What does "idol" refer to?

[Faiza]

Sorry for the horrifically badly worded title lool..
I was just wondering what it meant when the younger Ayu was referred to as an idol..? What did being an idol mean?

Any answers would be much appreciated (:

[bondingo]

I think Japan's version of the word Idol is usually meant in a creepy way to be entirely honest. Like, if you look around Japanese video shops, the Idol section is usually videos where very young girls will be filmed doing typical, daily activities (i.e. cooking, cleaning windows, mopping with next to nothing on) on DVDs that creepy perverted people actually buy. That's at least how I see it. Unfortunately, Ayu was an Idol at one point before her music career started. Now, she's just a typical idol (in the generally intended sense of the word) that we all love

[Faiza]

Ahh.. I get it, thanks! ^^
But, its weird thinking that little Ayu was thought of in that way.. o.O;

[Coelacanth]

Don't forget making scrambled eggs!

"Idols" are celebrities of usually mild fame, most often young women and girls, who are sort of thrown around the entertainment scene. They are often active as TV personalities/hosts, models, singers, and actresses at the same time. They're sort of categorized by not having an extraordinary amount of talent or success at any particular thing to be real stars, but they are very cute and fun. Lots of girls use this platform as a kicking off point for their someday-huge careers. Ayu could be considered one of them.

One interesting point of view was in a documentary/interview that followed BoA and Matsuura Aya. Aya remarks that she herself is just an idol, but BoA is an artist.

[Echidna]

idols - it's MoMusu and company ^_^
Ayu now is an artist\singer\talant but no idol

[ayu_fan929]

I think idols follow the "image > talent" idea.

[slowmoth]

Idol (Aidoru) has been a term used in America to refer to the stars of the American pop industry, but its usage has waned greatly, however, in Japan, the term is very commonplace, used to describe various musical artists, adult video (AV) starlets, bikini models (gravure idols), and actresses (many who are referred to as idols are also in the music industry). It is difficult sorting all the categories out, however, as crossovers are extremely commonplace. For the sake of simplicity, idols in this category will only include those not in the music industry or those who were once gravure or AV idols and later crossed over.

from wiki.theppn.org

[Faiza]

thanks for the explanations everyone ^^

[*Petit*]

Interestingly, "idol" in japanese also could be splitted up into "AI DORU or LOVE DOLL" (Japanese ai = love, doru = engrish "Doll") which IMO sums up the japanese female idol more than the actual "idol" word in english.

Ayu was an idol before she turned big. Idols aren't supposed to shine in any special area, they do a little bit of acting, some CMs, sings and models. Typically they're teenagers, sometimes very young. They don't neccessaarily have to have any formal training in the area they are working in either, a "cute face" goes a very long way. The packaging and personality are their main points of entertainment.

The comparison between BoA and Aya Matsuura is very interesting and I think it shows how important packaging is to determine the idol scene. Aya Matsuura had a very good voice, allthough I have no idea if she had any formal training. She debuted almost at the same age as BoA, still for some reason she's not called an "idol". If matsuura had been picked up by avex and BoA at hello Pro I think it would've been the other way around. H!P aims at the core audience of idols and churns out a whole lot of merchandise other than just music. Some of the girls aren't even releasing music at all, but still appears on shows and sells merchandise. Matsuura IMO Is much more of an "artist" than the most typical idols. THe most celebre archtype idol to me would have to be Aya Ueto.

If ayu was an aidoru or an artist when she debuted on avex is hard to tell IMO. Yes, she had some formal training, but she was still not on an artistic level in music or singing and a natural progress for her would've probably been more of a typical idol had it not been for her magnificent lyrics, later her ability to involve herself in the artistic aspects of music and visual arts.

[ayumeg]

This was all very interesting to read--thanks for posting it!

[pinapnut]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

Don't forget making scrambled eggs!

I love that video, tehehe. I almost didn't believe it was Ayu at first.