℃-ute
Cute (キュート, Kyūto; stylized as °C-ute), was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project and produced by Tsunku. Cute consisted of Maimi Yajima, Saki Nakajima, Airi Suzuki, Chisato Okai, and Mai Hagiwara, who were all members of Hello! Project Kids prior to the group's formation. The original member line-up also consisted of fellow Hello! Project Kids members Megumi Murakami and Erika Umeda, as well as Kanna Arihara (a member of Hello Pro Egg, Hello! Project's trainee group), prior to their departure.
After releasing a string of independent hits, Cute made its major debut in 2007 with "Sakura Chirari" and that year won the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist. In 2008, the group was nominated for the main Japan Record Award, the Grand Prix, its song being named one of the year's best songs. All of the group's major-label singles debuted in the top 10 of the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.
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