Morning Musume。11th Gen "Suppin Utahime" WINNER ANNOUNCED!

[Zunu]

I think she may end up being the best singer Morning Musume has ever had. Also, she definitely has FG potential, to the extent that that concept still applies. Ever since the Shock! debacle H!P has been backing away from the necessity of a unitary front girl, and trying to be fairer in terms of line distribution and face time.

[Jessi]

I can't see Sakura as a front girl, no matter how good her voice is. She'll probably get as many lines as Sayumi/Mizuki, but I don't think she'll be the next Riho or anything.

Really? It seems like shes being set up for it... and with that voice Sayu/Mizuki status would be a complete waste... but we wont know until the next single. When that comes I'll reference this moment Starra

[randompasserby]

To be fair we really haven't seen the girl doing anything in a non-training/introduction scene

[JHasegawa25]

I love Sakura! She has a really great voice! She sounded really good singing Kono Chikyuu. I can see her being a front girl.

[wotakubrandon]

Her being a good vocalist doesn't mean anything to me really. Tsunku sometimes ignores them lol.

[iceymoon]

^ agreed, except this time he was specifically looking or a girl who would be a songstress. it would be weird for him to totally not utilize her skills when that's why he wanted her in to begin with.

whether she'll actually turn into an Aichan or Reina level of vocal lead i think depends on how the wota take to her, but at the very least i'm thinking they'll give her a big push in that direction.. just like they did with Ayumi and dancing. Ayumi was not instantly popular right from the auditions like Riho was, but because UF decided to utilize her skill and give her a push, she ended up doing well in terms of popularity and so is able to retain a sort of center role in the dances (if she hadn't been popular with wota at all i think they would have started fading her to the back despite her dance skills).

i see something similar happening with Sakura, only with vocals.

[Starra]

I dunno. I like Sakura (her voice HOLY SHIT) but at the same time, I can see her only being second-tier in terms of lines.

Maybe it'll be something like: Reina/Riho → Sakura → Sayumi/Mizuki → Ayumi/Masaki → Erina/Kanon/Haruna/Haruka.

[Panic Nancy]

Sakura singing "Kono Chikyuu..." during an MC.
[youtube]UVh-a34OZxw[/youtube]

I think she'll be a lead singer. It seems like the management wants it and she seems to have enough fan support, so there's nothing really stopping it from happening. Some people are talking about her definitely being an ace, but I don't know about that. You can be a lead singer without being an ace. I am curious as to what the line distribution is going to be in the future. It's so wonky right now, with people being sub-leads/leads who most likely won't continue in that position, and people who are currently not leads who are pretty much destined to be leads/sub-leads in the future.

[Jessi]

Her being a good vocalist doesn't mean anything to me really. Tsunku sometimes ignores them lol.

Reasons why your favorite member may have not gotten any lines:

1) they sound great recorded but are weak or inconsistent live.

2) they are not popular and only popular members get pushed to the front. (Ex. Anyone not Riho)

3) Tsunku has a thing for squeeky or high pitched voices (Edit: or just prefers girls who do not have deep voices) and thus any girl with a low voice gets pushed to the back. (Ex. Gaki, Haruka)

4) they are Chinese and Japan doesn't take well to foreign members.

5) Tsunku likes to play favorites and just personally doesn't care for your favorite.

And my personal favorite:

5) they may not sing as good as you think they do and your fandom blinds you to that fact.

Honestly these are just theories and in my opinion most don't apply to Sakura who Tsunku seems to have taken to, and doesn't have a low voice or is foreign.

[Shoujo Q]

Considering she isn't part of a group audition, she'll more then likely get a lot of lines in her first single out. Aika did. But Aika failed to connect with the fans and thus she was pushed to the back soon after.

If Sakura fails to create a buzz then she'll be pushed back and regulated to a line or two and harmonies after her debut single and it'll be business as usual with the usual front girls.