Our unique songs + 26th single

Hey everyone!

Have you ever wondered about the weird songs in our stage set lists? I think SERA00 fans are probably used to them, but critics outside the SERA00 fandom aren't. 

So let's explain. Why does Team Angel have such a song like "Despair" in our stage? Basically the song goes "despair/despair/I'm in despair/why oh/why I'm overwhelmed with despair/despair" and it has kind of a depressing tune. 

Well you can't expect stages to be the same as singles. Stage songs are exactly what they are, and aren't officially released like singles are. So basically they're only for our fans to hear and that gives us creative space. We can try more, *ahem* creative songs. Because we know our fans are quite supportive of whatever we do, we can go places that other artists might not dare because the risk of losing fans or being criticized. 

So that's that, let's talk about the 26th single! No, we're not releasing it yet, it's still too early. Do you remember the single Hop Down? The main cast of that single consisted of Sassan, Angel, Luna, River, Maya, Harley, Geneviève, Taz, and Wyoming. It had an AngelXHarley centre, even though at the time Harley had just debuted. Why did the main cast only consist of nine members? Because they were the only ones capable of getting into the cast. 

And for the 26th single we're doing it again; the internal auditions (which means my chances of getting in are inexistent). Basically what happens is an external choreography team is hired to put super complicated choreography to the single. Then each team gets two lessons on the choreography, and that's it. You can record the instructor and practice it yourself. Then comes the one week audition period, which starts on the second day after the last lesson. 

A member can chose to audition for the single anytime within that time frame. All you have to do is dance the choreography. They decide on the spot whether or not to take you for the cast. It's not a see-everyone-and-then-choose, it's decided on the spot. The catch? Everyone only gets one chance to audition, and they cap the members at sixteen, as usual. So if you wait too long all the spots might be filled, but if you dive into it without enough practice you might be out for good. 

For Hop Down, the sixteen spots weren't even filled. However, there are new contenders this time! Last time, the fifth gen had just debuted, and the sixth gen was nonexistent. In my opinion, the sixth gen is a stronger contender than the fifth gen; don't see any particularly strong dancers in the fifth gen. 

This time, it will be a different choreography team, and the style or preview of the single hasn't been released to the members yet. They might as well give us a ballet number. 

Oh well, we'll see. I'm definitely aiming to be in that main cast; I've been in the main cast of most singles since Dry, the 22nd single, with the exception of 23rd single which was the pre-election single. 

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Dry MV; members' air times

~Karayin post~

SERA00 Wota, the music video for their latest single, Dry, is out, along with news of their pre-election 23rd single. 

The 23rd single will be cute, charming song named "Tea Party", featuring Mihashi Sakiko exclusively as the centre. 

The Dry MV has debuted with Luna and Angel taking the centre, with Sassan, Fracken, and centre position newcomer Evangeline Vera. 

The MV features complicated choreography filmed at a beach during the dusk light. Machines set up around the dance area spit fire and smoke into the air, adding another intense factor into this MV. 

Obviously, many fans were eager to analyze each members' air time. This is the number of seconds a member's face is shown in the video. After careful analysis, here are the stats. 

Luna (2:13)

Angel (2:06)

Sassan (2:04)

Fracken (1:23)

Evie (1:11)

These are the top five air times of members. We can probably expect Sassan to top the rankings in the next single, so watch out for it!

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The Making of Dry: PHOTOSHOOT VER.

The Making of Dry: PHOTOSHOOT VER.
What's up SERA00 fans?? Have you guys listened to Dry yet? It debuted June 30.
~even if there's a sea of - woooooorries, worries/ even if there's a sea of - fear by your side~
Anyways I finally got around to posting another behind-the-scenes post; here you go!

