Who are the most impressive female ballad singers?
 

Last month, singer-songwriter JUJU impressed her fans and other music lovers with her touching ballad “Mata Ashita…“, giving the mobile portal ‘goo‘ (NTT DoCoMo) the idea of creating a poll about female ballad singers.

Which female artist comes to your mind, when you think about touching ballads that make you want to cry, no matter how often you hear the song? That’s exactly what goo wanted to find out and so they listed 19 female singers and groups with female vocalists who are known for their impressive ballad performances.

—

Who is the most impressive female ballad singer?

01 – 8,934 votes – JUJU
02 – 4,179 votes – DREAMS COME TRUE
03 – 2,919 votes – HY
04 – 2,201 votes – Others, not listed
05 – 1,950 votes – MISIA
06 – 1,865 votes – Ayaka
07 – 1,552 votes – Nishino Kana
08 – 1,551 votes – Takeuchi Mariya
09 – 1,407 votes – Kato Miliyah
10 – 1,385 votes – Hamasaki Ayumi
11 – 1,211 votes – Hitoto Yo
12 – 1,170 votes – Kiroro
13 – 1,009 votes – aiko
14 – 1,005 votes – Utada Hikaru
15 – 865 votes – ZARD
16 – 780 votes – Koda Kumi
17 – 755 votes – Every Little Thing
18 – 715 votes – Oku Hanako
19 – 560 votes – Matsutoya Yumi
20 – 245 votes – Otsuka Ai

tokyohive



Hmm... Miliyah and Kana higher than Ayu? I know it's due of popularity but it looks so wrong for me. The same with Ai being last here.

Another useless poll, another discussion time~

10th, not bad. As for Miliyah and Kana higher than Ayu, I think it's because Ayu also focuses and experiments on a majority of other genres other than ballads, from rock to who knows what. Don't get me wrong though, she can pull off a ballad any time :L

To be honest, I think it's amazing she's up as high as she is. Don't get me wrong, I like some of her ballads, but I don't think she has a ballad-y voice. That is, she can't really stretch those notes, which is what most people like to hear in ballads ^^

i believe there is this kind of poll back at 2001-2006, and i believe ayu holding to number one spot...and for me she is still in the number one spot for ballad singer..her emotion is really shine through sings ballad songs

lol, yeah, its obviously based on popularity atm.

not bad..

She's still great even after 13 years :yes

kuu and ai should be higher! pretty cool though, thanks

lol at "Others, not listed" being in the top 5.

I think this goes to show that my tastes are very different than those of Ayu's target audience.

I don't listen to any of these ladies, regularly or at all, besides Kuu. So between Ayu and Kuu I prefer Ayu's ballads. HEAVEN is the only ballad by a female that makes me cry.

Agree so much on this!

congrats ayu!
ranks no. 10 is not bad at all.
i'm happy ayu is there even though she's not no. 1 anymore!

Ayu is my number one :p

JUJU? I cant really get the feeling when she sing

Glad tat Ayu is in the list! But to me, her ranking should be higher!

Ayu is a ballad singer for me, she just has too much, even though definitely not the most impressive one.
# 10 is a nice place for her.
MISIA should be higher, she has the best female voice in the whole japanese industry.
Also where's Mika Nakashima in that list? I would give her a place in the top 10 wihout a doubt and higher than Ayu as well.

:yes

For me ayu is the #1 in the ballads department as well :yes

^

agreed

ayumi is not the ballad queen of japan? my japanese friends complain about the amount of sad / ballad songs she has, ha!

What? Ayu has to be in the first place because she's queen of ballads:think

あゆ is number 10? Should be in top 5 instead...

Miliyah writes better sad songs than Ayu, to be honest. So I'm happy Miliyah is higher. Her lyrics are so depressing. As for Kana, she writes ballads people can relate to I guess. All the girls listed are at good spots. But damn, JUJU is popular! Get it gurl!

Yeah, I gotta admit, if there's anyone who nails ballads, it's Ayu and Ai :P Glad they managed to get on the list at least.

