Canadian Anime Song Contest Winner

[Mulboyne]

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That's the sound of Catherine St-Onge, a Canadian who also goes by the name of Himeka. She's not just any old karaoke performer, however. She lives in Tokyo and last month won the 2nd Animax Anime Song Grand Prix which, according to this report, "earns her a chance to make her professional debut with a theme song to an Animax anime project next year". St.Onge has uploaded a number of YouTube videos before but this one, posted a couple of weeks ago, is the first in which she appears personally (embedding has been disabled, so click the link to view).

[omae mona]

I would not be surprised if we hear more from this one. As misdirected as her energy is, I think her voice is actually very good. I hope she can get some management that gives her better material to sing.

[Mulboyne]

I would not be surprised if we hear more from this one. As misdirected as her energy is, I think her voice is actually very good. I hope she can get some management that gives her better material to sing.

The Anime News Network article describes her as a "27 year old" but in a recent blog entry she says she has just turned 20 so she has some time on her hands.

[Charles]

I would not be surprised if we hear more from this one. As misdirected as her energy is, I think her voice is actually very good.

Still, I could only endure about 15 seconds of her singing.

[prolly]

Still, I could only endure about 15 seconds of her singing.

since the target audience isn't you - i guess it doesn't matter. i won't piss on someone's talent just because it doesn't correspond to my tastes.

[Charles]

since the target audience isn't you - i guess it doesn't matter. i won't piss on someone's talent just because it doesn't correspond to my tastes.

Try reading more carefully, parse that out. The conjunction "still" appends my statement to the previously quoted one. So it parses "...her voice is actually very good, still I could only endure about 15 seconds of her singing." That isn't pissing on her singing, it's bemoaning her material, which was exactly what omae mona was complaining about.

[hundefar]

i won't piss on someone's talent just because it doesn't correspond to my tastes.

If they pay me, I'll piss on anyone.

[Greji]

If they pay me, I'll piss on anyone.

Hundefar's a whore for taking money! I'll do it for free.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

There's a profile of Himeka in the online version of Cyzo (Japanese) coinciding with the release of her new single.

Here's the video:

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[Mulboyne]

Himeka's handlers don't seem to think it's a good idea for her to maintain a wordpress blog. She says she has moved to her "official blog" which is closed to comments.

[Mulboyne]

Reuters: Canadian singer gives Japanese anime a voice

Anime is quintessentially Japanese, but these days, a Canadian singer is giving it a voice. Catherine St-Onge of Quebec, according to Sony Music Japan International, is the only Western singer of songs that feature in the animated TV series widely watched in Japan and abroad. St-Onge, who goes by her stage name HIMEKA, made her debut in the Japanese-dominated industry of animated song, or "anison," earlier this year with her first single "Asueno-kizuna" or "Bonds for Tomorrow" which became the theme tune of an anime series. A year ago, she won the Animax Anison Grand Prix, an annual competition that gathers aspiring singers from all over Japan for a chance to earn a professional singing contract. "I really love art, so seeing beautiful animated characters is an extra," St-Onge told Reuters in an email interview. "As for anime songs, the fact that they are attached to the animation, you feel a deeper meaning to the songs themselves. Most of the time, parts of the lyrics really become meaningful related to the story and they become really nostalgic."

St-Onge, who publishes a bilingual blog (6109.jp/himeka/) said she became fascinated by Japan as a teenager after watching Sailor Moon, a popular animated TV series. Although she did not understand the words, she was enthralled by the characters and the imagery, which inspired her to learn more about Japanese culture. "After getting interested in Sailor Moon, I quickly became fascinated by the language and general culture of Japan. Even now I'm trying to understand why I fell in love with it -- I think it's just how everything was connected together," she said. St-Onge started learning Japanese, mostly by herself, and last year flew to Tokyo where she found out about the singing contest on the Internet.

A year later, she says her Japanese still needs improving but that has not dented her ambitions. "I also hope to have a chance to release a full album and hold a concert eventually," she said. Sony Music Japan International, which signed up St-Onge after she won the singing contest, calls her the only "genuine" Western anison singer who debuted in Japan. "I believe this is the first case a non-Japanese singer wannabe who has no Japanese background survived under the same conditions Japanese competitors did," said Sony Music's Yuichi Nakanishi. An African-American 'enka' or Japanese ballad singer made his debut in Japan last year.