22:35
Dran
A few days ago a rumour surfaced that the Stockholm Japan Expo was going to be cancelled, and when the site went offline it made us all incredibly worried. Then the official confirmation arrived around mid-day yesterday.
Dear Customer,Unfortunately we have to inform you that Stockholm Japan Expo 2009 is cancelled.There are several reasons for this, the financial change in world economy, severe competition from other festivals/concerts as well as poor ticket sale.This means you will get your ticket purchase back by www.ticnet.se. More info about this will be announced on our website (www.japanexpo.se) next week.We deeply apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused and hope that Stockholm Japan Expo will be feasible in the near future.
With sincere apologies,
SJX-Crew
Needless to say, I was angry. Angry that after paying for it all and investing so much money and stress on the fact that I was going to see Buono! perform live. Angry after this had been snatched away from me. I felt like I, and thousands of other people, had been lied to by the Prime Minister himself.
Now, I've had a little time to think and clear my head though. I feel a little calmer, although the reality of it all still hasn't fully sunk in yet.
It's clear that Buono! and UFA have nothing to do with the decision, and it's trully a shame that we're sending such a message to them of the European fans. After this, I'd be reluctant to have the girls perform in Europe any time soon. I'm sure UFA are probably thinking the same. But I really doubt that the girls had any intention to perform here before this, they were invited by the SJX organisers (in collaboration with NewNippon, I believe) to perform at the expo. Much the same way I imagine Morning Musume were invited to Anime Expo. UFA were promised a sum of money, and they agreed to have the girls pay LA and Stockholm a visit. I guess the hope then was to have this kickstart a western expansion by the agency and the talents.
We Europeans haven't gained anything, nor have we lost anything short of an oppertunity. The Battle for Britain is clearly much further off than we had thought.
The biggest consolodation that I have found in the cancellation is that I will no longer have to perform wotagei for Buono! I said I wanted to learn and perform wotagei for them, and I still have that dream. But if there's one thing I've learned from my practice, it's that Buono! are a difficult group to learn the wotagei to. Their music isn't exactly traditional J-Pop, and I've had a little trouble differentiating between who is actually singing and when - particularly Miyabi and Airi, as when singing as part of Buono! the two have very similiar voices. I really don't think I'm ready for them.
Had the group been Berryz Koubou instead, I probably wouldn't have that sense of relief, as I'm much more confident when it comes to Berryz songs which are much more familiar to me, and the voices I can tell apart in an instant.
I had bought myself a happi coat specifically for this concert though, and I will regret that I won't be able to use it.
Despite this, I know many of us have still got money invested in visiting Stockholm as non-refundable and are still planning on visiting. I'm one of these people. And I look forward to meeting any fellow fans and wota who will make the pilgrimage, even if the prophets are gone. I'm confident that we will have a wonderful time regardless, after all... Stockholm is supposed to be a wonderful city and the Swedes a wonderful people.
Now, I've had a little time to think and clear my head though. I feel a little calmer, although the reality of it all still hasn't fully sunk in yet.
It's clear that Buono! and UFA have nothing to do with the decision, and it's trully a shame that we're sending such a message to them of the European fans. After this, I'd be reluctant to have the girls perform in Europe any time soon. I'm sure UFA are probably thinking the same. But I really doubt that the girls had any intention to perform here before this, they were invited by the SJX organisers (in collaboration with NewNippon, I believe) to perform at the expo. Much the same way I imagine Morning Musume were invited to Anime Expo. UFA were promised a sum of money, and they agreed to have the girls pay LA and Stockholm a visit. I guess the hope then was to have this kickstart a western expansion by the agency and the talents.
We Europeans haven't gained anything, nor have we lost anything short of an oppertunity. The Battle for Britain is clearly much further off than we had thought.
The biggest consolodation that I have found in the cancellation is that I will no longer have to perform wotagei for Buono! I said I wanted to learn and perform wotagei for them, and I still have that dream. But if there's one thing I've learned from my practice, it's that Buono! are a difficult group to learn the wotagei to. Their music isn't exactly traditional J-Pop, and I've had a little trouble differentiating between who is actually singing and when - particularly Miyabi and Airi, as when singing as part of Buono! the two have very similiar voices. I really don't think I'm ready for them.
Had the group been Berryz Koubou instead, I probably wouldn't have that sense of relief, as I'm much more confident when it comes to Berryz songs which are much more familiar to me, and the voices I can tell apart in an instant.
I had bought myself a happi coat specifically for this concert though, and I will regret that I won't be able to use it.
Despite this, I know many of us have still got money invested in visiting Stockholm as non-refundable and are still planning on visiting. I'm one of these people. And I look forward to meeting any fellow fans and wota who will make the pilgrimage, even if the prophets are gone. I'm confident that we will have a wonderful time regardless, after all... Stockholm is supposed to be a wonderful city and the Swedes a wonderful people.
1 comments:
E-mail the Swedish Embassy. Maybe at least the Buono! show can be salvaged. Details here:
Rad
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