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Name: Matsuura Aya
Matsuura Aya is a Japanese pop singer and actress who made her official debut in 2001 with Hello! Project. She initially auditioned in the 2000 "Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee Audition" and was chosen out of 1500 applicants. Before her official singing debut she starred in the mini-drama "Bishoujo Nikki" (Pretty Girl Diary). Her singing debut came in 2001 with the single "Dokkidoki! LOVE Mail" (Exciting! Love Mail) and immediately was recognized for her cute personality and music. The singles that followed her debut all ranked in the top 10 of the Oricon, with many of them being in the top 5.
Aya began to rack up awards and continued to sing and act, appearing as pop singer Yorico in a television drama in 2002 and making her film debut in 2003 with "Ao no Honoo" (Blue Flame). Meanwhile, she had become one of the most popular soloists under the Hello! Project umbrella (rivaling Goto Maki) and as an active participant in the group, she was part of several one-time units including Gomattou (with Maki and Fujimoto Miki) and the annual shuffle units. Additionally, she was also part of H!P's futsal team, Gatas Brilhantes H.P. and the image girl for a number of campaigns.
Aya's steady releases started to dwindle in 2005 as she focused on touring, acting, and working the variety show circuit as a regular. She starred in the film "Sukeban Deka Codename = Asamiya Saki" (Delinquent Girl Detective Codename = Asamiya Saki), a spin-off/continuation of the original "Sukeban Deka" films. Used in the film was a song by the next unit Aya would become part of, GAM, with Fujimoto Miki. (GAM stood for "Great Aya & Miki.") When GAM made their official debut in September 2006, Aya's solo activities were all but put on hold and GAM was touted as the next best thing to come out of H!P, with fans considering it a powergroup of the stronger vocalists in H!P. All three of their singles made it to the top 10, and a fourth planned for release in 2007, but Fujimoto Miki's resignation from Morning Musume after she was hit with a scandal (being photographed with her boyfriend...lame) also meant GAM was being put on hold and the duo went on an indefinite hiatus, leaving Aya to work on new solo material.
Unfortunately, none of her post-GAM singles or albums have fared nearly as well as her previous music. This might be due to the music change - beginning in 2006, Aya began to sing more mature-sounding music to match her age, as she was no longer a teenager. Her songs began to take on a slight jazz influence and faded from teen pop into adult contemporary, and this has widely been Aya's genre since.
It was announced in fall 2008 that Aya, along with several other older members of H!P, would be graduating in March 2009. Aya will release one more single and album before this, but her future is unknown right now. There are rumors that she's already been resigned to zetima (the label most H!P acts are on) with non-H!P affiliation, but this is a rumor. I think no matter what, Aya can hold on to her reputation as a popular singer and make a comeback with self-produced/written material. <3 Here's to you, Ayaya!
From That Sky is maintained and owned by Wapiko. I have no affiliation with Matsuura Aya. I am making no profit from this website; it is just a fan effort made by a fan. No infringement is intended.