Birth name Mika Taressa Todd Name Mika Todd Years active 1999–present | Occupation(s) Singer Also known as Mika, Mikapon Education Kalani High School | |
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Origin Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Genres Japanese jazz, Japanese pop Role Singer · twitter.com/mikataressa Music groups Minimoni (2000 – 2004), Hello! Project, Coconuts Musume (1999 – 2004) Albums Minimoni Song Daihyakk, Minimoni Songs 2, Hello! Project Shuffle U, Petit Best 13, Hello! Project Special U | ||
Mika todd in the recording studio
Mika Taressa Todd (ミカ・タレッサ・トッド, born May 28, 1984 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a Japanese American singer and former member of the Hello! Project groups Coconuts Musume and Minimoni. She joined Hello! Project in 1999 along with Ayaka Kimura, Danielle Delaunay, April Barbaran and Chelsea Ching after being discovered by Sharam Q member Makoto.
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Biography
Todd's father, Johnny Todd, is an Australian-born American Jazz pianist, giving her a strong background in music from a young age. At Kalani High School in Hawaii, Todd formed a musical group with four of her friends and periodically performed at small restaurants in the Waikiki area. After being discovered by Makoto of Sharam Q and moving to Japan, they became Coconuts Musume under the production of Tsunku, the same producer of Morning Musume.
In Hello! Project, Coconuts Musume released 5 singles, with April and Chelsea leaving after their second, Danielle after their fourth, and Lehua Sandbo being picked up for the third, but the group was never given a chance to release an album. After Lehua left after the fifth single, Coconuts Musume continued with just Ayaka and Todd. Although they never released another single, the duo performed at Hello! Project concerts, appeared on television shows, hosted their own radio show Kiss the Coconuts and even promoted Dole pineapples.
Shortly after Coconuts Musume was created, Morning Musume member Mari Yaguchi created the subgroup Minimoni with Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji, and Tsunku later added Todd into the group when they were made official. In Minimoni, Todd was usually wearing clothes differing from those of the other girls; Mari Yaguchi explained in an episode of Mini Moni Chiccha~! that Todd was wearing blue clothes while everyone else was wearing red because Todd was at the Minimoni height limit of 150 cm while everyone else was below the limit at the time. Minimoni was a highly popular group at the time and gave Todd more exposure than Coconuts Musume had. Many of Minimoni's songs were light-hearted, childish, and occasionally educational. Ohayousan ~Mata Ashita no Uta~ (おはようさん～また明日の唄～), a song off of Minimoni's first album Minimoni Song Daihyakka Ichimaki (ミニモニ。ソング大百科1巻), features Todd teaching English phrases to the listener. Todd would later become the leader of Minimoni when then-leader Mari Yaguchi left the group and was replaced by Ai Takahashi, and the group's popularity led to Todd co-starring in the Minimoni movie Okashi na Daibōken! and having a minor role in the made-for-TV series Minimoni's Brementown Musicians.
In early 2004 it was announced that Todd would be graduating from Coconuts Musume, Minimoni and Hello! Project. On May 2, 2004, Todd performed at her last concert at Saitama, Japan. "Be All Right!," a song originally sung by the shuffle group 11Water and later covered on Minimoni's second album, was her last song with Ayaka as Coconuts Musume. Minimoni Jankenpyon! (featuring Mari Yaguchi) and the two tracks off the last Minimoni single "Lucky Cha Cha Cha!" were Todd's last songs with Minimoni. Minimoni disbanded at this concert with their final performances. Later, on May 29, 2004, Todd performed in Japan for the last time before her departure to study music in Los Angeles, California on May 31, 2004.
Currently, Todd is studying music and singing jazz, occasionally performing with her father, Johnny Todd. She even traveled to Japan to sing for her Japanese fans. Todd voiced Akira in the Da Jammies pilot. She has also released an English jazz mini-album featuring cover songs and an original song.