Ayu should be higher imo, and some of those artist shouldn't even be in the top 10. Why YUI and Kokia is not on the list, is beyond me. O.O
This is only based on popularity which makes this poll pretty --- well, yeah -.-
Just my opinion.

i'm also surprised that mika nakashima isn't on the list! :( but i'm still glad to see ayu at #10, and i'm very happy to see kana, miliyah, kuu, utada, and ai on the list as well! :D

Ayu will always be number one in my heart.

Also, this just seems silly:

She's the best at ballads out of all of these people. Some of these are a complete joke and have nothing in them to pull off a ballad like ayu does. #10 isn't a bad position, though. Miliyah Kato does do some great ballads.

Obviously this poll is based on popularity.
I mean, Ai's so lower and no Mika Nakashima? What the.. seriously :shakehead. And that no listed thing, omg silly :laugh.

Ayu should be more higher, but well she's my favorite singer ever so it doesn't count lol.

Thanks for sharing :heart

I understand this is an Ayu forum and all, but that's really rude to say. Considering I love a lot of the artists on this poll. Like Kana Nishino. Sure, her ballads might not be as grand as Ayu's, but her ballads are still beautiful.

It's obvious this was a popularity poll, and not something based entirely on talent. But talent has to play somewhat of a role. I'm sure JUJU didn't get on the top because she's hot. It's obvious she does ballads that easily click with Japan.

Yes, well nobody said I wasn't rude so..
hopefully you'll get over it. I wasn't referring to your faves anyway.

ayu position should be higher....
i love kana but her lyric isnt that deep...just a classical romance theme...
ayu is more deep-poetic when it comes to lyric...

n where's nakashima mika...
her songs r tear jerker...
her voice make the song seems more darker...
lol....

LMAO! I love your response. You earned my respect. Peace.

Not bad! :) I'm glad ayaka's high up there too; she would have been my #2 after Ayu.

Japan doesn't care about KOKIA and only kids listen to YUI. Go figure.

Strange results... But thanks for sharing ^^
BTW i wonder why Mika Nakashima is not here, her ballads give me goosebumps everytime.

Aww, I love how kind you are with your comment. :yes I assume you can prove your accusations? :rolleyes

Since I am a child, according to you b/c I listen to YUI, I feel I should say something like "Only stupid people listen to Hitomi Shimatani" -- luckily I'm more mature than that ^^

Oh and yep, I also believe ayu should be in the top 5 if not top 1 of the chart lolol

she's got so many beautiful ballads that could be listened several times over and still bring you to tears, and they have to be among the best J-pop ballads ever :yes (Not being a stan, just being objective actually)

ah~ i just realizeddd!!

why Namie Amuro isn't there?
I love her ballads.. i think most of her ballads are so nice..

actually, Japanese female artists I hear is ayu, koda kumi, hitomi shimatani & mika nakashima

all of thems have great ballads :(

ayu should be on #1 instead of #10 O_o

I didn't mean to sound offensive nor rude, but I guess it's the way I am. Anyways YUI's and RADWIMPS's fans are mostly kids and very young teenagers...just go thru some of the older polls that were posted here, sure not all of her fans are kids, but seemingly the vast majority are...and being a kid isn't a bad thing ^^ Also I don't think YUI's music is childish in any way...I like a lot of her ballads as well.

As for KOKIA, her sales speak for themselves.

14 – 1,005 votes – Utada Hikaru ????????
'-' Nothing right

thx ^^

Oh yeah, by the way

The lyrics to 20-CRY- by Miliyah Kato > everything in Ayu's discography

Lyric-wise anyway...That song made me cry the first time I read the translations xD So powerful.

Ai chin at #20 and Ayu at #10???

Well, imo it's lyrics really seen like a (even) more depressing version of A Song for XX... I don't know enough japanese to be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ayu first era lyrics were a influence on this...

Anyway, too depressing... instead of keep fighting, like a song for xx, it gave me the feeling of drinking poison or jumping from a cliff... not good

^lol asfxx gives me the exact opposite feeling. It has a very hopeless air to it, and that's why I love it so much.

The only thing that perturbs me about this list is a lack of chihiro onitsuka. Come on, now.

^ OMG HOW COULD I FORGOT MY GODDESS CHIHIRO ;3; okay now that list is invalid.

I imagine that most of the votes for #4 (Other) were probably for Namie. She isn't currently known for her ballads really, but she used to be so it's surprising that it seems she wasn't even an option on the poll.

