[article] How long can Ayumi be QUEEN?

[nmskalmn]

How long can Ayumi be QUEEN?

She has dominated the Japanese pop scene for years, but Ayumi Hamasaki could soon be bumped out of top spot by fast-rising newbies like Kumi Koda and Ai Otsuka

By Chang May Choon
September 06, 2006

THERE is only one J-pop queen throne, but three contenders.
Chameleonic popster Ayumi Hamasaki has been the reigning queen all this while until sizzling sex bomb Kumi Koda sashayed along early this year and nearly bumped her off the throne.

Competition intensified recently with the meteoric rise of singer-songwriter Ai Otsuka, who is said to be Kumi's biggest rival at the upcoming Nihon Record Taisho, Japan's version of the Grammy Awards.

That all three singers are contracted to Japan's biggest and most powerful record company Avex Trax only increases the rivalry.

But who will get to wear the J-pop queen tiara eventually?

The A-Nation concert held in Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium on 27 Aug held a clue.

It was a six-hour pop extravaganza starring Avex artistes ranging from pop groups like TRF, Every Little Thing and TVXQ to solo acts like hitomi, BoA and Ami Suzuki.

But there was only one finale act, and the stage belonged to Ayumi.

AYUMI REIGNS

The 28-year-old's performance, at 40 minutes, was reportedly the longest. She belted out seven hit songs and had the 50,000-strong crowd singing along.

Every artiste had his or her own merchandise booth and Ayumi's apparently attracted the longest queue.

She was also the only artiste who got ferried in an automated cart around the stadium to get closer to her fans and shake their hands.

Mr James Kang, marketing director of Warner Music, who was at the concert, said: 'Ayumi is the undisputed queen. She got the queen treatment and also the loudest applause and screams.

'She was charismatic on stage and displayed showmanship befitting her 'royal' status.'

Most of the 60-plus Chinese media invited to the show agreed and their views were reflected in reports that ranked Ayumi's performance as No 1 among all the Avex artistes.

But it was Kumi, 24, who charmed the socks off reporters at the pre-concert media conference with her candid replies.

China's News Times reported that she laughed heartily when asked about her sexy image.

She also talked about being 8kg heavier when she started and how she disliked herself so much that she started dieting to lose weight.

'The sexiness that I'm pursuing is not the kind that will only make the men think I'm sexy, but also the women,' she said.

'I don't know if you watch animated (shows), but the female protagonists are always portrayed as strong. I think they exude both coolness and sexiness and that's what I hope to be like.'

She certainly did set out to be sexy at the A-Nation concert, judging by her two drool-inducing outfits, a mint-green bra top with hot pants and a black bra top over torn jeans.

Not to be outdone, Ayumi raised her own sex factor by appearing in a sequinned black and white swimsuit-like outfit and, for another song, a white cropped T-shirt over army-green shorts.

COPYCAT AYUMI?

Talk of rivalry started months ago when Kumi flaunted her long legs on her album cover and Ayumi followed suit on her CD single cover.

More recently, Ayumi donned a wedding kimono for an advertisement while Kumi is set to appear in a wedding gown for her new single.

But in terms of sex appeal, Kumi won hands down with her tantalising dance sequences at the A-Nation concert.

Mr Kang said: 'Her dance for the song Butterfly was really hot.'

He added that even 50-year-old obasans (Japanese for aunties) in the crowd were screaming and clapping along to Kumi's performance.

'I was shocked that the Japanese aunties were open-minded enough to embrace a sex bomb,' he said.

'But Kumi also makes a strong feminist statement on stage. She's constantly telling women to believe in themselves and do what they want to do.'

Interestingly, Kumi's brazen ways have also inspired a Korea-based singer to follow in her footsteps. (See other report.)

Meanwhile, Ai's cutesy charms not only won cheers from the teenage crowd, but from the media in China too.

Lauded for her creativity and songwriting talent, the 24-year-old reportedly made a good impression with her laughter and easy-going ways.

Recently, she made a huge splash in her first straight-to-DVD movie, Tokyo Friends, fuelling talk that she was fast becoming a threat to Kumi's status.

