KagenamiQ (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jttr) wrote,@ 2007-03-29 14:40:00 |
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Oh. My. God.
Am not sure where to start...the last couple of weeks have been a whirl, and now tonight...whoa.
Weekend before last, I went to Roppongi to interview for the vocal class to be taught by MIQ. The interview was at what will be the class site, a small live house/nightclub. Prospective students were being interviewed in groups of three, by MIQ herself and the owner of the live house. I'd imagined the interview would be a matter of answering questions...but nope, they had us get up on stage one by one and speak about ourselves and why we wanted to take the class. Mannn, it was not pretty when my turn came; was extra-incoherent, stammering and stumbling around. But they were both really kind, and patiently asked questions for clarification.
After that, we each had to sing a verse of something. The live house has a karaoke system, but my first two choices weren't on it. Fell back and punted to whatever was on there by Akira Kushida (the only MIQ song the system had was "Time For L-Gaim," and no way did I want to butcher that in front of her!); the system had "Taiyou Sentai Sunvulcan," so did that. The two consulted, and then told the three of us that a letter confirming the class times and fees would be mailed soon, and that the first class would be April 8, and that we should bring songs that we want to work on.
That sounded like we were all in, but I didn't dare believe it until the letter arrived two days later. Holy cats. I'm gonna get to study singing with MIQ!!
Then came last weekend, the Tokyo Anime Fair at Big Sight. Saturday night was Columbia's Tokyo Ani-Song Festival there, and attendance was limited to 1,000 people. Mighty M and I were both lucky enough to receive the magic postcard to get in, and we lined up just after noon, number 15 and 16 from the front (early enough to make the first row!). The line eventually stretched all the way down that big metal-and-glass corridor that leads from the central area to the East Hall, doubled back on itself, and drew a surprising amount of stares and snapshots from flocks of foreigners there for the Anime Fair (mannn, folks, if a big line is so surprising, c'mon back for Comiket or WonderFestival and see a line 3,000 times this size!).
On around 5pm, noticed a stir near the front of the line, and two Japanese guys with clipboards entered and headed for Mighty M and me. Did we live in Japan? Were we familiar with anime and its Akihabara subculture? Yes and yes... Would we be interested in participating in a competition with other foreigners on the [name withheld ;^) ] TV show?
I thought Mighty M would be a shoo-in. She said she'd do it if I would too. So I filled in the entry form...and then she didn't, chickening out! They took a photo of me, said they'd e-mail a questionnaire that they'd need to receive back by Monday, and headed on...and I stood there with knuckles up to my mouth and prob'ly a deer-in-the-headlights look, realizing just what this would involve if by some miracle I made it in.
Sure enough, the questionnaire was waiting when I got back to the apartment the next day: how did you come to be in Japan? What are some of your favorite anime? Who are some of your favorite seiyuu? What line of dialogue from an anime has special importance to you, and why? What is a phrase from an anime song that means something special to you, and why? How many figures and collectible toys do you have? How many CDs? DVDs? Do you have any unrelated interests? And what three famous people do you hope to meet someday? It took me most of Sunday night and a good chunk of Monday morning to fill it out. Gave it a last look-over at lunch, e-mailed it in...and a few hours later, they telephoned to ask further questions! What anime songs do I know? Have I ever cosplayed? They asked me to e-mail the answers, and asked if I could also send a photo of my room. I got all that off to them that night.
Tuesday they telephoned again, asking if I could send a full-body photo (my boss, who appears pretty frequently on Japanese TV, said that's a common part of the decision-making process).
Yesterday was quiet. Today was quiet.
But tonight, an e-mail came: the competition will be held over three days -- April 16, 18 and 20 (the resulting show will be broadcast in May) -- and if that schedule was all right, would I be interested in being one of the contestants? Contestants receive 20,000 yen for appearing, and the winner of the competition gets a prize of 500,000 yen!
Oh. My. God.
If I said yes, I might be mortified for the rest of my life about being the doofy-ass geeky gaijin who panicked and couldn't think straight and spoke crappinese on national TV.
But if I said yes, maybe, maybe the planets will be in alignment and it might all go okay.
A few minutes ago I wrote back and said yes.
