01/19/03 (Tokyo, Japan) - With the graduation of Maki Goto, Tsunku, the producer of Hello Project, conducted auditions in search of potential new members for Morning Musume. Announced on January 19, 2003, the four new members of Morning Musume were introduced. These members were selected from the 12,417 people who auditioned for the vacant spots.

The oldest of the new genration of MoMusu members is Miki Fujimoto (17) who is already a solo artist in the Hello Project production. She originally auditioned for Morning Musume during the search for the fourth generation of new members (Maki Goto was selected), but did not make the group at that time. After taking singing lessons, she made her debut as a solo artist last year. In addition to her projects as a member, she will still maintain her solo career.

New to the Hello Project production are three additional new members that were chosen for the group. Eri Kamei (14) from Tokyo quoted, "I know it will be difficult, but I want to show my true character." Reina Tanaka (13) from Fukuoka, also talked about her feelings about Morning Musume saying that when she gets nervous she is very quiet, but will happily try her best to reveal her true self. Finally, Sayumi Michishige (13) from Yamaguchi revealed, "I want to quickly show my personality and be popular."

The four new members will receive special training and will remain on a probationary period until they are formally allowed to participate. Tsunku commented that the new members have a new talent that will work well with the remaining members and that Morning Musume's work will become a wonderful art.

There are currently 16 members of Morning Musume and the average age of the members is 16.6 years old. Second generation member Kei Yasuda (22) will graduate from Morning Musume this May and is expected to debut as a solo artist under the Hello Project production. The new four members are expected to make their debut in Morning Musume at that time.

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