Hey everyone! We're now here on the main photoshoot for Dry! We're all going to take the group photos, and then split up for the singles and small groups.
There will be four versions of Dry released. The Type S version, the Type E version, the limited version, and the theatre version. All versions contain the title track, Dry, the B-side coupling song, and the C-side coupling song. The S version contains the Team Aurora coupling song and the Team Angel coupling song. The E version contains the Team Night coupling song and Team Hope coupling song. All versions contain one of 50 official photographs, and come with a small photobook within the CD cover pages. The limited version contains the coupling songs for all the teams, plus a mini-poster, but off course they only produce a couple thousand of those. The theatre version includes all the team coupling songs and a ticket for the handshake event. It's a meet-and-greet usually held one month after the release date. Of course, there are a set number of those as well, as we can't possibly have half a million fans come to the handshake event. Mathematically, each girl would have to shake hands with ten thousand fans, and the popular members usually get longer lines. That would take forever. And finally, all versions contain a DVD with the music videos and behind-the-scenes material.
The costumes are really cool though. We got them yesterday :D and I guess it was sort of an idea, a piece, of what the music video would be like. After reading the lyrics, I can say that the concept behind Dry is basically something like this: Even if you have a sea of worries and fears, don't swim slowly but barge right through, and you'll come out dry. Isn't that cool? I guess it's another one of those inspirational songs! So the MV should be cool.
Anyways, we're at the photoshoot, and everyone's doing their makeup. We usually do our own makeup, unless it's a special thing that requires the skills of a professional makeup artist. There are over fifty of us, so doing our own makeup is the most efficient way. All of the members are encouraged to use makeup lightly, as they don't want drastic changes in the before & after. Although for this one, the makeup artists suddenly decided they wanted a different, darker, look than the basic ones everyone was wearing, so only ten minutes before the shoot, and they were bustling everywhere, piling on the eyeliner, mascara, and dark eyeshadow. Like, aren't we supposed to be swimming? No wait...Dry...yeah okay.
The costumes. Let's see... So everyone has variations of the same costume. Basically, on the bottom, there's a dark red mahogany skirt, and black pantyhose (is there a nicer sounding word for that -_-), and black combat boots. On the top, I'm not sure how to describe it. It would seem, that there's a white dress shirt, a camouflage patterned vest, and a black cardigan. Except they're all ripped and tattered and hang off your body. As for our hair, I would just say, messy overall. They have this hair clay which they pile into our hair, and then scrunch it up and let it go. It gives this messy, dirty, volumous look. Although some people have ponytails and others have braids, so I can't exactly pinpoint one style.
Kay, I'll be right back, we're taking the group shots now!
I'm back back back! Although to you, it hasn't been any time at all. Basically, for the group shots we just lined up in rows with the front rows lower and the back rows higher up, like in a school class photo. Except we do it in front of a green screen, so that the editors can play around with the background. After that, they took the photo of all the centres in front of the green screen. Then they took the set 50 photos, the ones that come at random with the singles.
The studio is set next to the beach (how convenient), so now, hoping the good weather will keep up, we are going to head outside and shoot the mini photobook photos, and the different CD covers!
They pick a spot where the beach blends seamlessly into the ocean. "Formation one!" the staff call. See? Even stage formations are useful during photoshoots. We get into formation, facing away from the ocean. It's supposed to look as if we're emerging from the ocean dry, although the back row girls are getting their feet wet. The staff are debating whether or not to put green screen around the feet of the back row girls to make it easier to edit, to make it seem as if the sea is parting around their feet. They decide not to.
It's around eight at night, and the sun is setting, giving us a glorious sunset background. "Quick!" the staff are yelling. They want to get this over before the sun sets on us. "
Most of the CD covers feature the top girls. The Type S features the Fab 4 girls, and the Type E features some of the centres and the other media members. The limited edition features only Angel and Luna, but the theatre version features me and Sassan!
Yesshhh I'm back...and the only one dripping wet -__- I guess you'll see us on the cover. Framed by a beautiful fiery sky, I'm soaked in the water, trying to get up, and Sassan is dry, and is giving me a hand up and holding a towel with the other hand.
And so that's your behind the scenes of the Dry photoshoot! Please support SERA00!

The Making of Dry: DANCE VER.