And now I'm gonna go faint...!
Am not sure where to start...the last couple of weeks have been a whirl, and now tonight...whoa.
Weekend before last, I went to Roppongi to interview for the vocal class to be taught by MIQ. The interview was at what will be the class site, a small live house/nightclub. Prospective students were being interviewed in groups of three, by MIQ herself and the owner of the live house. I'd imagined the interview would be a matter of answering questions...but nope, they had us get up on stage one by one and speak about ourselves and why we wanted to take the class. Mannn, it was not pretty when my turn came; was extra-incoherent, stammering and stumbling around. But they were both really kind, and patiently asked questions for clarification.
After that, we each had to sing a verse of something. The live house has a karaoke system, but my first two choices weren't on it. Fell back and punted to whatever was on there by Akira Kushida (the only MIQ song the system had was "Time For L-Gaim," and no way did I want to butcher that in front of her!); the system had "Taiyou Sentai Sunvulcan," so did that. The two consulted, and then told the three of us that a letter confirming the class times and fees would be mailed soon, and that the first class would be April 8, and that we should bring songs that we want to work on.
That sounded like we were all in, but I didn't dare believe it until the letter arrived two days later. Holy cats. I'm gonna get to study singing with MIQ!!
Then came last weekend, the Tokyo Anime Fair at Big Sight. Saturday night was Columbia's Tokyo Ani-Song Festival there, and attendance was limited to 1,000 people. Mighty M and I were both lucky enough to receive the magic postcard to get in, and we lined up just after noon, number 15 and 16 from the front (early enough to make the first row!). The line eventually stretched all the way down that big metal-and-glass corridor that leads from the central area to the East Hall, doubled back on itself, and drew a surprising amount of stares and snapshots from flocks of foreigners there for the Anime Fair (mannn, folks, if a big line is so surprising, c'mon back for Comiket or WonderFestival and see a line 3,000 times this size!).
On around 5pm, noticed a stir near the front of the line, and two Japanese guys with clipboards entered and headed for Mighty M and me. Did we live in Japan? Were we familiar with anime and its Akihabara subculture? Yes and yes... Would we be interested in participating in a competition with other foreigners on the [name withheld ;^) ] TV show?
I thought Mighty M would be a shoo-in. She said she'd do it if I would too. So I filled in the entry form...and then she didn't, chickening out! They took a photo of me, said they'd e-mail a questionnaire that they'd need to receive back by Monday, and headed on...and I stood there with knuckles up to my mouth and prob'ly a deer-in-the-headlights look, realizing just what this would involve if by some miracle I made it in.
Sure enough, the questionnaire was waiting when I got back to the apartment the next day: how did you come to be in Japan? What are some of your favorite anime? Who are some of your favorite seiyuu? What line of dialogue from an anime has special importance to you, and why? What is a phrase from an anime song that means something special to you, and why? How many figures and collectible toys do you have? How many CDs? DVDs? Do you have any unrelated interests? And what three famous people do you hope to meet someday? It took me most of Sunday night and a good chunk of Monday morning to fill it out. Gave it a last look-over at lunch, e-mailed it in...and a few hours later, they telephoned to ask further questions! What anime songs do I know? Have I ever cosplayed? They asked me to e-mail the answers, and asked if I could also send a photo of my room. I got all that off to them that night.
Tuesday they telephoned again, asking if I could send a full-body photo (my boss, who appears pretty frequently on Japanese TV, said that's a common part of the decision-making process).
Yesterday was quiet. Today was quiet.
But tonight, an e-mail came: the competition will be held over three days -- April 16, 18 and 20 (the resulting show will be broadcast in May) -- and if that schedule was all right, would I be interested in being one of the contestants? Contestants receive 20,000 yen for appearing, and the winner of the competition gets a prize of 500,000 yen!
Oh. My. God.
If I said yes, I might be mortified for the rest of my life about being the doofy-ass geeky gaijin who panicked and couldn't think straight and spoke crappinese on national TV.
But if I said yes, maybe, maybe the planets will be in alignment and it might all go okay.
A few minutes ago I wrote back and said yes.
And now I'm gonna go faint...!
