Ai Takahashi
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is a Japanese pop singer associated with Hello! Project, best known as a member of Morning Musume and its most popular subgroup, Mini Moni. She is considered to have one of the most distinct and recognizable voices in the group.
Profile
- Name:
- Nickname: Takitty, Airin, , , (on Utaban)
- Birth Date: September 14, 1986
- Birth Place: Fukui Prefecture, Japan
- Bloodtype: A
- Height: 153 cm
- Hobby: classical ballet
History
Ai Takahashi joined Morning Musume in 2001 as part of the group's fifth generation, along with Makoto Ogawa, Asami Konno, and Risa Niigaki. Her debut appearance with the group was on their single "Mr.Moonlight ~Ai no BIG BAND~", and her first appearance on a Morning Musume full-length release was their fourth studio album, the appropriately named 4th Ikimashoi!. Her first appearance on a Hello! Project Summer Shuffle release was on the 2002 single "Shiawase Beam! Suki Suki Beam!" under the group name Happy 7.In 2003, she was tapped to replace Mari Yaguchi in the Morning Musume spinoff group Mini Moni, first appearing in the group's movie and its accompanying soundtrack. Her best-known nickname amongst non-Japanese fans, "Takitty", derived from the catsuit (complete with tail) that she wears in the movie.
That same year, she was part of the Morning Musume splinter group Morning Musume Sakuragumi, which performed mainly slower numbers on the group's two EPs, "Hare Ame Nochi Suki" and "Sakura Mankai", and the shuffle group 7AIR, an R&B-inspired septet.
Takahashi's vocals became more prominent on the second and final MiniMoni album, MiniMoni Songs 2 (2004), as well as on Morning Musume's singles from their Spring 2004 release "Roman~MY DEAR BOY~" onward. She also had a duet with Tsunku on the cover version of Tsunku and Ayumi Hamasaki's duet "Love ~since 1999~" on his solo album TAKE1.
In 2005, Morning Musume's first single release of the year, "THE MANPOWER!!!", featured Takahashi in a prominent co-lead-vocal role, a role she has retained on subsequent singles since. In the summer of that year, she became part of the 2005 Shuffle Group Elegies.
Takahashi is also part of the new Hello! Project kickball team, Metro Rabbits H.P., and is the captain of the team.
Hello! Project Groups
- Morning Musume (2001 — )
- Minimoni (2003 — )
- Subgroups
- *Morning Musume Sakuragumi (2003 — )
- Shuffle Groups
- *Happy 7 (2002)
- *7AIR (2003)
- *H!P All Stars (2004)
- *Elegies (2005)
Appearances
Photobooks
- , photobook starring all of the 5th generation (August 13, 2002) ISBN 4-8470-2721-3
- , first solo photobook (December 9, 2002) ISBN 4-8470-2741-8
- , second solo photobook (December 17, 2003) ISBN 4-0489-4253-0
- , third solo photobook (May 27, 2004) ISBN 4-8470-2806-6
- , fourth solo photobook (June 25, [2005]) ISBN 4-8470-2870-8
- 19, fifth solo photobook (January 27, 2006) ISBN 4-8470-2913-5
Dramas
- (January 10 — January 31, 2005)
TV Shows
- (2003 — Present)
- (July 5, 2002 — March 26, 2004
- (September 29 — December 26, 2003)
- (April 21 — April 23, 2004 | July 23 — July 29, 2004)
- (December 1 — December 6, 2004 | December 16 — December 17, 2004)
- (April 4, 2005 — Present)
Radio
DVDs
- (December 17, 2003)
External links
| Hello! Project: Morning Musume | |
| Members: Hitomi Yoshizawa (L) | Ai Takahashi | Asami Konno | Makoto Ogawa | Risa Niigaki | Miki Fujimoto (S) | Eri Kamei | Sayumi Michishige | Reina Tanaka | Koharu Kusumi | |
| Graduated: Yuko Nakazawa | Aya Ishiguro | Asuka Fukuda | Kei Yasuda | Sayaka Ichii | Natsumi Abe | Maki Goto | Nozomi Tsuji | Ai Kago | Kaori Iida | Mari Yaguchi | Rika Ishikawa | |
| Discography | |
|---|---|
| Singles: Demo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | The Manpower | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Studio Albums: First Time | Second Morning | 3rd-LOVE Paradise- | 4th Ikimashoi! | No.5 (Number Five) | Ai no Dai 6 Kan | Rainbow 7 | |
| Other Albums: Best! Morning Musume 1 | Best! Morning Musume 2 | Early Single Box | |
| TV shows: Hello! Morning | Futarigoto | Magical Biyuuden | Musume Document 2005 | Musume DOKYU! |
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