During Up Up Girls (kari)'s first full concert at Nippon Budokan, an announcement was made to the audience. YUM Entertainment, UUG's management and entertainment holders, would be holding an audition open to anyone. The successful applicants would either join Up Up Girls as members, be assembled in a sister group, or become members of a rival group. The applications were open to anyone from 12 to 23 years old girls without contracts with other companies. Although girls were preferred, the application stated you could apply even if you don't fall into the requirements as long as you're following your dreams. The applications ran from November 8th 2016 to December 26th of 2016.
Application Requirements and Information[]
Up Up Girls (2) audition decided! Where will you be placed as a (second generation) member? Sister group? Official member? Or maybe official rival member?
★I like singing ★I like dancing ★I like to entertain people
★I like thrills ★I like surprises ★I won't be discourages, I won't lose
★I want to discover a new me ★I want to move forward ★I don't want to give up on my dream
★I keep facing forwards even in difficult times
Women with the same spirit as the members of Up Up Girls (kari) are welcomed to apply! Women 12 to 23 years old as of November 8th, 2016 are eligible. If you "can't give up on your dream" even if you fall outside of the application requirements, you can challenge us with your burning passion. We await all your applications!
Applications Close, Updates, and Showroom[]
On December 26th, 2016, applications for (2) closed. Those who passed the preliminary auditions were notified in writing of their success and advancement to primary auditions. On January 8th, 2017, those who successfuly completed their primary audition were notified of their entry to the secondary review stage. The review period was from January 19th to January 31st of 2017. On February 1st, 2017, YUM Entertainment announced a special number of successful applications would be shown on UUG's SHOWROOM on February 2nd, 2017. Mori Saki would serve as navigator (show host) while Saho Akari served as commentator.
(Rough translation of http://www.yum-audition.jp/)
During the 2/2/17 SHOWROOM, 13 successful applications were revealed. Each application demonstrated their "talent" and sang one of UUG's songs. At the end of the show, Mori and Saho announced that the 13 girls were the final successful applicants and a "challenge" for the members. It involved each of the 13 applicants promoting Up Up Girl's documentary book titled "7 Lives" through each individual applicant's twitter and SHOWROOM account.
Individual SHOWROOMs[]
From February 3rd to February 16th, 2017, all 13 successful applicants were given SHOWROOM accounts at which they would go on daily or as much as possible. There were several "missions" given to the participants, such as describing and urging viewers to buy UUG's documentary book or demonstrating their cooking skills. They were also given individual twitter accounts where people could promote the participants and UUG. The final ranking of each participant would be their placement in the audition challenge to follow.
NICONICO Live[]
On February 19th, 2017, the "Up Up Girls (2) FInal Auditions" were on NICO NICO. During the 5 hour broadcast, viewers were able to watch the participants be split into two groups (one 7 member, one 6). Both groups practiced "Uppercut!" and "Survival Girls". After over an hour of practice, the final audition stage began. A panel of judges connected to UUG, included UUG, were present to evaluate each girls individual introduction and performance as well as their group performances.
One by one, each of the 13 participants gave their introductions, displayed one of their talents, and sang "Uppercut!". After the introductions were complete, they brought out the two groups back to back. Group one was made of Rikko, Mokamoka, Maachan, Gucchi, Maru-chan, and Kaji, while group two was made of Nacchan, Rino, Mayuhokki, Chinaachan, Renren, Non-chan, and Kyasarin. Each of the four judges (sans UUG) gave their opinions on each groups performance and were they need to be improved.
Successful Applicants[]
During a livestream of an Up Up Girls mini concert on Showroom Live, the four successful UUG (2) members were announced. The successful applicants were Kaji, Rino, Chinaachan, and Maru-chan. Shortly after the announcement of the 4 successful members, a video was uploaded to UUG's official youtube announcing another girl would be joining UUG (2), although she did not participate in any of the audition process and was not an applicant originally.