Blast From the Past! ~Berryz & C-ute

REVIEW: Over the past couple of months, Berryz and C-ute have performed some classic songs from way back when in Uta Doki segments for their Berikyuu tv show, which has sadly now come to an end. Thanks to Hello!°C-ute I got my hands on the segments and watched them all and was pretty impressed. So I thought I'd share my thoughts with you all. Enjoy!

My Revolution
(originally by Watanabe Misato)
Yajima Maimi & Tsunagaka Momoko

Aired 6th of August

We kick off the Berikyuu Uta Doki segments with this mismatched pair of sorts. The short, cute Momoko together with the tall, cool Maimi. These girls sound great during the chorus, I think their voices blend together so well. They also have lots of fun, smiling and giggling at each other, pointing at the camera, making faces. The song is pretty meh, but the girls make the best of it. This is a cute, little performance and it's nice to see these two members enjoying themselves so much ^_^

Hito Natsu no Keiken
(originally by Yamaguchi Momoe)
Sugaya Risako

Aired 7th of August

Risako gets a solo song (surpise, surprise!) and it's a really cool song which I think Risako does her best with. It suits her deeper voice but she sounds a bit shaky in bits and could have given it a bit more energy. She doesn't have anyone else to play off of though, so that can be forgiven. The chorus is done nicely, some nice powerful vocals from Risako especially during the closing stages. She ends the song with a bang!

Natsu Matsuri
(originally by Jitterin' Jinn)
Shimizu Saki, Tokunaga Chinami, Nakajima Saki & Hagiwara Mai

Aired 8th of August

Reject group #1 (sad but true) ... oh wait, I'll call them leftover group #1, that's slightly nicer. These are some of the weaker vocalists of the two groups right here but the song isn't extremely difficult so they still do pretty well. Saki S sounds particularly nice and everyone sounds really cute together in the chorus. The girls play up for the cameras which is always very sweet ^_^

Nagisa no Haikara Ningyo
(originally by Kyoko Koizumi)
Umeda Erika and Kumai Yurina

Aired 29th of August

Ah~, the giants get put together for a duet, lovely >.< ~ It's extremely cute from the get-go as they both wave to Manoeri before beginning. They have the cute hand moves down pat and the song is all round very cutesy and sweet. Erika plays up for the camera really hilariously at one point, she seems a little more comfortable than Yurina who has trouble figuring out which camera is filming. She figures it out by the end and gives us all a cheeky little look. Ah! Too cute from the giants!

Single Bed
(originally by SharanQ)
Suzuki Airi

Aired 18th of September

Airi sings a sweet ballad from SharanQ in this clip. Like Risako, Airi has lots of solo experience and she handles it well. I've perhaps heard her vocally better before, but the song is unlike songs she has sung in the past, no doubt. She does a good job for this slow ballad and she performs as if she's performing in front of a sold out stadium. Great stage presence.

Furare Kibun de Rock'n'Roll
(originally by Tom Cat)
Sudou Maasa, Natsuyaki Miyabi, Okai Chisato & Arihara Kanna

Aired 19th of September

Leftover group #2 (wait a second ... Miyabi ... huh?) - Anywho~, these girls sing a great, uptempo track (perhaps my fav from all the Uta Doki classics in this series). It really suits all four girls who totally play up and have lots of fun, pointing at the camera and being total fools. Chisato and Miyabi sound fantastic as usual. Kanna also sounds really good (she's a bit up and down usually), Maasa is a touch shaky but still good. Maasa stands out a bit much in this performance, she looks like the other 3 girls' bodyguard >.< Hell! She could probably even be my bodyguard! I wouldn't mess with her :p

Joukyou Monogatari
(originally by SharanQ)
C-ute

Aired 22nd of September

The final two performances are group performances from C-ute and Berryz, with C-ute performing the first, SharanQ's Joukyou Monogatari.
This performance is really terrific. The girls sing in groups of two with solos from Airi and Maimi. I really enjoy the duos which are paired well with high and low vocals. Kanna/Mai sound particularly good and Airi/Chisato too ... well they all sound good. Airi is great vocally in this performance and Maimi is pretty good also. This really is one of their best performances as a group and I wish they'd sing this more mature style more often. Tsunku, pay attention!

Roppingi Shinju
(originally by Anne Lewis)
Berryz Koubou

Aired 23rd of September

Berryz close out the Uta Doki segments with this great, rocky number. Saki starts it out wonderfully: "1, 2, 3, 4!" Risako and Momoko do solos during the verse and Momo sounds WOW! Sing like that more often, enough of that cutesy crap, please (urgh, the pinky). The girls' voices blend in the chorus really well. I think some of the girls could have given a bit more attitude, but they all look really cool. Risako gets more into it towards the end and they all glare at the camera as it passes down the line towards the end. Eek! They're like the rebels who smoke in the girl's toilets at lunchtime. Watch out, boys! Berry cool performance ;)

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So there we have it. As I'm sure you could see, I was pretty impressed and enjoyed these classic tracks and these cute shuffled groups. It almost leaves me begging for new shuffle unit singles but I doubt they're ever coming back. Hope you enjoyed the perfomances as much as I did :)