The Making of Dry: DANCE VERSION.
Alexandrea reads out the formation. "We have exactly 16 main cast members. Formation 1, four rows, 2-3-5-6." That meant the first row had two girls, the second had 3, and so on. "Formation 2, two rows, 8-8. Formation 3, four rows, 1-4-5-6. Formation 4, four rows, 5-4-2-5." She laid out a chart paper that had the formations drawn on it.

Formation 1:
Angel, Luna
Sassan, Evie, Fracken
Maya, Harley, River, Rosie, Luraland
Alison, Lilybell, Reece, Marti, Rome, Katerina

Formation 2:
Fracken, Katerina, Marti, Rosie, Luraland, Harley, Alison, Reece
Rome, Lilybell, Sassan, Angel, River, Evie, Maya, Luna

Formation 3:
Evie
Angel, Sassan, Fracken, Luna
Maya, Marti, Lilybell, Alison, Katerina
Reece, Harley, River, Rosie, Luraland, Rome

Formation 4:
Sassan, Fracken, Angel, Luna, Evie
River, Rosie, Luraland, Reece
Maya, Harley
Katerina, Marti, Rome, Lilybell, Alison

I have to say, Formation 3 scares me the most.
"These are mostly stage formations," Alexandrea says. "We're going to briefly work on the stage choreography, and then you'll record the single, and then the PV and MV."
So the music she had was off vocal, only instrumental. "Alright," Alexandrea says, "This is basically the dance. Watch." She turns on the music and starts a seemingly complicated dance sequence. "Here we go now, one, two, three, four, and one, two, three, four, and spin, back, slide, four, and one, turn, arms, and four, and dryyyyyyy!"
Alexandrea drops, demonstrating one part, and immediately springs up, demonstrating another part that goes on at the same time. She finishes the dance sequence. I'm not sure I followed any of that... "You good?"
I glance over at Luna and Sassan and Angel, who are already quickly going over the dance in their minds, vaguely moving their bodies. "We're good," Luna calls.
"Great," Alexandrea says, and throws her towel over her shoulder. "Be back in an hour."
Rome and I watch her leave with wide eyes. Did the girls get the dance after watching it once? With the coupling songs, she usually breaks it down for us, line by line, and then gives us some time to get our act together, and then comes back and starts the fix-up process.
Luna has the choreography sheet. "It follows the formation numbers almost exactly. Start of Formation 1, switch to 2 at the chorus, second verse to 3, switch to four halfway through, back to 1, chorus, three, ending 1."
Luna starts the music. It seems as if all the others have picked up the dance moves after only seeing it once. Am I the only one fumbling in the dark?
After a couple times into the dance, I'm pretty sure I have it down. "Evie," Angel stops the music and faces me. We are in Formation 3. "Evie, you're at the tip. You need to keep in mind that you are in the position. The centre position, where no one is in front of you. You are at the front. So be sure of your actions. Dance, because everyone behind is looking up to you, like how you used to do up until now. We're all here, okay? We're going to support you through the song, so throw away your fears, smile, dance, and sing."
Angel's wonderful words...are cut to pieces as soon as the last formation check before the hour is up begins. It is the job of the captains, senior members, and centres to lead the formation check. They stand at the front, while we go through the song, and they pick on every single thing that can be improved.
Luna claps her hands. As the captain of Team Night, fabled for their star power image, she usually leads formation checks. "Great, we'll take the far line of Formation 2 first."
After that -__-
"Evie, bigger step!"
"Evie, ninety degrees in the left hand!"
"Evie, thrust your hip more sharply!"
"Evie, make your movements more decisive! You're centre in this formation!"
"Evie, MOVE FASTER!"
Yup. Evie, that's me.
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SERA00 00 rank Stories! First Dance Lessons

SERA00 00 Rank Adventures!

