37th single and the Firewood Project!

Hey everyone!

As if the election wasn't enough competition, here comes more! Management has officially announced that SERA00's 37th single will be a competition single. That means it's not a "normal" single, where we receive a title song from Management, and the main cast is chosen by Management or by the General Election.

Previous "not normal" singles include the 27th single "Dream/Maybe/Someday/You," where there were four title tracks, each with a different centre and a small MC. The 26th single was also not normal, as you had to audition with the choreography to land a spot in the MC.

Anyways, the MC for the single following a General Election is always the new set of A ranks, so the MC of the 37th single won't be a surprise. So what part of it isn't "normal"?

Introducing...the Firewood Project! This will be an internal company songwriting competition. Any YS artist, including all SERA00 members, can submit an original song for consideration. All the songs included in the 37th single will be picked from these submissions. Since every single only yields 6 songs, any other outstanding submissions will be included in SERA00's 2016 year end compilation album, "FIREWOOD". I guess Miss Avery doesn't completely trust our songwriting skills XD Accepting submissions from all YS artists ensures that there'll be guaranteed usable submissions from our resident songwriters - Angel, Yu Yan, Alex, etc.

The single will be released in the middle of December. But that's so soon, you say. How will we have time to prepare for the comeback? Actually, the Firewood Project was internally announced a while back, since we were preparing for the General Election. Management waited until after the election to announce it publicly. One thing at a time! Next question - Evie, are you submitting anything? Yes, I am! Don't expect anything though, there are tons of other submissions and it's my first go at songwriting. The members will find out shortly who the "winners" are, since we need to learn, record, and practice the songs. But you all will find out the details when we release the tracklist :)

Actually, a couple of days have passed since I started writing this post, and the chosen songs have already been revealed to the members. But in order to prevent myself from slipping any hints, I won't change anything I wrote above. You'll find out very soon anyways. For now -

Please support SERA00!

Hey Evie! + Christmas is coming :o

Hey everyone!

Have you noticed, that without fail, I have started every post on this blog with the salutation "Hey everyone!"? Or perhaps ended with the more noticeable "Please support SERA00!"? (Well...let's not be so absolute. I probably forgot once...or twice...) Grammarly is suggesting that I add a comma after "Hey" - Hey, everyone! No no no, Grammarly, you can't change it now!

Christmas is coming! If you've been in any public spaces recently, the reminder is a bit hard to miss - product advertisements, seasonal decorations, strings of lights - even the SERA00 City was Christmas-fied last week. Swing by and have a look if you haven't yet! Christmas is an end-of-the-year celebration, which means that 2017 isn't far off. A lot has happened in 2016, but I can think of at least one thing that happened less....you guessed it - the number of posts on this blog! ^_^"

Ahaha...let's take a look at the numbers:
2013: 98
2014: 82
2015: 56
2016: 26 (at the time of writing this post)

Well...a lot of ellipses in this post... Of course, it's not intentional. I would prefer to have written more, but just because I say it doesn't mean it'll happen. Evidently. I've tried different tactics in the past, such as bringing on another blogger (much help you've been, Yura), or doing February/March post challenges (which completely slipped my mind this year). The trend is still falling. Thus, I have decided to call it quits. I can't do this anymore. It's too hard. I shall now announce my graduation from SERA00. I, Evangeline Vera, will be graduating - okay, okay, I'm just joking...I don't think I fooled anyone anyways XD

What I actually wanted to say was, I want to post more! But it's true, coming up with creative posts is difficult and time consuming. Since I begin every post with "Hey everyone!", I have decided to open up a forum on our fancafe, where you can say "Hey Evie!"

Hey Evie! [insert question]

If you make such a post then I will consider writing a response and posting it on the blog. Alternatively, if you are not a member of our fancafe, you can just comment on any post on this blog ;) As of now, there are no topic restrictions, so feel free to ask about anything.

Now, since I mentioned Christmas, we can't end this post without some Christmas-y photos, can we? I visited the Toronto Christmas Market on its opening night.

If you're wondering who took the photo, I went with Rome :)

Please support SERA00!

Green00 initiative! + unrelated sweet potato

Hey everyone!

Free coffee? I must be a disgrace to the original, tea-loving media members...

Maybe it's time to start a new trend. What should our new signature food be? If it were up to me...it'd definitely be sweet potatoes :D Sweet potatoes are the best. I'll eat anything with the words "sweet potato" in them. Steamed sweet potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, sweet potato crackers, sweet potato cake, sweet potato milkshakes...actually, two days ago I went to a restaurant and ate this thing:

To be honest, even after eating it, I'm still not sure what it is. Except for the fact that it was made with sweet potatoes.

