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Ai Takahashi Profile |
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Birth Date: September 14, 1986
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Birth Place: Sakai, Fukui, Japan
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Birth Name: Ai Takahashi
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Height: 5'0"
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Biography |
Ai Takahashi (高橋 愛, Takahashi Ai?, born September 14, 1986)
is a Japanese pop singer associated with Hello! Project,
best known as the sub-leader of Morning Musume and member of
its most popular subgroup, Mini Moni.
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
Ikimasshoi!. Her first appearance on a Hello! Project
shuffle unit 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 Mini Moni Ja Movie: Okashina Daibouken and
its accompanying soundtrack. Her best-known nickname amongst
non-Japanese fans, "Takitty", derived from the cat suit
(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 Mini Moni 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 captain of the Hello! Project kickball
team, Metro Rabbits H.P..
In 2006, Takahashi played the lead role, Sapphire, in the
musical "Ribbon no Kishi The Musical" which was a
collaboration work of Takarazuka Revue (a famous Japanese
all-female musical group) and Hello! Project. The musical is
based on Tezuka Osamu's manga and also stars v-u-den, Nozomi
Tsuji, Aya Matsuura, Natsumi Abe, and Marcia and Kaoru Ebira
of the Takarazuka Revue.
After then-leader Hitomi Yoshizawa graduated from Morning
Musume on May 6, the current sub-leader, Miki Fujimoto
ascended to the leader position. Takahashi then became the
new sub-leader of the group. |
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