Filed under: Angela Aki, Aoyama Thelma, Ayumi Hamasaki, DBSK, Ikimonogakari, Japan, Jero, Jpop, Koda Kumi, Nakashima Mika, Opinion, Otsuka Ai, Perfume, Television, WaT | Tags: Kouhaku
Kohaku’s artist lineup for this year has been released.
Newcomers on the red team (female) are Aoyama Thelma, Akimoto Junko (enka singer who I think made it big this year with her single “Ai no Mama De”), Ikimonogakari, GIRL NEXT DOOR, Perfume, and Fujioka Fujimaki and Ohashi Nozomi (the two men and the little girl who sang the theme to Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea).
Newcomers to the white team (male) are Kimaguren, Kiyama Yusaku, Jero, Shuchishin with Pabo, Tohoshinki(DBSK), Mr. Children, and Mizutani Yutaka (enka singer who made a comeback).
Overall, expected additions for the year. I’m not familiar with enka singers, but the female singers who made it big this year all made it onto the show (Perfume! Yes!). I’m surprised and pleased that Ikimonogakari are finally on. For the male artists though, I’m surprised it took this long for Mr. Children to make it on.
Full lineup is
WaT’s new single, “Toki wo Koete ~Fantastic World~” will drop April 23rd.
WaT’s releases haven’t interested or inspired me for the past year or so. I don’t enjoy their solo work, and together they are, for lack of a better term, boring. It’s always midtempo, with WaT singing a sweet tune while strumming lightly on their guitars – mellow, cheerful, and unmemorable. I don’t even remember what Yume no Tochuu actually sounds like. Still, I hold hope – I enjoyed a lot of their slightly earlier works (“5 Centi” or “Boku no Kimochi”… and I liked “Bokura no Love Story” too) and know that they could make extremely enjoyable and at least slightly inspired pop.
Raise your hand if you’re like me and breathed a sigh of relief that WaT’s new release next Wednesday, Yume no Tochuu/TOKIMEI☆DooBeeDoo, would be with the both of them again. Sure, their two solos singles did decently sales-wise, but I sure didn’t enjoy listening to Teppei nasally sing sugary sweet pop songs unharmonized and Wentz doing – whatever the heck he felt like doing.
Is it up to par with their bigger hits, though? Continue reading
fly to high 