00s:
Macey, Mikayla, Oakley, Kaya, Liesl, Haley, Scarlett, Yumichan, Tomiko, Braelyn, Aspen, Sammi, Echo, Briar Rose

I, Evie, bring to you the adventures of SERA00's latest additions... The 6th generation 00 ranks! From the PVs, fans are already betting on who will be promoted first- popular contenders include Macey, Yumichan, Tomiko, and Sammi.
Alexandrea has us busy with Dry (22nd single). The head instructor for training the newbies is Rowan Chowdury. Right now they're about to go through an intense dance session. Because there are no senior 00 ranks, the stage is all theirs when it comes to the 00 rank stage (recall stages, set lists of songs performed at the daily concerts, ie. Team Aurora 3rd Stage). They have no one experienced to put in front to follow; they must be confident when performing for their audience.
The 00 ranks are scheduled to perform their first stage on June 27, 2013. They are working hard towards that goal. Immense pressure will be put on the girl chosen as 00 rank centre; rumor is that Miss Avery and management have already chosen one.
I knock on the door to the dance studio they're occupying. "Come in," a voice calls. I open the door and step in. I already hear some gasps and many eyes.
I smile and wave at the 00 ranks. "Hey everyone! I'm Evangeline Vera of Team Aurora."
Rowan looks me over. "Evie, you're dripping sweat in my dance studio."
I grimace. "Sorry...just finished a dance class with Alexandrea. Lower centre is a giant leap from coupling songs."
Rowan laughs. She points at me. "Girls, I'm gonna work you until you sweat harder than this idol here. Get up!"
A bunch of groans arise from the twelve girls as they push themselves to their feet and surround Rowan and me. I decide to give them a piece of advice. "Never do that." They all look at me curiously, and Rowan smiles, knowing where this is going. "Never groan when you are called. Yes, you are idols. But this is your job. The first time the fourth generation groaned, it was unfortunately, in front of Miss Avery. She's a figure to be admired and she gave us a real reprimanding for groaning when we haven't even started to work hard. So try your best." I figured about half of them were my age or younger. It felt weird giving advice to the older girls, but in this world, age doesn't matter. Ranking, experience, and popularity do. As far as I can tell, I'm...probably more well known than the 00 ranks...at this point.
"Oh yeah," Rowan says, "Evie mentioned centre...speaking of centre, SERA00 management has chosen the 00 rank centre. For the kawaii unit song Giant Strawberry of 00 rank 1st Stage, which is the set list we will be working with first, those members have been chosen as well."
I notice the 00s exchanging nervous glances. The only ones who looked calm, I would have to say, were Sassan's friends. I guess they figured the same thing as me. Because they were associated with Sassan, it was likely they would not be chosen. It would provoke fans to criticize the management for favoritism. In this way, the centre position was not rigged in their favour. "Don't worry about it," I tell girls, "Whether you want to or not want to be centre...you don't really have a choice if you're picked. But if you're not picked, it doesn't mean your career is off to a bad start, okay? Even though Sassan was picked by Miss Avery...okay maybe that's not a useful piece of info at this point. Miss Rowan, please do carry on."
"Ah, well, she is correct. Please stand in formation and step forwards if your name is called." Rowan prods around in her bag and finds a sealed envelop, which she proceeds to open. "The centre of the 00 ranks has been chosen to be...Samantha Willis." There was a smatter of applause as the girl stood forwards. Samantha Willis, nickname Sammi, average height, long brown hair. Yes, from her debut photos, many people were wondering about her ethnicity. She is half Irish, half Chinese. Most of SERA00 is Caucasian; inevitable since we are located in North America. There are few mixes like Sammi...Angel is another one, and the only I can think of right now. Typical me, as an Angel-fan. Some of the girls are frowning, like, why her? I think Macey wanted to be chosen. Again, the Sassan girls seem to be unaffected. I really should stop calling them that. It's not polite to them either.
The girls are holding their breath for the Giant Strawberry cast announcement. Even though it's not officially named the lower centres, they all well know that those girls chosen will end up as lower centre. Giant Strawberry is a four-girl unit song, consisting of one centre and three lower centres. "As for Giant Strawberry," Rowan continues, "the cast is as follows. Centre, Samantha Willis." I think she looks kinda scared. Normal for a newcomer; even I'm still freaking out about lower centre in Dry! "Lower centres, Yumi Tsukino, Briar Ross, and Macey Fent."
