Saturday, August 29, 2015

The Untold Story of BPM15Q's Journey to Singapore

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They're not your normal idols. They smoke and love to eat pizza, or at least that's the image they're trying to project. BPM15Q, an idol unit comprising of former BiS member Rinahamu and model Nicamoq, are coming to Singapore this September for the inaugural MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON FESTIVAL!

They won a contest organised by CHEERZ, the idol-supporting app, coming in first with 241,333 votes, ahead of second-placed adorable Mecha High member Sayama Shiho.

UPDATE: Check out the highlights from BPM15Q's first overseas live in Singapore!


BPM15Q is actually a "New Age DJ Vocal Unit" formed with the concept of "yume-kawaii", which is characterised by fairytale-like fantasy world motifs such as pastel colours, rainbows and unicorrns. Everything about the group from their music and costumes are produced by the two members.

Smoking

Eating pizza


What BPM15Q's music sounds like, remixed by Nicamoq

Rinahamu is the self-proclaimed "princess of the strawberry country" (literally translated from "苺の国の姫様") and she was a formerly part of the infamous idol group BiS, notorious for pulling non-idol-like stunts such as appearing to be completely nude in the music video for their single "My Ixxx" (she quit before that though). She also helped lift the group's top hit, "nerve" to popularity.

1515 is Rinahamu Time!

Rinahamu's current hot pink hairstyle (we say she really is the "princess of the strawberry country")

She left the group a year after their debut and was last in the spotlight for declaring that she would retire from being an idol if she failed to sell 5000 copies of her solo debut single, "Ichigo Rinahamu" last September. Without a doubt, her fans did not let her down.


Rinahamu's live featuring all 5 songs from her first single, "Ichigo Rinahamu"

She is admired for her tenacity, travelling all over Japan to gather support and even organising her own idol festival where other idols would perform with her, Hamu Fes, in her mission to make it on her own as a solo idol. We are eagerly looking forward to watching the tireless Rinahamu perform on Singapore's shores!

Dancing to BiS hit "nerve"
(Source: Photohito)

Powers of emanating cuteness
(Source: Billboard Japan)

Nicamoq, on the other hand, is a DJ for BURUMA CREW, lyricist for sound project unit yunomi Vo and also a fashion model. She is equally as cute as her partner Rinahamu and looks aside, has demonstrated her DJ skill by producing the first song from BPM15Q, the self-titled "BPM15Q (nicamoq Remix)" which was released on Soundcloud.

Nicamoq
(Source: Mahousai)

Do you like cute girls?

Since their debut on May 31st, they have performed at several live events, such as Gorigori Festival and Idol Kansokusho LIVE at Sound Note Nagoya and So WHAT Vol. 7 at Shibuya NEO in Tokyo in June. Most recently, they mobilised their ardent legions of fans to support them and gave away free hugs in Harajaku, Shinjuku and Shibuya last weekend.

BPM15Q - Nicamoq (left) and Rinahamu (right)

Tokyo live


What you can expect from a BPM15Q live

What is CHEERZ exactly? CHEERZ is a downloadable Android and iPhone smartphone app which allows you to show your support for your favourite idol and shower them with your love. Everyday, you may cheer your idol on with CHEERs and 1 CHEER is recovered every 20 minutes.
 
CHEER your favourite idol on enough and she might just notice you!

There are daily and monthly fan rankings and occasional events where the top idols and their top-ranked fans may receive certain rewards. Past events have seen the idol group Stand-Up Hearts, ranked top for the Japan Expo event, performing in Paris themselves. The monthly top three-ranked idols will also be interviewed by popular media site Tokyo Girls Update, with the first-placed idol appearing on their NHK TV show.


BPM15Q's recently-released MV for their self-titled first single!

Recently, CHEERZ announced that they would be coming to Singapore for MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON FESTIVAL in September and the top-ranked idol would be invited along to perform at the festival too. This saw many participating idols, including veteran idol Kotone Mai, frantically rallying their supporters to cheer for them.

VOTE for your Favourite Idol to come to Singapore!CHEERZ will be coming to Moshi Moshi Nippon Festival in Singapore and...
Posted by XDantheManX Online on Friday, 10 July 2015

One of the most enthusiastic idols who caught our attention was Sayama Shiho, from idol group Aoyama Saint Hachamecha High School. She posted a picture of her face photoshopped over the merlion's and the Mecha High girls dancing atop a Singapore Airlines plane.

Someone appoint her to promote Singapore tourism in Japan please
"I want to go to Singapore..."
Great photoshop (10/10 for effort)

She was also one of the cutest idols participating in the contest. At XDantheManX Online, our weakeness is cute girls so there was no not a single doubt that she caught our attention. She is also a sweet idol who posts a birthday message to her fans everyday.

Damn, that's so cute!
She's 22!?

Shiomaru, as she is addressed by her nickname, had a strong early lead, with 7422 votes garnered barely an hour after the start of the event on Saturday, 11th July, 12.00am (JST).


Click here to read more!
...

From then onwards, Nicamoq continued to take the lead, and her vote share continued to climb steadily until the event ended on early Monday morning, 13th July, 12.00am (JST). The final votes were 241,333 for Nicamoq and 151,153 for Shiomaru, with a wide gap of 90180 votes separating the two.


Of course, BPM15Q's "free hugs" initiative on Sunday must have contributed significantly to Nicamoq's votes.


This shows us that we should never underestimate the strong and deep bond forged between idols and their supporters. For BPM15Q to be able to muster their supporters to such an extent is something truly astounding. This reminds us of why some of us support idol groups, which give a more personal touch to fans as compared to big-name artistes.

Never underestimate the power of idol fans

However, not everyone was in high spirits after BPM15Q's hardly-fought win. The morning after, the endearing Shiomaru was visibly despondent with her loss and not being able to perform in Singapore. She posted a few pictures on Twitter of her crestfallen and we felt a little sorry for her.


Thankfully, we were relieved when she posted later in the afternoon that she was feeling better.

Never mind, your cute face will appear on the CHEERZ flyers for all Singaporeans to see at Moshi Moshi Nippon.

BPM15Q were no doubt overjoyed and eagerly looking forward to coming to Singapore, excited at the prospect of performing alongside CAPSULE. That is the story of how the two idols were able to realise their dream of making their overseas debut. I am sure that Singapore will give them a warm welcome and that we will all have a fun time together this September!

I hope we get free hugs too. Rinahamu and Nicamoq, please?


Find out more about the other guests who will be coming down for MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON FESTIVAL in Singapore in September! 


UPDATE: Check out the highlights from BPM15Q's first overseas live in Singapore!



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MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON FESTIVAL in Singapore 2015
5& 6 Sept
*SCAPE Playspace (Level 1) and The Ground Theatre (Level 2) 
http://moshimoshi-nippon.sg/

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON FESTIVAL is organised by ASOBISYSTEM, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's management company. Their mission is to spread Japanese culture to the world by holding pop culture festivals introducing Japanese music, cuisine, fashion and technologies. In 2015, they will be embarking on world tour covering 8 cities- London, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Taipei, Singapore and Tokyo. The festivals in Bangkok and Taipei have concluded and were a resounding success.