I realized I posted this in the wrong thread
Let's try that again:
Eripon - where did that vibrato even come from!? Listening to her now and remembering where she started is like night and day. I remember a post I did a long time ago about singing in Morning Musume and said Eripon was probably the weakest singer. She's really brought her self up to acceptable levels, and there's a lot of time there she was hitting "good". Jesus Eripon, you're so impressive lately.
Haruka - she sounds like she was having trouble with this song. Maybe it was a little out of her range in the lower parts. I really liked her style choice to sing the "Mukidashi tte" softer than everyone else. It's probably what made the sng sound a little more dynamic. Also... she also suddenly gained a Vibrato? Not as good as Eripon's but it's definitely there. I feel like they got a new vocal coach or something, because these are new developments and not something Momusu ever really had.
Harunan - You know, I'm am so happy she stopped that Talk-singing thing. It was there for years. Her voice always sounded the same flat, emotionless tone. She was never really out of tune, but there was just no emotion there. When she was singing the bridge, I knew there was NO WAY past Haruna could have pulled that off and Holy Moly was I proud of her during the chorus. She always had trouble with that kind of powerful singing. Harunan's voice is a bit of an acquired taste, but she's really learning how to use it well (Like Sayumi).
Ayumi - That mystery vibrato is back. She's really gotten a lot better, and has really leaned in HARD on a deeper more powerful voice. Her voice is starting to really sound good too. She's pushing hard on her diaphragm which is giving her a lot more control over her voice then she used to have. Her and Harunan have the same singing style (Where they kind of push out the first two or three syllables like their talking then start singing) but Ayumi's is a lot more melodic. She's improved a heap ton, too.
I am super convinced they got a new vocal coach this year. All of them are singing way more technically correct (Diaphragm usage instead of the throat - which the latter has always been SUPER common with Momusu, Vibrato - which was never used by Momusu regularly, Voice Control, etc etc). It probably explains why Ogata, while still not a great singer, is suddenly a powerful one - they taught her how to use her diaphragm to sing. All the girls sound better then they have EVER sounded and I'm not exaggerating at all when I say this is the vocally strongest Morning Musume we have ever seen.