japan...that is because, they are an idol group... I like SMAP, I like TOTO. So there. ^_^

Quoted from My First Gossip Blog

It is rumoured that in the episode of SMAPXSMAP aired on 24th March 2008, special guests Toto (some American grammy award winning rock band I’ve never heard of until now) were rather exasperated by SMAP’s lousy singing skills. So exasperated, in fact, that Toto tried to “teach” them how to sing, and everybody on the set, including staff, were “frozen” in awkwardness.

Apparently, Toto’s leader Steve Lukather commented that he was shocked by the low level of SMAP’s singing ability and even said that Toto could not sing with people like them. Other members of Toto tried to calm Steve Lukather down, but Angry Lukather singled out 2 members of SMAP and said that they had only been for voice lessons of a 30% standard. (pardon the awkwardness of this phrasing)

Did such an exchange ever happen? Well what WAS shown in the show was apparently this:

Inagaki Goro: “although we’ve had many special guests from overseas on this show, this was the hardest.”

Toto : Why?

Goro: Because there were a lot of english words in the melody

Toto: No, considering it was done in such a short time, it was well done. Thank you.

When contacted, Johnny’s Jimusho had this to say, “There was no such thing as Toto getting angry. Toto just got the members of SMAP to gather near the piano because they felt it was easier to sing like this. As for voice training lessons, Toto merely gave them “advice”. And it was not to two members but to all 5 members of SMAP. The atmosphere was also very nice and friendly. “

I couldn’t find the video on youtube (taken down!) but here’s a video from a Toto’s fansite, which was taken randomly when they were just standing around. Anyway, nobody knows if the above is true, just that the blog from which i translated this entry guesses that if it were, those 2 members were most probably Inagaki Gorou and Nakai Masahiro. HMM. don’t know about that, not much of a SMAP fan heh heh.

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, 33, a member of the popular idol group SMAP, chatted in Korean on Monday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the news program NEWS23. In the program, Kusanagi appeared as a representative of about 100 audience members. Kusanagi told Lee: “I started learning the Korean language because I want to work with Korean actors who I respect.” Lee wished him well, telling him, “I hope you’ll be popular in South Korea as well.”

After the talk, Kusanagi said, “I would like to act as a bridge between Japan and Korea. I hope I can appear in Korean films.”

japantoday

‘SMAP meal set’ at Osaka Prefectural government. Photo from Sankei Sports

The Osaka prefectural government on Wednesday said that it has suspended the so-called “SMAP meal set” at its cafeteria for its employees. The meal set was released two weeks ago because Osaka Gov Toru Hashimoto liked it when he appeared on SMAP’s popular Fuji TV program. The popular idol group created the meal for him.

A spokesperson for the prefectural government said, “We tried to use the meal set to promote Osaka, but unfortunately, it became a promotion for a specific talent and TV program, which is not our purpose.”

Asked about the suspension of the meal set, a Fuji spokesperson said, “We didn’t request the Osaka prefectural government to suspend it. It is their decision.”

japantoday

 If Park Jin Young’s songs are good enough for Will Smith, Mase and Cassie, then the Asian Soul sure is good enough for SMAP. J-pop’s “best selling group ever” has included the song writing skills of JYP in their new album, [Super.Modern.Artistic.Performance] which drops on 9.24.

For coherence sake, SMAP also has been contributing to the album, Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and Burt Bacharach (legendary composer of classics such as “What the world needs now” and “Raindrops keep falling on my head”)

source: seoulbeats

 SMAP has announced a nationwide tour starting in late September, kicking off with a historic series of 6 performances at the Tokyo Dome. No other Japanese artist has performed that many times at the Dome in a single tour. The only musicians who have surpassed that mark are The Rolling Stones (10 shows) and Michael Jackson (9 shows).

The group will also be releasing their first album in two years, titled "super.modern.artistic.performance." It will go on sale on September 24, the same day their tour starts. The 19-track album will include arrangements in various genres such as jazz and classical, and overseas artists like Burt Bacharach and Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am are collaborating on it.

source: tokyograph

 SMAP will release their new album, super.modern.artistic.performance on the 24th of September ^^

Nag-guest sila Ueno Juri at Tamaki Hiroshi para sa Nodame Cantabile. Bumili pala si Kimura Takuya at Koyuki ng underwear para kay Ueno Juri sa birthday nya (magkasama sila sa dorama na Engine). Sabi ni Kimura okay lang daw sa kanyang pumasok ng women underwear shop. Wala daw siyang iniisip na malice. Parang isang regular shop lang ang dating sa kanya. Hehe. Usually men ayaw eh. Hehe. Sa kanya no problem. ^_^

^^ kakatapos ko lang panoorin yung engine so meron pa palang relation kahit tapos na..

Can you please post the schedule of the 2008 SMAP tour in Japan?  Do they have a concert in the Kansai area like Osaka and  Kobe?

cherry yui-san...

here's what i got from live journal  (http://akani304.livejournal.com/43981.html )l:

東京ドーム (tokyo dome)
9/24(水）9/25（木）9/26（金）9/28(日）9/29(月）9/30（火）

福岡ドーム (fukuoka dome)
11/19.11/20.11/21（水・木・金）

ナゴヤドーム (nagoya dome)
11/26.11/27（水・木）

札幌ドーム (sapporo dome)
12/2.12/3（火・水）

SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi will be starring in a period film titled "Ballad: Namonaki Koi no Uta". The movie's story is about the love story between a Sengoku-era general (Kusanagi) and a princess (Yui Aragaki).

It is actually based on the plot of the 2002 animated movie "Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yobu Appare! Sengoku Daikassen." The said film won many awards, such as the grand prize in the animation division of the Japan Media Arts Festival.

credits: tokyograph