Mainichi Daily News reported that Avex assigns individual support teams to its A-list artistes and that Ayumi had the biggest team of 30 members. Kumi had about 20 and Ai, fewer.

But with the success of Tokyo Friends, which sold an impressive 50,000 copies, Ai's team reportedly got beefed up to the same level as Kumi's.

Apparently, Kumi was also furious when Ai got second billing after Ayumi at an Avex concert in June.

A TV network insider told Shukan Shincho: '(Kumi) Koda and (Ai) Otsuka are bitterly opposed to each other and make little secret of their rivalry.

'Koda goes around saying that Otsuka has no talent. And Otsuka says that Koda... 'acts like a cheap, nightclub hostess'.'

Avex, however, denies talk of any rivalry.

A spokesman told Mainichi Daily News: 'They belong to the same record company, so there's no question of a dispute.'

But it is not so clear how long Ayumi can hold on the J-pop queen's throne before being usurped by either Kumi or Ai.

The next Kumi Koda?

SHE has Ayumi Hamasaki's name and Kumi Koda's sexy image.

Meet Korean-Japanese singer Ayumi of Korean girl band Sugar, who recently went solo in Korea with a cover version of Kumi's hit single Cutie Honey.

Like Kumi, the 22-year-old Ayumi (below) raises temperatures on stage with sexy dancing and skimpy outfits. She also flaunts her curves in a new pictorial book.

With a video clip of her solo stage debut attracting 10,000 hits within a day of being posted online, Ayumi's popularity looks set to soar.

But she has also drawn flak for her less-than-perfect Korean pronunciation and for donning a Sailor Moon-like blue blouse and white skirt ensemble that conservatives thought was too blatantly Japanese.

Though hailed as Korea's Kumi Koda, Ayumi herself has come out to say that she is not copying the Japanese sex bomb, reported Sina.com.

'Kumi Koda is a cool and sexy singer. My goal is to be sexy and cute.'

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/st...112975,00.html

[ayu1m]

Hmm.. interesting post

'Koda goes around saying that Otsuka has no talent. And Otsuka says that Koda... 'acts like a cheap, nightclub hostess'.'

Avex, however, denies talk of any rivalry.

I think that of course there are or atleast will be some rivalry.. those sayings made me laugh though..

What I've seen Kuu's live performances I thought they were not good as Ayus And she is using her sex appeal to sell more, many artists do this but I dont like it :7 IMO Ayu has stayed in the good side and she hasn't fallen for the sexyness SO much atleast..

Hopefully Ayu will hold the title till the end

[immel]

He kinda put into words exactly what have been furiously discussed here for a long time already, presenting his thoughts and he seem well informed.

Like I've said before I do not think that any artist, ever, could manage what Ayumi has achieved throughout the 8 years of her career, a career that is still going strong. Neither could anyone manage to achieve what, say, Utada managed, and is still managing, throughout her career. The same goes for any huge artist, they become huge, the establish themselves and I don't think they neccessarily have to be taking over one anothers spots in history even if they are in a never ending competition.

I mean that I do not think anyone ever will be able to achieve what Ayumi has done, there will only be one Ayumi in history, one queen.

In a sense, when an artist "die away" new artists step up in the spot-light, but even if they, in a way, "take over" I hate when it's said like, for example, that Koda will take over Ayumis place. No, that can never happen, but yes, Ayumi won't be there forever, and there will be others, but no one will take her place.

Sales-wise Koda is currently stronger than Ayumi, and I think she will continue to be. Even if she is established I do not think she will reach that same spot Ayumi has in the heart of so many people, not in a long time. It's impossible to not admit that Kumi does have something, but I do not know how far that will take her, and at the moment I do not care. Ayumi gives me my need of "j"-pop .

ayu1m - Don't worry, she'll be holding it for all eternity, for as long as she is the queen in your heart that is what she will be . I promise you that there is already a large amount of people that think Kumi is the absolute queen, in their hearts she might stay queen the day when someone take over after her... it's all up to you. The definition of queen seem to currently be who attracts the most people or the highest sales, and because Koda got the higher sales while Ayumi seem more popular, in a sense, it's very hard to judge.

[nmskalmn]

Keep in mind that Shukan Shincho is a tabloid.

