ºC-ute

Cute, stylized as ℃-ute (キュート Kyūto?), is a Japanese girl group, consisting of five members. Cute is part of Hello! Project, produced by Tsunku, who also writes almost all the band's songs. The current members consist of Maimi Yajima (leader), Saki Nakajima, Airi Suzuki, Chisato Okai, and Mai Hagiwara. Cute was formed in the year 2005, consisting of seven girls from Hello! Project Kids who had not been chosen to form the group Berryz Kobo. On January 2, 2006, at the first performance of the annual Hello! Project Winter 2006: Wonderful Hearts concert tour, it was announced that Kanna Arihara, a Hello! Pro Egg member, was being added to Cute. In May–July 2006, in a span of 4 months, Cute released 4 indie singles. They received only limited distribution, being mostly sold at concerts. On October 31, 2006, Megumi Murakami left the group, officially to concentrate on her studies. On February 21, 2007, Cute's first official single "Sakura Chirari" was released. On the first day it ranked 3rd in the Oricon Daily Singles Chart, a feat not even accomplished by Morning Musume, whose debut single ranked 6th. On February 26, 2009, Hello! Project announced that Kanna Arihara was having difficulty performing on stage due to hallux valgus, or bunion deformity, and would not be able to attend Hello! Project 10th Anniversary fan club event that week. She would also be absent from Hello! Project's activities, including activities in Cute, while receiving treatment. Finally, in July 2009, Hello! Project informed that Arihara had decided to leave Cute and Hello! Project and return to the life of a normal girl. On August 1, 2009, Hello! Project posted Erika Umeda's official announcement that at the end of the upcoming Cute's 2009 fall concert tour she would be graduating from Cute and Hello! Project to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion model.[28] Her graduation was held on October[29] 25 in Osaka, at the last concert of the tour. The last single to feature Erika Umeda, "Everyday Zekkōchō!!", released on September 19, 2009, topped at number 1 in the Oricon daily singles chart and at number 2 in Oricon Weekly to become the Cute's highest-ranking single to date. On February 23, 2011 Cute released their 15th single, "Kiss Me Aishiteru". Cute's 16th single, "Momoiro Sparkling", debuted in the 4th place of the Oricon daily singles chart for May 24. It spent two consecutive weeks in the Top 30 of the Oricon Weekly, ranking 6th and 17th. On February 8, 2012 the group's 7th album, titled Dai Nana Shō 'Utsukushikutte Gomen ne', came out. Cute's 18th single "Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku" ("You ride your bicycle, while I catch the train home") was released on April 18. The music video for the song was uploaded on Cute's official YouTube channel on March 12. With more than 40,000 copies sold within the first week and reaching number 3 of the Oricon weekly singles chart, the single became their highest-selling single to date, breaking the record of their 3rd major single "Tokaikko Junjō". On September 5, 2012 Cute released their 19th single, titled "Aitai Aitai Aitai na". On January 26, 2014 at a release event, ℃-ute's 24th single titled Kokoro no Sakebi wo Uta ni Shitemita / Love take it all, was announced to be released on March 5, in 5 editions. On July 16, 2014 ºC-ute's 25th single titled The Power/Kanashiki Heaven (Single Version) will be released. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.