Pajama Drive Revival Show Cumulative Result & Analysis

Last night’s Pajama Drive Revival Show final result was perhaps the first unofficial contest of JKT48 member popularity. Below is the cumulative result gleaned from the top ten votes of each unit song. Note that this is not an accurate look at exact rankings because JKT48 management only released data for the top ten vote recipients of each song. Given that there are 49 members eligible, we are missing 80 percent of the data.

For convenience, member and song names follow the codes used for text message or SMS voting. The table uses different colors to indicate Team J, Team KIII, and Trainee members. Green background indicates that the member (16 total) has been selected to participate in a unit song, while yellow background indicates that the member (6 total) is designated as a backup dancer.

SUMMARY

• At least 139,449 votes were submitted for Pajama Drive Revival Show. This is still fewer than the 150,570 votes received by Rino Sashihara at the 2013 AKB48 General Election. The most contested song was Tenshi no Shippo, with at least 35,383 votes received.
• 22 members (18 from Team J and 4 from Team KIII) will participate in the Pajama Drive Revival Show, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
• Of the 16 primary performers, GHAIDA, HANNA, FRIESKA, and SENDY have never appeared as a senbatsu member in a single release, yet three received top votes in their respective unit songs. Of the six backup dancers, DIASTA, PANDA, and CINDY have never appeared as a senbatsu member.
• HARUKA saw a 685% vote increase in Junjou Shugi following the preliminary result announcement, while VINY and SHANIA saw 412% and 311% increases respectively.
• 41 members (21 from Team J, 13 from Team KIII, and 7 Trainees) received top ten votes in at least one unit song. Eight members did not attain top ten status in any unit songs: ACHA, KARIIN, NADILA, OCTI, YONA, NICHAN, SHAFA, and DHIFA. As announced previously, AKICHA and RENA did not participate in the contest.
• MELODY received top ten votes in three out of five unit songs, the most of any member.
• Backup dancers were selected from the top six vote recipients, excluding those who have already secured a unit song performance. Based on this data, VIA was 223 votes short (give or take) of becoming the only Trainee to participate as a backup dancer.
• Total votes of members selected for each unit song as a percentage of total top ten votes:
  • Tenshi no Shippo: 49.1% (17,366 of 35,383)
  • Pajama Drive: 49.8% (14,222 of 28,532)
  • Junjou Shugi: 53.8% (18,324 of 34,067)
  • Temodemo no Namida: 34.8% (5,423 of 15,564)
  • Kagami no Naka no Jeanne d’Arc: 76.1% (19,706 of 25,903)

COALITION RESULTS

Pajama Drive Revival Show’s biggest surprise is perhaps the comeback victory of the DIASTA–GHAIDA–RICA coalition over AYANA–MELODY–NABILAH in Tenshi no Shippo. In the preliminary results announced on 17 August, this coalition was trailing with an average of half the votes received by the other. Eleven days later, the balance had tipped, and DIASTA also came within 84 votes of toppling NABILAH in the top ten, having already overcome MELODY.

In Pajama Drive, it was clear that BEBY–CINDY–YUVI had the upper edge in terms of name recognition, but the underdog DELIMA–HANNA–VIA coalition proved that the vote was neck-to-neck in the preliminary result. Although the latter coalition broke down in the final days of voting, it is clear that VIA benefited from the intense competition, bringing her to the top of the Trainee cumulative rankings.

The trio of LIDYA–SHANIA–VINY was also ahead by a slim margin in the preliminary Junjou Shugi result, but the release of “Fortune Cookie in Love” undeniably boosted HARUKA–GABY–PANDA. HARUKA’s center position in the new single also boosted her individual appeal, propelling her to center position in this unit song as well.

Temodemo no Namida proved to be an intriguing race between SONIA–STELLA and NOELLA–SENDY. STELLA, who has widespread appeal among the fan base, could not carry her coalition by popularity alone. Despite calls for the two sisters to stand on stage together, SENDY was the more logical choice for the undecided because of her untapped vocal skills. I find it surprising, however, that this unit song garnered the least total votes compared to the other four.

DHIKE–FRIESKA–KINAL–NAOMI–VE was the only coalition to emerge untouched, bringing all of its members into Kagami no Naka no Jeanne d’Arc. The coalition had a comfortable lead in the preliminary result and only widened it over the coming days. It is also perhaps an indication that the more members belong to a coalition, the more likely it will succeed. Despite this outcome, the runners-up also turned out respectably and brought a number of lesser known Team KIII members and Trainees into the top ten rankings.

DISCLAIMER

I hold that these results should not be in any way interpreted as a JKT48 General Election because members are voted into five separate unit songs rather than into a common unit. Until such an election is held, this is a misleading attempt at aggregating data which may not reflect the bigger picture.