Yumi, probably the oldest one excluding Tomiko, steps forwards excitedly. Briar Ross, dubbed Briar Rose, is a girl of small build and she looks really shy as she steps forwards. Lastly, Macey has an almost smug smile on her face, but her eyes show that she was disatisfied in only getting lower centre. I recognize her ambitious attitude; it will help her a long way in her career. Macey is one to watch.
But then again, Sammi, whether she likes it or not, is the one who will explode in popularity since she will be the centre of the 00 performances.
Rowan claps twice. "Positions for first stage Party Hour." The girls cluster in the middle of the studio. The ones in front are down low, and they all tuck in their limbs. "Samantha!" Rowan yells. "You're centre! Who do you think that position we left open during practice is for?"
Samantha scurries to the cientre position, murmuring an apology to the dance instructor as she passed. She slips through the first rank and hesitantly places herself in front of a girl named Aspen.
"Own it," I whisper not-so-softly. As a C rank, I'm always in the back of Team Aurora's formation, so I'm always in a position o watch Sassan at the tip. From reviewing documentaries of SERA00 and of Sassan, I can tell so far that she was really shocked to have been picked as centre; she was shy, like Sammi. But now, you don't see any cases of the popular members going, sorry, I have to stand in front of you. Sorry, you have to look at my back when you perform. No, they all know that they've earned the position. They walk straight up there and take it. They know they belong there because the fans want them there.
"Ready?" Rowan says. "Centre goes straight out, lunge, arms up, then back to your side like before. Here we go." She presses the play button on the stereo. The music blasts out. I know the dance for Party Hour. There are six quick low pulses and on "paaa-rty" everyone lunges out from the clustered position. And then the song goes "it's coming up, the hour to, paaa-rty!". On "it's coming up" everyone skips into singing/dancing formation, which is usually three lines, and then on "the hour to" it's -
"Paaarty! It's com-"
The music cuts off. Rowan has gone into perfectionist mode. "No no no! Don't be lazy! Use some energy in your dancing! And smile, for goodness sake! No matter what you do, the first rule is SMILE. People come to see you perform and be happy, not a bunch of dripping wet depressed girls stumble around on stage!"
"Paaarty! It's c-"
"Again!"
"Paaa-"
"Bigger actions when you lunge!"
"Pa-"
"Smile!" Rowan screeches.
"Paaarty! It's coming up, the hour to-"
"On the hour to, as you slide in your right foot, move your body, your hip, slightly to the left to reflect the movement. For party-" Rowan demonstrates. "Punch right hand left hand and right hand with the left knee drive it up! Bring your hands down and wave as you skii-iip!" she instructs in tune with the melody. The girls try out the dance moves as Rowan moves to the stereo.
"Paaarty! It's coming up, the hour to, paaarty! Let's go, come on, let's go and paaarty!" The track they are dancing to is still the fifth generation version of Party Hour. I guess the sixth gens haven't had a chance to record their version yet.
"Again!" Rowan yells, but doesn't start the stereo. The girls make no move, waiting for the music. "Again," Rowan growls. "If there's no music, make your own." She draws blank faces. "Sing!" she shouts. "I hope every one of you know the lyrics of all the stages by heart by now!"
The girls eye each other nervously and get into position. They freeze in place, not knowing when to start. A girl raises her voice. "Okay, one, two, three, four!"
"Paaarty! It's coming up, the hour to, paaarty!" I see Rowan instinctively leaning in to see who had called the time. It was a girl named Echo, Eclair Holland.
Anyways, I don't have to tell you what happened after Rowan started raging about their singing.
Rowan gives me a little more backstage info after the 00s lesson for my blog. "Yeah, the first stage of training is a little shaky, but their skills and attitude will start to stabilize after they get onstage and experience it for themselves. I'm sure you know what I mean, a you were a 00 only a few years ago."
I nod. "So any insight on why Sammi was chosen as centre?"
Rowan stretches out her arms. "Ah...the understudy centre.