generasia:Featured article for 2022 week 17
Last Idol
Last Idol (ラストアイドル) is a Japanese idol group produced by Akimoto Yasushi. The group was formed through the music competition show of the same name, a show looking for the "Ultimate Idol group".
The show begins with 7 "temporary members" that were selected from an audition. The debut single, the costume, and the choreography are set and pre-determined beforehand, but not the members. Each week there would be a "battle", in which one or more challengers comes to the show and picks one of the 7 original members for a performance duel. There are 4 judges in the show, but only one randomly picked judge will determine the winner. The defeated original members will leave on the spot, and their position will be taken over by the winning challenger. This went on until the end of the season.
The multiple units that were formed through the show are referred to collectively as "Last Idol Family" (ラストアイドル ファミリー).
All of their releases, 11 singles in total, charted within the top 10 on the Oricon weekly singles chart, with their sixth single "Otona Survivor" and their eighth single "Ai wo Shiru" both topping the chart at the #1 spot.
On March 9, 2022, it was announced that Last Idol would be disbanding on May 31st after a last concert due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the group's activities.
Their first and final album, aptly titled Last Album, is released this week on April 27th.
