Unknown Diva in Soho

[Mulboyne]

Britain is getting the Utada promotion tour a year after the US effort


Telegraph: Japan's pop princess heads west
She is one of the most successful popstars on the planet, but when Hikaru Utada walks into a busy Soho patisserie, she attracts less interest than the custard doughnuts in the window...In the Far East she is, in short, a megastar; in the West, a nobody...Resolutely girly when singing in Japanese, Exodus finds Utada adopting an uncharacteristically muscular persona. "As a girl in Japan, if you want to be accepted, it's better to show some weakness, to have a goofy side...But over here people seem to respond well to strong women. They don't mind a diva."...Utada has always kept a covetous eye on western pop culture. "For some reason all my idols are British," she says. "I've always been crazy about Sting and I was devastated when Freddie Mercury died." And then there is Roald Dahl. "He was my first crush," she blushes. "I read all his stories at elementary school - even the dirty ones."...more...

FG Thread: Strange Fruits - The J-Pop Industry
FG Thread: Cheesy, Sleazy "Easy Breezy"

[Greener]

The problem with Hikki is that she lacks any real charisma and/or stage presence in the way the West views their pop stars. Someone like Hitomi would have a much better chance over in Europe because A. she looks better and B. she has a charisma that gives her a lot more presence than Utada does.

The downside with Hitomi though is that her singing voice is a lot squeekier and likely less commercial in America or Europe. Either way, you would think Jpop idols would have a decent following in the major cities like Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, etc. (Puffy being a good example of Jpop stars who really found a way to niche market themselves in America.)

[IkemenTommy]

Bwahaha
Is it just me... but don't all of her songs sound manic-depressant and suicidal ever since she got married? She needs to retire before she sinks into a deeper hole.

[Greener]

Nah, she just needs a big western Bratwirst if you smell what the Greener`s cooking!

[tetsujin gaijin]

Last year here in LA they tried to do the big Hikki role out. There were huge billboards for her on Sunset Blvd. etc. I had to laugh because no one had a clue who she was or cared. Her album totally tanked here. She does have several things going against her if she is ever going to break into the west.

1. Can't sing.
2. Bad songs.
3. Not that attractive. She was kinda cute when she was teenager then what happened?
4. A horrible sounding name to the western ear. It's not some cute J-chick name. It's Utada. Yuck.
5. Did I mention she can't sing?

[Greji]

-snip-
1. Can't sing.
2. Bad songs.
3. Not that attractive. She was kinda cute when she was teenager then what happened?
4. A horrible sounding name to the western ear. It's not some cute J-chick name. It's Utada. Yuck.
5. Did I mention she can't sing?

Nicely put! You got'em all. But, you notice that the only bomb mentioned in the media in Japan sure wasn't in LA!

[IkemenTommy]

Her assumption was that since she made it big in Japan and also the fact that she could speak English, she had the right formula to conquer the US music charts. Dead wrong!

If she really wanted to be big, she needs to sell out and be a skank (i.e. Britney Spears). You don't need a whole lot of talent these days to sell records.. just look at Ashlee Stage Fright Simpson. What Utada needs to do is be featured with other less talents like R. Kelly, P. Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, etc. and *maybe* she'll catch some attention.

[Mennon]

She should show her tits and box in her videos like all the other skanks in Western pop, and then she might get some attention. She'll have to lose a few kilos first though.

[IkemenTommy]

Getting married was her worst career decision. I think she lost a lot of loyal fans and her music went to shit.

[tetsujin gaijin]

The fact that she is already married is also a big hindrance to her becoming a skank. Plus, I think that whole skank trend is dying anyway. She missed the boat.

I actually worked with her back in 1999. I edited a concert special she did for Japanese TV. It was right after she hit the scene. She was young and had this kind of naive cuteness to her. But the whole time none of us working on the project could figure out the attraction to her beyond that. She seemed like just another mediocre J-pop star. Sure, she had famous parents, but come on. I am truly surprised that she has endured this long.

I don't believe she'll ever catch on big in the US because frankly her music is not that catchy. Have you actually heard her Exodus album? I heard a few tracks and they were pretty dreadful. She is trying to be all hip hop and R&B failing miserably. And that's the big miscalculation here. There is a niche market in the US for J-pop because it's catchy, cute or somehow hip because it's different. It's Japanese. And that is the attraction. The foreignness of it. By singing in English she removes the one element that makes J-pop interesting to westerners and comes off as a poser. Unfortunately for her the niche market for J-pop in the west is rather small too.

Just my two yen.

[Greener]

Getting married was her worst career decision. I think she lost a lot of loyal fans and her music went to shit.

