News

Winners of Summer UNIDOL 2015

Third year, School of Culture, Media and Society
Marina Kawakami

Third year, School of Culture, Media and Society
Nozomi Nakayama

Third year, School of Culture, Media and Society
Moeno Itabashi

UNIDOL is a national competition where female university students compete through performances that incorporate idol inspired music and choreography. The competition is held twice a year and a winner is chosen among sixteen groups who advance through regional preliminary rounds by judges and audience members.

The winner of this year’s summer competition was the circle “Don’t Call Us Wasejo,” wasejo being slang for a female Waseda student. Circle member Marina Kawakami said, “We have wanted to win this competition since we started this group. I am so happy we won and it is thanks to the other members that we pulled it off.”

Kawakami formed the group with nine other students in her first year at Waseda. Since then, their unique performances have taken them to the finals of every competition they entered. However, they had struggled to achieve the top rank among audience votes. “We worried about how we could deliver a performance that leaves an impression on the audience. We discussed songs, choreography, and outfits over and over until we were satisfied,” said Nozomi Nakayama.

At this year’s summer event, they gathered the most votes ever at a UNIDOL competition and finished in first place. “So many people were cheering for us. This amazing experience is very important to us,” said Moeno Itabashi.The group gave their farewell performance at the 2015 Waseda Festival and will be forever remembered by those who saw them.

Marina Kawakami (right) is from Saitama and graduated from Shirayuri Gakuen Senior High School. Nozomi Nakayama (center) is from Tokyo and graduated from Komaba Senior High School. Moeno Itabashi (left) is from Tochigi and graduated from Asahikaga Girls’ High School. Kawakami and Nakayama have practiced ballet since they children and Itabashi is experienced in kendo and iaido. All three love idols and a especially big fans of Momoiro Clover Z. They formed their group ins 2013 and were recognized as an official club in 2014. They are ceasing their activities this year in order to focus on job-hunting.

Original article from Waseda Weekly