UNIDOL 2021 Fresh: Your Dose of Vitamins
The Fresh edition of UNIDOL welcomes first-time participants to UNIDOL contest to shine on stage.
Things are not that simple though. Some girls are coming under the banners of big powerhouses and
wield on their shoulders the expectations of their senpais. The SPH mellmuse group is one example
of such. The senpais have won the Unidol main competition several times. Anything but 1st place
would be lackluster for the girls. UNIDOL FRESH is the stage for these girls to prove their worths and
allow them to later stand on the same stage as their senpais at UNIDOL main contest.
The event this time was held over two distinct days this year namely and Berry and Citrus edition.
First beginning with the secret guests: The Berry secret guest was UP UP GIRLS (2). They performed
their debut single “Ni no Hashi Dancing“, “Ryou Omoi no ♡ Shirushi“, “Be Lonely together” and their
first 3-single EP “NATSUMEGU” to be released on November, 16th . The girls filled the room with
cheers and hyped everyone. Upon closing, they invited the public to come to their one-man live at
Zepp Tokyo on November, 26th.
The Citrus secret guest was Luce Twinkle Wink☆. Luce Twinkle Wink☆ performed 4 songs: their first
major release songs “Koi-iro♡Shikou Kairo“, “1st Love Story“, “Symphony” and also their latest single
“Terminal ～Bokura、Arubeki basho～” to be released on November, 24th . The UNIDOL participants were
particularly ecstatic by the performance. The fact that some Luce Twinkle Wink☆ members are also in
college might have made them more relatable to the contestants.
Now onto the main competition: the Citrus was rather tough bracket hosting several
powerhouses nevertheless the berry did produce some interesting performances like the
passionate solo performance of Yume♡Chu.
3rd place at the Berry edition was Blue Principal. Right after the announcement the members
bursted in tears, voices of their senpais could be heard. It was the first time ever for Blue Principal to
stand on the podium in an Unidol contest. The members vowed to use it as a stepping stone and
make Blue Principal grow stronger.
Playlist:
Shifuku Cinderella – Houkago Princess
Mirai to ha?- SKE48
Asato Kawaii – Hinatazaka46
Daiboken wo yoroshiku – DIALOGUE+
Half of the members of Chocolat Lumière had stage experiences through the HIGHDOL contest (UNIDOL
version for high schoolers). It did not fail them and got them the runner-up position.
Chocolat Lumière also won the best dress award for this Berry edition.
Playlist:
Memorial – i☆Ris
Setsuna Strings – Tebasaki Sensation
Yomibitoshirazu no Love song – Wasuta
Bombs! came up on stage with their 17 members, the largest roster in their history. Managing so
many members must have been tough to handle for the first time. The girls did an excellent job on
every single point: dancing, cheerful and memorable ace even the video on screen was inspired. It
was no shock seeing them earn 1st place in both live and online public votes, 2nd in the professional
jury vote and the winner of the UNIDOL FRESH Berry edition!
Playlist:
Karei na V!CTORY – SUPER☆GiRLS
Chulalan Racer- chuLa
Sherbet Pink – NGT48
Final ranking of the UNIDOL 2021 Fresh – Berry edition: (pro jury / public / internet)
1st place : Bombs! (University of Tsukuba) – 377 points (2 / 1 / 1)
2nd place : chocolat lumiere (K. University) – 372 points (1 / 2 / 3)
3rd place : blue principal (Aoyama Gakuin University) – 347 points (3 / 3 / 7)
The 3rd place of the Citrus edition went to SPH mellmuse. Despite an impressive performance, it was
slightly underwhelming for SPH mellmuse. Their song transitions are usually very smooth having one
unit taking over the other one. The downtimes were noticeable this time. It might had impacted their
votes among the public. Hopefully the girls will find a way to captivate us further at the next event.
Playlist:
Saisei Formula – JamsCollection
Fiesta! Fiesta! – Juice=Juice
Oogoe Diamond – AKB48
Sayonara Moratorium won the best dress award of the Citrus edition. Last year their incredible duo
took away the 1st place. This year batch did not disappoint either. The members had very little to shy
away from. They brought some props on stage, popped a flag whose parts got stuck on a member's
foot at first but it was dealt with quickly and professionally.
The overall performance was brilliant. It just felt short of 3 points from the 1st place, leaving the girls
with the runner-up position. No doubt that will encourage this new generation of Sayonara
Moratorium to aim even higher.
Playlist:
WINGS – ukka
Hatsukoi Sunrise– Tsubaki Factory
Tomorrow Saikyousetsu – Tokimeki Sendenbu
Seijo Kanojo stood proudly as the winner of the Citrus edition.
Their rotations were on point. The ace position switched from one song to the other even though
one of them did trip on her feet at one point she managed to keep her composure and not let this
mishap faze her throughout the performance. The girls mentioned later that the lack of rehearsal
with the pandemic had been a challenging hurdle to overcome. They will surely be of a great help to
their senpai who ranked 1st at the 2021 Summer Unidol preliminaries for the Kanto region.
Playlist:
Nichijyou – Nogizaka46
I Musou Strong! – ANGERME
Kimi to dokoka e ikitai – HKT48
Final ranking of the UNIDOL 2021 Fresh – Citrus edition: (pro jury / public / internet)
1st place : Seijo Kanojo (Seijo University) – 375 points (2 / 1 / 1)
2nd place : Sayonara Moratorium (Keio University) – 373 points (1 / 3 / 2)
3rd place : SPH mellmuse (Sophia University) – 359 points (3 / 5 / 3)
The FRESH edition ended without any issue. It was the first event of the UNIDOL 2021 season after the
unfortunate cancellation of the summer edition. We hope it bodes well for the rest of the season!
UNIDOL – Official website UNIDOL – Twitter UNIDOL – Facebook
A great thanks to UNIDOL management for the official photos.
Article and translation by Anthony.