Again, she needs my Big Valboski!

[Mulboyne]

...Puffy being a good example of Jpop stars who really found a way to niche market themselves in America...

Puffy do have a niche but they didn't find it. US producers created the Cartoon Network vehicle. One of the biggest misjudgements of the Japanese music industry is trying to promote domestic artists in the US by stressing the similarities with the US music scene rather than the differences. Idiosyncratic, indie bands have always fared generally better because they have also been prepared to tour which builds a following on the college circuit.

The big difference today is the growth of the anime market which has opened a few more doors for J-Pop acts. The anime route is not one that was open to Seiko Matsuda or Dreams Come True but it does help prepare the market for an act and offers low-risk live opportunities at Anime and Cosplay events.

[Greener]

Well it is always best to have a niche when conquering new ground. Japan is yet to produce it's answer to the Beatles or Rolling Stones to the world so Jmusic acts need to find their niche and work it.

Japan definately has a "scene" all it's own but they haven't produced that one big superstar actor or musician or pop star to take it to the next level. I think it will come eventually but I don`t think the current group of Jpop superstars are it. They are getting closer, but they're not there yet.

[Mulboyne]

He's no Rolling Stones but Kitaro sold two million albums in the US alone back in 1987. That easily outstrips any other Japanese artist and is a pretty handy total by any standard.

[Greener]

But you know what I mean. For some reason, Japan hasn't produced that one star or group that trancends cultures and boarders like the Beatles or something like that. (the Guess Who, BTO or Bryan Adams in Canada) That is what's needed to take Jpop to the next level in America and Europe.

[tetsujin gaijin]

He's no Rolling Stones but Kitaro sold two million albums in the US alone back in 1987. That easily outstrips any other Japanese artist and is a pretty handy total by any standard.

Kitaro is not a fair comaprison. He is a new age artist and sounds like every other new age artist. He just rode the wave of the new age fad. I don't think fans in the US knew he was from Japan or cared for that matter.

[Mulboyne]

Kitaro is not a fair comaprison. He is a new age artist and sounds like every other new age artist. He just rode the wave of the new age fad. I don't think fans in the US knew he was from Japan or cared for that matter.

I don't think it's unfair. I don't care for his music but he found a global market. You can claim he "just rode the wave" but there are thousands of musicians who couldn't do that. I think it worked in his favour that he wasn't marketed as as a Japanese star just as no-one really cared at the time where Yanni came from.

N.B.

The Onion: Today's New Age Music Is Crap

...The golden age of New Age music has come and gone. I remember when I first heard Yanni, back in '85. It was my junior year of high school. One Saturday night, I was hanging out at my buddy Steve's, and he looks at me and says, "Dude, you gotta hear this record. This shit will blow your mind." So I'm like, "Okay, whatever, Steve." So he puts this LP on, and I hear the first notes of Optimystique come out of the speaker. Needless to say, my jaw hit the floor...After that, New Age pretty much became my life. I started devouring the old masters like Cluster, Tangerine Dream and Kitaro...That was back when New Age was a real thing. Back when Windham Hill Records was an exciting new upstart indie label...They've forgotten what it's all about...more...

The Onion: PBS To Air More Of That Yanni Shit

Reaffirming its commitment to the Greek-mustachioed-New-Age-synthesizer arts, PBS announced Monday that it will continue to air loads of that Yanni shit...The programs will be periodically interrupted by pledge breaks, during which on-air hosts will attempt to keep a straight face while going on about how only PBS brings the great music of Yanni into their homes.

Incidentally, although I'm sure Utada Hikaru would like to break the US, the article in the original post is actually about her efforts to break the UK market. I think she'll find it difficult but "Automatic", properly distributed, would definitely have found a market in Britain and some parts of Europe. A chance gone begging.

[tetsujin gaijin]

I think it worked in his favour that he wasn't marketed as as a Japanese star just as no-one really cared at the time where Yanni came from.

You are making my point. People liked Kitaro's music because they liked it, not because he was Japanese. Hikki is being marketed as being Japanese, and thus is supposedly hip and cool. It's not about her music. It's all about the fact that she's big in Japan and thus the rest of the world should like her too. Maybe if she wasn't so mediocre, the rest of the world would.

[IkemenTommy]

The Onion: Today's New Age Music Is CrapThe Onion: PBS To Air More Of That Yanni Shit

New age is such crap that people who listen to them are mostly fags. I'd rather stab myself with a dirty rusty needle than having to listen to Yanni or Enya. Yanni's "music" is so drenched in vagina sap that I can't stand to listen to that shit even if I were deaf. I don't know why housewives squirt over his synthesized crap music. It must be his long hair or something.