A tribute post: NEWS 11th' anniversary - Interview with Chankapaana all over the world!

How fast does time fly? Fast enough for our beloved group to celebrate its eleventh year of existence before we can even move on from the tenth!

NEWS' 9th anniversary was grand, because it was its first anniversary as a four-member group. NEWS' 10th anniversary was majestic, because the group was obviously in its 10th year. I started making this post, thinking, "What will everyone do for NEWS' 11th year? What will members do on their anniversary? Is there a way to make this September 15 just as memorable as the past NEWS anniversaries? Of course I couldn't contribute much to the fandom and I have always been like that (Sorry I was an inattentive fan back then!)... But I thought I had to keep doing my 'tradition' whenever the fated day of the year comes, and that is to have my own little gift: A blog post dedicated to NEWS.

But wait, there's a twist to this. Unlike my previous anniversary posts, this tribute comprises other fans' thoughts, feelings, and a little bit of their fandom history.. In other words, I did an interview to Chankapaana around the world! (you could imagine me flying to all the countries mentioned in ONE -for the win- *kidding*) Thanks to social networking sites and blogs, I somehow made this a success LOL. The interview consists of three (3) basic questions about the "Life of NEWS Fans"--or simply, what made these people like NEWS, love NEWS, and stay with NEWS. Think of it as the interviews you read in Myojo, Popolo, etc... But instead of NEWS you'll read the fans' words! Yes, this is our Ai Kotoba. #てずてってとってNEWS ♫

A tribute post: NEWS' 10th anniversary - THE 10 MAJOR EVENTS IN NEWS' HISTORY

Well my original plan was to do a retelling of NEWS' great history, fangirl-style (an overly-detailed, emotional and too much flowery content as I loooove NEWS so much). But I don't have enough time to do that and even if the 'feels' doesn't fade, the fangirl-style explanation would be too much of a drag!

Now, for the old and the new, outdated or updated NEWS fan, or just a lurker who seems interested with the "news" that is NEWS, here's a numbered list of major events in the group's history. 

This may not be the one you need but at least this is easy to read!

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1. NEWS was formed as a 9-nin (nin means "member") group on September 15, 2003.

2. Their first single, NEWS Nippon, was released on November 7, 2003, only sold at 7-11 stores for a limited time. Not long after, in December, Takahiro Moriuchi left the group...

3.  ...Yet they made their official debut of 8 members on May 12, 2004, with their single 希望~ Yell~ (Kibou~ Yell~)

4. In July 2005, Hiroki Uchi was suspended from the group, caused by an issue of underage drinking. In January 2006 Hironori Kusano voluntarily retired from the group for the same issue.

5. Because of this NEWS were put to hiatus for a few months, starting in May 2006 until they reappeared as a 6-member group in early 2007: at the 2006-2007 Johnny's Countdown (JCD) and releasing 星をめざして (Hoshi wo Mezashite) on March 21. During the hiatus (particularly November 15, 2006) the sub-unit テゴマス was formed.

6. In 2008 they were at the height of their 6-nin career; they released their consecutive #1 single Happy Birthday on the first day of October.

7. Their last performance as a 6-nin group was in December 2010. Then they became inactive again--and that was later considered as another hiatus.

8. Tomohisa Yamashita and Ryo Nishikido withdrew from NEWS on October 7, 2011. The members were down from 9 to 4...

9. ...And the "new", 4-member NEWS appeared in 2011-2012 JCD, had the official announcement of their comeback on April 15 2012, and continuously released new material (with the song compilation album BEST, the comeback single チャンカパーナ (Chankapaana), amongst other things) up to date.

10. They held their 10th anniversary live event at Tokyo Dome last September 7, 2013. And today, September 15, we celebrate our "10ve anniversary."

(sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

Reading this, one may not feel the "emotional package" NEWS' history has. But I assure you that their history, though describable, has feels that are too sublime. This is one of the greatest factors why the love of NEWS to fans and vice versa are indestructible, as time goes by.

It's been 10 years ne? NEWS さいこう! ♥