In town for her first solo concert, Japanese singer Koda Kumi took time off her busy schedule to talk with members of the media during the press conference. Kenneth Wong reports from the press conference where the Queen of Live (as she is known thanks to her powerful vocals) shared about her time in Singapore 4 years ago, her costumes for the concert and also about her image as an artist.
Starting off the press conference, Kumi shared about how she will consider about what's popular at the particular point in time when considering the costume for her concert. Other considerations also include what would fit her body shape and also what will look good on her. Thus she would usually pick outfits that are unique in design that others usually would not wear and also those that fits her as an artist. As for the Singapore concert, Kumi shares that half of the costumes are brought in from japan while the other half are specially picked for the concert and hopes her fans will look out for them.
During her stay in Singapore 4 years ago for the Mnet Asian Music Awards, Kumi enjoyed her time here and told her staff that she would like to come back the following year. A year later she got pregnant and thus couldn’t make it (she is currently married to Kenji03 from Back-On and have a 3 year old son). Subsequent years she has received enthusiastic requests for her to come back to Singapore but something else would pop up and she couldn’t make the trip down. Thus it took 4 years before she could come down to perform in her solo concert and she is really looking forward to seeing her fans here.
Moving onto her Summer of Love album, Kumi shared with everyone her selection process for it. To her, summer is the time where she can be free and express herself. Thus the songs selected are those that reflect the image of summer well. Most of the songs selected were also after the year 2006 as that is when she felt her voice as an artist was established.
When asked about how she maintain her popularity over the 15 years in the music industry, Kumi replied that to her, just being herself and being confident of who she is, would the most important thing. There will always be talk going on especially after being in the industry for so long but it is always important to stand by where you intend to be and be yourself no matter what happens.
As for her image being considered sexy, Kumi explained that as someone who has low self-esteem, she uses fashion to help boost her self-esteem and confidence. As age catches up with her, she feels that inner beauty counts more as compared to outer appearances. Thus she wants to focus more on her inner beauty. Kumi hopes that rather than guys calling her sexy, she would be considered a cool figure from the female fans as well. This led to her thinking how her fashion can reflect a cool, strong and independent image of a female instead of just being known as sexy from a guy’s point of view.
*Of which Kenneth commented that he felt she is cool from his point of view as a guy before asking his question. After all, not many singers get to perform the main theme for a famous Japanese RPG game such as the Final Fantasy series.
Ending off the Q&A segment, Kumi shared about her visit to Singapore 4 years ago where she commented that the thing which caught her eye about Singapore was the beauty of this city such as the city lights and the night scape. Singapore also boasts good local food and it didn’t disappoint and was delicious. Another thing that impressed her was the smiles from the people and the staff that she worked with. Even though it was a 8 minute live segment that she was involved with, it felt like a second as time passes very quickly when one is having fun. It was this moment that she really enjoyed herself and felt that she wanted to share this with fans and to come back to Singapore again.
Thank you Koda Kumi for your time and we look forward to your concert!