I mentioned SERA00 Management's new initiative in my previous post on the results of the 6th General Election. Green00! No, it's not a new girl group. A lot of the appeal of SERA00's albums is in the extra items inside - collectable photocards, event tickets, and once a year, the voting ticket. We also release three different types of every single (Type Aurora, Type Angel, Type Night), each containing a song unique to that type. Many fans will buy multiple copies of each type just for the randomized items within. This is especially prevalent when it comes to the election single, as every album yields one vote.

But what use does one person have for multiple copies of the same CD? We generate a lot of unnecessary waste this way. This is where Green00 comes in! Starting with the 36th single "Follow the Railroad Home", you will be able to return extra CDs to SERA00 Management for a small financial compensation. However, you get to keep everything inside - photocards, tickets, special cards, all of it. Management will then repackage the album and put it back up for sale at a discounted price. All profits from the sale of Green00 albums will be donated to a charity. Prior to an album's release, fans will be able to vote on SERA00's website for the charity that proceeds from all Green00 versions of that single will be donated to. 

As of now, only albums from the 36th single and onwards are eligible for Green00, but if the initiative proves effective, Management may consider extending it back to our older albums as well. To return an album for greening, simply bring it to the shop at the SERA00 City, or mail it to the SERA00 City, addressing your package to "Green00." So, will you consider greening your extra albums, or purchasing a Green00 album in the future? :)

Please support SERA00!

SERA00 6th General Election 2016 RESULTS

Hey everyone!

Elections, elections, elections... Amidst the wake of last week's election, here we have another election - one not revolving around politics, but love. Although, some of you may be tempted to point out the hypocrisy in that the SERA00 General Elections are based on paid votes, and therefore cannot be considered a true election. Well - money makes the world go 'round, right? To that fact, SERA00 Management has recognized the concern and is launching a brand new initiative, which I will address in the following post to prevent this one from becoming too long.

I know I'm always late on recaps, so I was pushing to get the results from last Saturday's election published. I analyzed the results during a math class...and ended up not paying much attention to the contents of the lecture XD. Ah, well, three hour lectures don't sit very well with my attention span anyways. At least I got something done, even if it wasn't what I was supposed to be doing. Oh, and I'll edit all the member information on the site to reflect the new rankings soon.

Here we go...

