1/26/2007

I love this American born Japanese singer. I think she’s really talented and I love her sultry sweet voice. When i was a teenager (not too long ago, mind you :P), I use to listen to her songs all the time. My favorite song of All time is Final Distance – you have to see the videoclip (directed by her husband) – i was in my emo-stages in life at the time and this song just calls to me. Apparently the song Final Distance was dedicated to a little girl who died…:( And another of my fav. from her is Hikari – I was less angsty then and the song cheers me up whenever. And OMG, i saw an interview of her on Channel V a few years back and she has the most cutest accent…a hint of american and japanese all mixed together… i know I sound like a teeny bopper but I have a thing for accents and languages. That’s why i took Linguisitcs as a minor in University!

Hikaru Utada was born in New York City, New York, United States to Japanese parents, who both had roots in the Japanese music industry: her father, Teruzane Utada, was a producer (who produced her records too), while her mother, Junko Utada, was an enka singer (she performed under the stage name “Keiko Fuji”). She made her first professional recording at the age of twelve, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U. The album led to her career overseas. In an MTV interview (MTV’s You Hear It First, October 2004), Utada said: “Someone in Japan heard it, at a Japanese record company, and he said, ‘Oh, can’t you write in Japanese? You speak Japanese.’ And I didn’t want to say no, so I had to try it.”

She is currently married to Kazuaki Kiriya, a photographer and film director. He has directed several of her music videos, including “Final Distance”, “traveling”, “Hikari”, “Sakura Drops”, “Deep River”, “Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro”, “Be My Last”, “Passion”, and “Keep Tryin’”. Also, “Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro” is the theme song of Kiriya’s directorial debut, Casshern.

And what has she achieved in 2006?

* Rank 10th HMV’s Top 30 Best Japanese Singer of All Time
* -Golden Disc- Song of the Year (Be My Last)
* Rank 3rd – Total Female Artist Sales in Japan
* Oricon 40th Special Anniversary “We Love Music Awards” From Jan 4, 1968 ~ April 24, 2006

* Rank 1st – (First Love)
* Rank 4th – (Distance)
* Rank 8th – (Deep River)

* Rank 4th – Oricon Favorite Artist of 2006 from rankings of 20,000 fans[9]

There. I think it’s quite a feat :)

Videos clips of Final distance and a lot more:

And while i was searching for videoclips, i came upon this little gem. She did a remake of Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Greenday! I still like the original version better but damn, she sang it pretty well because that song hits a high note:

Hikari:

English version of Hikari, i love love love this version :)

I hope you enjoyed her talent as much as i did today. It’s a pleasure to be writing about her actually :)

Source: Wikipedia; Utada Hikaru Official Site