°C-ute

°C-ute (alternate writing: ℃-ute) is Hello! Project group consisting of six Hello! Project Kids, and Arihara Kanna, a former Hello! Pro Egg.

°C-ute, a group that consists of the Hello! Project Kids who were not members of Berryz Koubou, was officially announced by Tsunku on June 11, 2005. In January 2006, Arihara Kanna, a former Hello! Pro Egg, was added to the group and made her debut during the Hello! Project 2006 Winter tour. °C-ute appeared in several concerts performing original songs which were sold as indie singles. On October 31, 2006, Murakami Megumi left the group suddenly without a graduation ceremony. The group's first major single, Sakura Chirari, was released on February 21, 2007.

°C-ute has a weekly 30 minute radio show called Cutie Party. It began on October 07, 2006 and airs on FM FUJI every Saturday from 23:00 to 23:30 as the opening portion of Hello! Project Night. Like Morning Musume before them, at their debut concert each of the group's members were given a colour, used for merchandise, t-shirts and the like. Those colours: Umeda Erika, yellow; Yajima Maimi, pink; Nakajima Saki, orange; Suzuki Airi, green; Okai Chisato, blue; Hagiwara Mai, purple; Arihara Kanna, red.

In the Fall of 2007, °C-ute entered into the spotlight in the Japanese media because of their rising popularity, increasing sales and award nominations. °C-ute was a nominee for the "Newcomer Award" as part of the annual YTV show "Best Hits Kayousai". Although they didn't win, they got a prize for being the runner-up and performed on the show. On November 26th, it was announced that they were nomined for the 40th Japan Request Awards, a radio-related award (presented to artists who gets the most number of their songs requested). They didn't win, but they got medals for being the runner-up, and performed on the show. On November 29th, it was announced that °C-ute had won the New Artist Award from the 49th Japan Record Awards (Nihon Record Taishou), along with three other artists. On December 30, 2007, °C-ute was chosen as "Best New Artist" by Japan Record Awards.

°C-ute performed for the first time at NHK network's 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen on December 31, 2007, along with Berryz Koubou and Morning Musume.