A ranks

1.      Sakiko Mihashi “Sassan” (–) 2.      Luna Remington (–)

3.      Maya Shale (–)

4.      Annelise Gillian “Angel” (–)

5.      Evangeline Vera "Evie" (+1)

6.      Harley Breeze (-1)

7.      Kotoka Aida (–)

8.      Geneviève DuPont (+6)

9.      Alura Land “Luraland” (-1)

10.   Yumi Tsukino “Yumichan” (-1)

11.   Fallon Mackenzie “Fracken” (-1)

12.   Alyssandra Houser “Alyss” (+1)

13.   Romanne Taylor “Rome” (+4)

14.   Sayoung Yoon (+7)

15.   Samantha Willis “Sammi” (+5)

16.   Wyoming Delaney (-1) B ranks

17.   Tomiko Hamasaki (+5)

18.   Brynn Dell “Brindle” (-2)

19.   Kansas Sommerset (-1)

20.   Alison Li “Liz” (-1)

21.   Willow Stockholme (+2)

22.   Katarina Ren “Katalie” (+9)

23.   Evalyn Trent (+4)

24.   Hollis Stern “Holly” (+6)

25.   Bryce Immelman “Imery” (–)

26.   Sora Takashi “Soracchi” (+8)

27.   Cassandra Seong "Cassie" (NEW)

28.   Tang Tang Tsang (+5)

29.   Gianna Li "Joy" (NEW)

30.   Eclair Holland "Echo" (+6)

31.   Reece Walters (-7)

32.   Dana Jennings (+31) C ranks

33.   Henley Rey (+9)

34.   Saerim Kim (NEW)

35.   Macey Fent (-3)

36.   Raine Colbert (-8)

37.   Cherie Delacroix (-8)

38.   Jessica Caves (+3)

39.   Kaira Hayes (NEW)

40.   Emma Jung (+4)

41.   Isla Hedley (+9)

42.   Fawn Cobbleton (-7)

43.   Kai Lee “Kailee” (+2)

44.   Mikayla Iverson (-5)

45.   Felicia Russel “Felicity” (-8)

46.   Piper Weston (-6)

47.   Yura Chung (-4)

48.   Xue Ling Kuo (+3)

49.   Kerria Santivejkul (-2)

50.   Shannon Hunton (-4)

51.   Poppy Ganeson (-3)

52.   Briar Ross “Briar Rose” (-3)

53.   Celia Park (NEW)

54.   Haley Wickham (+3)

55.   Cindy Howe (-2)

56.   Milla Cassano (NEW)

57.   Koto Lazos (NEW)

58.   Ariande Wong “Ariel” (-4)

59.   Liesl Surrey (-1)

60.   Yuzuki Ito (+1)

61.   Kaya Courtland (-1)

62.   Izumi Kimura “Ice” (–)

63.   Celestia Charrete (-4)

64.   Eliza Moir (+3)

65.   April Heffron (-1)

66.   Leanne Chen “Lychee” (-1)

67.   Emily Wattana (-1)

68.   Jenna Moore (+1)

69.   Romy Stokes (-1)

70.   Valerie Trent "Velvet/Vel" (NEW)

71.   Cora Hyland “Coral” (-1)

72.   Linden Kelly (NEW)

73.   Judy Kim “Juhyun” (–) Graduating (participated): Geneviève DuPont Graduating (did not participate): Thalia Zhu "Taz" Ginelle Gerald "Ginger" Oakley Canterbury Braelyn Rowe Aspen Wilkenson Erica Cortez Seren Ellery Linda Hoang "Liha"

So? Any surprises? I did say last year that the results would be more interesting last year, since River and Rosie's graduations would open up the glass ceiling for members to advance into the A ranks. And it looks like the prediction held true. The most movement occured not near the top nor the bottom, but in the middle.

Let's address the results from the top down. Solid performance from the top four - Sassan, Luna, Maya, and Angel are locked in the same position as last year's election. I wonder what it'll take to shake up SERA00's top girls?

I am glad to announce that I somehow somehow somehow managed to MOVE UP A RANK! To be honest, I never know how to feel about this. I've always looked up to the top members and treated them as role models, so it's an ambiguous feeling to realize that my success comes at their expense. But I remain forever grateful to all of you who support me. If what I do can make you just a little happier, then that's good enough for me :) 

Geneviève! For the first - and sadly the last - time since SERA00's 1st General Election, she will be able to claim the title of a media member. Her fans, both new and longtime, have rallied to give her a farewell she'll be proud to remember. 

Who are the newcomers in SERA00's A rank? Rome, Sayoung, and Sammi! I'm so proud of these girls, who are no doubt experiencing extreme pride at grabbing a spot in the coveted A rank. ESPECIALLY ROME - CONGRATULAAAATIONS!!

The trophy for most impressive improvement goes to...Dana! She's actually made SERA00 history for having jumped the most ranks between two elections - 31 places! That is an astonishing feat - from #63 to #32, just making the B rank cutoff. If I were to pinpoint any one reason for her improvement, it would be her appearance on SERA00 Star City, the SERA00-centric survival show that began this February. She competed in the Star Talent stream, and gained a lot of popularity for her singing talents. When I mentioned the Star Talent stream winners in a previous post, I only listed the top three and the first runner up, but actually, Dana was the second runner up. Again, an impressive feat, considering she was a 00 rank at the time of the competition. 

Tomiko, whose rank climbs consistently every election, takes the B rank centre, and Henley takes the C rank centre. This is also the 9th Generation's first election. Two 9th gens managed to place within the B rank, Cassie and Joy. They happen to be the two YS trainees who were placed in the 9th Generation. Other 9th gens who placed well include Saerim and Kaira, who is the 9th gen ace.

Moving on from the ranking achievements, I'd like to briefly discuss an issue that comes up every election. Feel free to skip to the bottom if you want to avoid this spiel. In the election, all the girls are ranked. Every single one of them. That means that whoever received the most votes will be revealed to the world, and whoever received the least votes will likewise be revealed. For the members who are struggling in the rankings or just starting out, seeing their name so low in the rankings can be a serious blow to their morale and self-confidence. Even if they can put aside the numbers and work hard for the next time, they're still stuck with that number for the entire year. I know Management has been toying with the idea of a ranking cutoff - for example, cutting the rankings off at 48 to make for 16 A, B, and C ranks. Rankings below #48 wouldn't be revealed, and accordingly, no one would know who ranked dead last. But of course, this raises other problems as well. In a way, the ranking results are a service to the fans who voted. Fans want to know how the member they voted for performed in the rankings. How would you feel if you bought an album, voted for your favourite member, but end up not being able to see how she ranked, how many votes she received, or whether she improved? So this is the main reason why the election system hasn't changed since it was first introduced.

I'll wrap it up here. I've covered the major developments from the election that stood out to me. However, if you're curious about my thoughts on anyone in particular or anything SERA00 election-related, just comment below and I'll be more than happy to respond :)

Please support SERA00!

FOLLOW, election, graduation.

Hey everyone!

I bet you're thinking, the Follow concert happened last month! Why hasn't she posted anything? Well the truth is, Evie wrote her last midterm yesterday! (Although she is very sad that she second-guessed the answer to a question, when in fact, her first try was correct ㅠㅠ) She will now tell you all about the concert.