I am pretty surprised that Hikki isn't higher on that list since she did have some smash hit ballads :o...either way go Ayu, ayaka, & Hikki for making the list :yes.

^ This

^ And This

EDT: I'm actually not surprised Namie isn't on there. She's more known for her fast-paced songs and has made it a point (at least recently) to only include 1 or 2 ballads on her CDs.

Even when she started out the only ballad that she's been known/famous for was CAN YOU CELEBRATE? While some of her biggest hits were eurobeat/dance tracks like Chase the Chance, Don't wanna cry, BODY FEELS EXIT etc. but I'm sure you already know that. Baby Don't Cry is the closest to a hit ballad song she has had since she became popular again. So aside CAN YOU CELEBRATE? I don't think Namie was ever popular for her ballads, but then again she hasn't had THAT many ballads released as singles to begin with as opposed to Ayu, Koda Kumi or Ai Otsuka.

I'm sorry, but how the hell did Ayu rank so high on this?

...MISIA should've been number one btw.

omg I'ma sig you lmao

Yes, the majority of her singles have been more fast paced songs, but her biggest hit of all time was a ballad. Also, Sweet 19 Blues was a huge hit as well and Never End was also quite up there. Given her current popularity and the fact that you usually don't see an "Other" option that high up on a poll, I'm just speculating that the majority of those other votes were probably for Namie.

It might've been and yeah I forgot about Sweet 19 Blues, though that was more of a mid-tempo song. NEVER END was an amazing ballad though~ I am surprised Onitsuka Chihiro and Ayaka Hirahara aren't there as they both had quite a few big ballads and are generally known for singing ballads, the same goes for Angela Aki.

alan isn't it listed...?

Yeah Onitsuka Chihiro, alan and Angela Aki should definitely be there too!

(Even though it's unfortunately obvious why alan wouldn't be in there)

Yeah, alan and Hitomi Shimatani are some of the best vocalists of JPOP and BoA too, though alan has never had a single real hit.

^I would never put BoA among the best vocalists on jpop... not even top20

Let's cry together :bawl

But these polls are always a popularity ranking though~

*off to listen to some epic ballads*

Oh my goodness I know right o_O

Has there been a poll in Japan ranking vocalists based purely on voice? I don't think I've seen one yet.

Well... the really good vocalists aren't the most popular...

I would put her in top 10 without a doubt. The girl's voice does wonders to even the most boring jazzy songs.

^ Wow really? Have you listened to IDENTITY? Her voice is awful and boring (the music saves it though). Like in EASY or LAZER.

LOL her vocals aren't bad on IDENTITY, but they don't really display what she can do ^^

BoA's live performance of Romance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk7ZGhpb8Gc

Her voice isn't awful and boring...:innocent

^Not impressed... but nice to hear that she can manage the voice comming out her nose so smoothly...

^ It's a matter of preference; imo she beats most of the people from that list.

^Singing from the nose may be seen as a stylistic choice sometimes, but most of the cases means just lack of proper singing skill (and yeah, I'm aware I'm an Ayu fan :P)

Most people on the list aren't that good as vocalists anyway...

I would put Kana, Ayu and Kuu way higher on the list. My tastes are different than what japanese people like I guess.

i love ayus ballads...she made me realize how much i can like ballads lol....and i love many of hikkis too...

I agree, she has so many good ballads (Days, Ballad etc). And whenever she performs these songs, she shows the emotion that hide in them. Something other artist just cannot do. That is the reason why I think that Ayu is misplaced in this ranking.

I think BoA's voice sounds amazing in IDENTITY! :D

Ayaka is INCREDIBLE. Her voice was made for ballads...much like Utada Hikaru. But c'mon no Angela Aki? Her piano ballads are powerful and she is very talented with controlling her voice.

at least ayu and hikki are above kuu XD

Agree 100%.

Sorry, but I think alan has the best ballads ever. I think she should be no.1 on that list. >:|

At least Ayu is somewhere on it...

alan has a great voice, but most of her songs are so boring. The only ballads that stuck with me were Ashita he no Sanka and Hitotsu :\

I also like BoA's voice a lot!