The final competition of “Kirachare 2024”, Japan’s largest general entertainment contest for kids, which produced “Airu Ikumi”, “Akari Takaishi” and others, will be held!

On the 10th, the final tournament of “Kirachare 2024” sponsored by Avex Entertainment Co., Ltd. was held at Shinagawa Intercity Hall in Tokyo.

This contest was judged in three categories: vocal/rap category, model category, and dance category. The grand prize winners were Kine Sugiura (13), who lives in Aichi Prefecture, in the vocal/rap category, and Shizuoka Prefecture resident, in the model category. Riko Taniguchi (9), who lives in Fukushima Prefecture, and Asahi Konno (11), who live in Fukushima Prefecture, were selected in the dance category. In addition, 14 people received awards, including the special jury award.

Kirachalle has been held since 2007, and this year marks the 18th time.

With the theme of “Taking on challenges, that’s what’s important.”, we continue to discover next-generation stars, including Akari Takaishi and Airu Ikumi, who have been chosen to be the heroines of the 2025 autumn NHK morning drama “Bakebake”, lol ‘s moca, WASUTA’s Ruka Mishina and Nanase Hirokawa, voice actor idol unit i☆Ris’s Yuki Wakai, GENIC’s Sho Amemiya, Ryuuki Koike, Mari Kanaya, and Yuri Ui, Disney/Pixar’s “Remember… This contest has produced many artists and talents, including Yosai Ishibashi, who was in charge of dubbing the main character of “Me”.

For the grand prize winners in each category, Avex Group will provide free lessons and support for their development, as well as the “Nico☆Petit Award”, which allows them to become exclusive models for the magazine “Nico☆Petit”, and this year, a special award by avex ROYALBRATS. There was also an avex ROYALBRATS award for invitations to workshops.

This year, regional preliminaries were held in six cities across the country, and the 14 dance groups (32 people) who passed the preliminaries, 23 people in the vocal/rap category, and 74 people in the model category will participate in the finals.

The final competition featured guest artists avex ROYALBRATS, lol, and PG (a group of elementary and junior high school students who will remove their masks after 30 days), which greatly excited the venue. Ichiro Ito (Every Little Thing) and JUMPEI (avex ROYALBRATS) also appeared as guest judges and presenters.

Ito, who served as a guest judge,

“I focused on vocals and rapping.Every year I’m amazed at how well they can sing rhythmic songs, but this year in particular they tried out several times. I was impressed by the fact that I could feel the improvement in the skills of the finalists, and I was impressed by the level of skill of the finalists this year as well.

He went on to say, “I think being young is full of power, so with the help of your parents and relatives, you can keep an honest attitude and don’t get discouraged even if you fail, and aim for the next goal and the next goal. I sincerely hope that it will continue to grow.”

Mari Kanaya (GENIC), who served as MC for the finals for the first time, said, “I felt “thank you” for your performance. As you continue your activities, your environment and feelings will change, but seeing everyone who took on challenges with the feeling of “I want to do it!” made me realize my original intentions and what I really wanted to convey. I was able to remember this once again, so I would like to say “Thank you” and “Congratulations” to everyone. ” he thanked and cheered on the finalists, and the curtain came down.

This year’s final competition was once again of a high standard, with many special judges’ awards being selected at short notice. What kind of success will the next-generation stars who participated this year show on the next stage? We have high hopes for his continued success in the future.

▼Vocal/Rap Category Grand Prix: Nene Sugiura

“I have been standing on this stage since the early grades of elementary school, and it has been my dream to receive this award, so I am very happy that it has become a reality today.In the future, I will be able to perform internationally like Ariana Grande. I want to become an artist who is loved by everyone around the world.”

▼Model Category Grand Prix: Riko Taniguchi

“I was a lot nervous and anxious, but I’m really happy to win the Grand Prix.In the future, I want to be a model who can wear a variety of clothes.Thank you, Mom and Dad, for always being with me in practice and for bringing me this far.” I love you.”

▼Dance Division Grand Prix: Asahi Konno

“I’ve been looking forward to it since before the actual performance, and I’m really happy that I was able to advance to the Kirachalle final for the first time today and win the Grand Prix. Thank you to my mom and dad for always picking me up and dropping me off and accompanying me to dance practice. My dream is to become a leaguer.”

▼Nico☆Petit Award: Anna Maruyama

“I’m so happy, and I can’t thank my mom and dad enough for bringing me this far, and the people who chose me.I was really nervous about today’s runway, but I was able to enjoy it in my own way.” I’m glad that I did. I will do my best to become a model that everyone recognizes and admires.”

◇Vocal/Rap Division

Grand Prix: Shinei Sugiura (13)

Special Jury Award: Yu Hashimoto (13)

◇Model section

Grand Prix: Riko Taniguchi (9)

Special Jury Award: Rei Fujinuma (10)

Nico☆Petit Award: Anna Maruyama (12)

Nico☆Petit KiDS Award: Mari Yoshida (6)

X-girl Stages Award: Ryo Kobayashi (7)

XLARGE KIDS Award: Soichiro Seki (6)

NARUMIYA Award: Kurumi Murakami (12)

Pink Latte Award: Mei Suzuki (12)

◇Dance section

Grand Prix: Asahi Konno (11)

Special Jury Award: Pearl Crew

avex ROYALBRATS Award: Kondo Irono (10)

◇Aeon Mall Award

Sana Kubota (7) *Vocal/Rap category entry

◆MC

MC KENSAKU, Mari An Kanaya (GENIC)

◆Guest judge

Vocal/Rap Category: Ichiro Ito (Every Little Thing), Ryota Oyabu

Dance Division YWKI, JUMPEI (avex ROYALBRATS)

◆Guest performance

PG (a group of elementary and junior high school students who will take off their masks after 30 days), lol-L-O-L-, avex ROYALBRATS

◆Guest model

Nozomi Aoshima (Nico☆Petit exclusive model), Rinka Toyama (Nico☆Petit exclusive model), Aoka Fujita (Nico☆Petit exclusive model), Risa Yamakoshi (Nico☆Petit exclusive model)

*Alphabetical order

■Kirachare 2024 Official Supporter

Yosai Ishibashi, avex ROYALBRATS, lol-L-O-L-, Rina Kawaei,

Juri Uesaka, GENIC, Akari Takaishi, DJ KOO, Airu Ikumi

*Alphabetical order

■Kirachare HP

http://avex.jp/kiratto/

■Kirachare official SNS

・Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/kirachalle/

・X (old Twitter):https://twitter.com/kirachalle