Digressing for a moment, don't forget to submit your votes for the SERA00's 6th General Election! The last day to vote is until 11:59 PM EST on November 5, which is this Saturday. If you've enjoyed reading this blog, perhaps you'll consider giving me a vote... :D

Now, the Follow recap, here we go! I was quite impressed by everyone's ability to find the mini-concerts so easily - tons of you showed up! My non-SERA00 friend, who attended the festivities, told me that you guys were all over social media, updating other fans on the performance locations. (#wheresSERA00 #FollowConcert) When the arrow at the end of a performance was revealed, the next location would start blasting SERA00 instrumentals for the next half hour until the next team appeared onstage. But the venue turned out to be packed just fifteen minutes after the previous performance. You were all pretty quick to get to the next location! Hehe was it fun? At least everyone got some exercise! I think the later performances were easier to locate, because fans were narrowing down the probable location of the final concert. Once it was pretty obvious where the final concert would be held, then everyone knew that the rest of the mini-concerts would be along the way.

Ms. Tallan - do you remember Ms. Tallan? She was the SERA00 Complex manager, but the SERA00 Complex is no more - she's now the SERA00 City manager. When we made the move to the City, we jokingly started calling Ms. Tallan the mayor XD. Anyways, what I was saying was that Ms. Tallan didn't come out with us, she was working at the City. Apparently, early in the morning, there were fans outside the City waiting to see if members would be coming out. But this was anticipated, so all the teams were already on location the night before. We traveled there secretly and spent the night close to wherever we were performing the next day, in order to prevent anyone from leaking the concert locations beforehand. 

Team Evie was in charge of the second mini-concert. It was actually really fun performing a set list as a small group. I had Rome, Cassie, Sayoung, Piper, Emma, Liesl, and Jenna in my team. As I mentioned previously, team captains get to perform a solo song, and I performed "It's Okay, Wolf Boy". If you were there, you would have witnessed my surprised reaction at the fan chants during the song. IOWB doesn't even have an official fan chant, so I wasn't expecting it. Uhhhh yeah I've been seeing photos of my reaction circling around on SNS 😅 ha..haha...

Here's the set list from the final concert. (MC = the main cast of that single)

    Opening: Follow Me by Luraland [Luraland's 5th single]

    1. Countdown 
               by 00 ranks [00 rank 6th Stage]

    2. Follow the Railroad Home
               by MC [36th single]

    3. She Knows
               by B-ranks [36th single b-side]

    4. Uncharted
               by CASUT00 [CASUT00's 4th single]

    5. 5 Days 
               by Team Aurora [36th single team song]

    6. Spectacular 
               by Team Angel [36th single team song]

    7. Deadline 
               by Team Night [36th single team song]

    8. Together We Will 
               by C-ranks [36th single c-side]

    9. Airborne
               by the 1st and 2nd Generations [8th single]

    10. When the Bells Toll
               by everyone w/ Geneviève centre [4th single]

    11. This Way to the Moon
               by MC [35th single]

    12. Genesis
               by the 1st Generation [1st single]

Ah...the sad part of the happy show. "Airborne", SERA00's 8th single, was the first and only single that Geneviève centred. After the 1st and 2nd generations' performance of "Airborne", Geneviève remained centre stage and addressed the audience. At this time, crews began to set up risers at the back of the stage. 

"As of 2017, I will have been in SERA00 for ten years." Geneviève described her experience as a member of SERA00, starting all the way back when SERA00 was an unknown name, to now, when she is one of the four remaining 1st gen members. Although the concert was outdoors, with a big crowd, it was dead silent during her speech. Everyone knew what was coming next.

"I, Geneviève DuPont, will graduate from SERA00."

Although the line always sits at the back of our minds, no one is really ever ready to hear it said aloud. As the exclamations from the crowd rose to a clamor, SERA00 members began filing onstage. The 1st and 2nd generation retook their positions with Geneviève at the front of the stage, joined by the rest of the A ranks. The B and C ranks lined up on the risers, and the 00 ranks and CASUT00 appeared on the ground in front of the stage. The crowd had quieted considerably by now, but the commotion rose again as the first notes of "When the Bells Toll" began to play, as if in protest of the impending graduation. The members at the front of the stage performed the song, while the members in front of the stage danced and the members on the risers provided a chorus of vocals.

I was a bit nervous after that, since I was the centre of the follow-up song. But I hope we succeeded in lightening the mood a bit and lifting everyone's spirits. "Genesis" was an appropriate end to the concert, performed by Geneviève, Sassan, Angel, and Luna. It'll be one of the last performances with four members - after Geneviève's graduation, there'll only be three members left to perform that song. Don't worry, Geneviève won't be graduating right away - her last concert will be SERA00's 2017 Winter Concert, so there are still a couple of months left. Until then, please continue to support her, and...

Please support SERA00!

P.S. On another note, that math question ㅠㅠ Ahhh stop obsessing, Evie!