[Raleigh]

Interesting article. However I agree with the article. Ayu is still the queen of J-Pop in spite of Kumi's high sales. I don't think what was achieved in a year could beat eight years of work by Hamasaki.

[ayu1m]

Very nice post immel.

That's true, Ayumi will be the queen of Jpop in my heart forever

Viva la Ayu!

[immel]

Originally Posted by nmskalmn

Keep in mind that Shukan Shincho is a tabloid.

Thanks for mentioning it, it seemed a bit like that would be the case. The article sounded a lot like regular forum talk (), and the part of the article that ayu1m quoted is just words used to provoke, if it's true of not is nothing that matters.

The article itself is a bit provoking, why do we have to care about who is the queen? And why do we care? Do we care because articles like those are written, to lead our minds in that direction? Interesting nevertheless.

And thanks for posting it by the way .

[Choyan]

Demure_Dusk just said what I wanted to say... XP

[Qt Mashi]

lol, it sounds like there is more rivalry between Ai and Koda~

hmm i like the article! it was quite interesting indeed

[ayu_fan929]

This is basically an extentsion of that Mainichi tabloid article with a bit more fact but still mixed in with tabloid gossip.

And no, Ayumi from Sugar isn't the next Kuu.

[jeffycue]

wow this is interesting... but i believe it all boils down to the fans... whether or not they would like ayumi for the years to come..

i know i would!

[AyUmIXx]

yeah..ayu will always be the queen in my hear too!

[Dustie]

Ah, I've read the second part of the article at AHO not long ago. I thought that was all, but there was something more - thanks!

As for the rivaly, yeah, they do want to be on the top. Who doesn't? Once you get in there [Avex], why not try to show you're no worse than others? And how to show you're not worse? By getting to the top.

Not sure if Ai would be so keen on being the queen, with her approach to music and singing, she's more like a princess, as many people say... She will always appear as a sidekick to their fans, rather than an goddess, like Ayumi does.

[alternarist]

i like this article a lot.. there is no point in arguing who is the queen. all 3 singers have totally different image. but i guess ayu has a more "healthy" image that appealed to the mass. koda's sexiness is... she overdid it. and what demure_dusk said was true. they can nv achieve what ayu did for the past 8 years, in jus 1 or 2 years. they are still far from it. ayu is more "experienced" and hence most pple refer her as the most powerful person?

[Pulsar]

So after reading all these, we know...

Ayumi = Queen of J-pop

Ayumi has highest popularity among the concert crowds

Koda Kumi dislikes Ai Otsuka

Ai Otsuka dislikes Koda Kumi

Kumi and Ai has higher chances of knocking Ayu off her throne than any other artists.

Koda kumi = Sexy

Ai Otsuka = Cute

Ayumi(Korean) was inspired by Kumi

Ayumi(Korean) thinks Kumi is hot and sexy

Ayumi(Korean) wants to be cute and sexy

On a personal note:

Ayumi will be my only Queen of J-POP. Although she won't be in the spotlight forever, and when the time comes for her to step down, it is unlikely that I will like anyone else, not for a long long time to come.(Maybe never?) And nonetheless, I am sure many fans like us would continue to support her in her career. Title dosen't matter, what matter is we continue to get good music from Ayu.

[ohsixthirty]

thanks for the article skal. it was a very interesting read, even if it was from a tabloid.

my favorite part is that he used the word "sashay."

[immel]

@Pulsar - I'd rather say that after reading this article that is at least what the person who wrote it belive and want us to belive, remember to view it critically and do not take it as the ultimate truth only because someone you do not know wrote it .

[Pulsar]

Originally Posted by immel

@Pulsar - I'd rather say that after reading this article that is at least what the person who wrote it belive and want us to belive, remember to view it critically and do not take it as the ultimate truth only because someone you do not know wrote it .

I didn't took it as the ultimate truth, its tabloid anyway.

[realize_!]

Interesting article, Thanks for posting. I enjoyed reading it. I love the whole comparisson with ayu/kuu, kuu/ai, ayu/kuu/ayumi.

Demure: agree with your post.

[AyuGAME]

interesting and its show that ayu still has some power left