Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - [article] Hikaru Utada and Kazuaki Kiriya

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Perfect match, on and off stage
Hikaru Utada and hubby Kazuaki turn it on
July 05, 2006

BEHIND the success of Japan's R&B queen Hikaru Utada is a man - more specifically, her husband, video and film director Kazuaki Kiriya.

They make perfect partners not only in life - they got hitched in a surprise wedding in 2002 when she was 19 and he, 34 - but also in music.

Their synergy was clear at her media preview concert at Makuhari Messe convention hall recently.

She provided the stirring voice, while he conjured a stunning display of visual effects to complement her quiet stage persona.

The combination was potent, but it came as no surprise. The pair has had a lot of practice working together.

Kazuaki has directed 10 of Hikaru's music videos, the most notable being the sci-fi piece Traveling that saw her dressed as an astronaut with orange hair.

Their close collaboration led to love and marriage four years ago, an unexpected move that shocked the J-pop scene then.

When Kazuaki, 38, directed his first film, the 2004 sci-fi flick, Casshern, Hikaru chipped in by writing its theme song, Dareka No Negai Ga Kanau Koro.

Now, the two are teaming up again to make a smashing success of Hikaru's return to the J-pop scene after her lukewarm Hollywood debut two years ago.

The 23-year-old New York-born star released her fourth studio album, Ultra Blue, mid-last month and it seems no expense has been spared on making her long-missed presence felt.

Billboards of Hikaru clad in a red rose-petal outfit rise up above major shopping districts like Shibuya, while Hikaru's new songs are played repeatedly in CD and video stores.

The once publicity-shy songbird has also been appearing on radio and TV in Tokyo. She has even agreed to play a game of Tetris with some 30 contest winners in a Nintendo event next month.

Hikaru's label, Toshiba EMI, invited some 500 local and regional media to a preview of her concert tour that kicked off in Sendai last Saturday .

It was impressive. (See other report.)

CHART-TOPPER

Hikaru's latest album has sold over one million copies in Japan, hogging the top spot on Japan's Oricon chart for two weeks.

It hit No 1 on Taiwan's G-Music Japanese/Korean chart. Here, it achieved gold status (7,500 copies) in two weeks.

This must be heartening news for Hikaru, who reportedly views Ultra Blue as a milestone in her seven-year musical career.

She burst into the J-pop scene in late 1998 with First Love, her debut album that went on to sell a phenomenal nine million copies.

But Hikaru's CD sales dipped in recent years.

Still, the teen prodigy remains a royal pillar in the J-pop scene.

Even today, Hikaru commands the highest endorsement fee of 100 million yen ($1.37m) among her peers, according to Flash magazine.

A recent report also named her the highest earning female artiste in Japan in the past 20 years with an estimated income of 5 billion yen and counting.

Marrying young has done her good, the singer who writes and produces her own songs told the Japanese media recently.

'Compared to my previous albums, I've become more honest and my lyrics reflect more of my personal self,' she said.

'Maybe this is a sign I've become more mature?'

On NHK's Top Runner programme last month, she also revealed how her parents' on-off relationship involving six divorces taught her to value marriage and be more truthful to herself.

But, could she be turning into an obasan (Japanese for auntie)?

After all, she did declare months ago, after releasing the single, Passion, that she prefers being a housewife.

'We have a good relationship. My biggest wish now is to be a housewife, clean the house, cook and take out the garbage every day, instead of worrying about songwriting.'

When quizzed about baby plans, however, she said she has yet to consider that.

But who's to tell if the girl will change her mind?

Even her taste in colours have changed recently. Hikaru has abandoned blue - her usual colour of choice before her career hiatus - for red.

She said in a recent interview with Yahoo Japan's music channel: 'Many male artistes like to use blue, and even people whom I'm not familiar with have commented that blue is a bit too boyish.

'Subconsciously, I started to resent blue.'

However, her bright red dress created a little problem for her, she added.

'The outfit is so huge because my stylist wanted to create the image of a big flower and a big sun.

'But after I changed into it, I couldn't get out of the fitting room. It was too big for the door.'

We say, it's time to call on hubby for help.

Dazzling display of visual stunts

IF Hikaru Utada is the moon, hubby Kazuaki Kiriya is the sun that makes her sparkle on stage.

While Hikaru captivated her audience with her rousing vocals, he wowed the 3,000-strong crowd with a dazzling display of dancing spotlights and visual effects.

The almond-shaped stage at Hikaru's media preview concert at Makuhari Messe convention hall looked plain at first.

But it was transformed into a colourful light box during the show. A glittering LED backdrop and four mobile side panels completed the kaleidoscopic tableau.

The two-hour music-and-lights extravaganza started on a high note, with Hikaru belting the pulsating techno number, Passion.

Clad in a black-and-white gown, she was obviously in good spirits and kept her energy up throughout her performance, which included hit singles Automatic, Traveling, Can You Keep A Secret and Devil Inside.

Clever choreography had no part in the spectacle though - Hikaru skipped around just a little to liven up the mood.

She mostly left it to her husband to pull off the visual stunts.

For Hikaru's signature ballads, however, less was definitely more.

Living up to her name as a vocal powerhouse, she delivered her most famous tune, First Love, with stirring emotion in a flood of amber light.

The anti-war anthem Dareka No Negai Ga Kanau Koro was accompanied by images of children living in war-ravaged situations on the LED screen - her hubby's brilliant touch of course.

Hikaru managed four costume changes with little fuss, and also kept stage banter to a minimal.

But the little girl in her showed when she emerged after a five-minute encore call and joked that she had been worried no one would call for an encore.

Finally, she closed the show with Hikari, which she said was a special song as it shares the same Chinese character as her name, Hikaru, which means light.

How apt then that hubby was the light master of the night.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/st...109511,00.html