[article] A tomboy no more

[nmskalmn]

SHE is best known for her power ballads and feminine dresses.

But Japanese-American Yuna Ito used to be a tomboy when she was young, she told The New Paper in an e-mail interview.

'Now that I've grown up, I love the fact that I'm a girl and that I can dress up,' she wrote.

'When I'm not working, I wear casual clothes, but when I'm singing ballads, the more feminine, the better.'

New to the J-pop scene, the 24-year-old won fans when she starred as a rock singer in the 2005 hit movie, Nana, with Mika Nakashima.

Yuna, who then released a series of CD singles, is now being hailed by the Japanese media as a strong contender for Ayumi Hamasaki's J-pop queen throne.

After all, Yuna's first album, Heart, debuted at No 1 on the Oricon chart last month - quite a feat for a newcomer. It is available in stores here.

For the Los Angeles-born artiste who grew up in Hawaii, making her musical debut in her father's homeland is a dream come true.

Her father is Japanese-American and her mother, Korean-American.

Yuna's passion and enthusiasm came through in her English replies as she raved about how she 'loves every part of my job', both the expected and the unexpected.

'I used to imagine myself singing on big stages when I was a little girl and pretend that there was a huge audience cheering me on,' she wrote.

'I guess that prepared me for my audiences now, even though I still get very nervous.'

While she professes to being a Workaholic - the title of the opening track in her album - she also realises that life is not all about work.

'I love what I do... but I also need my friends, family, and love, just like everyone else.'

POWER OF LOVE

Perhaps that's why Yuna has dedicated her album to spreading the message of love.

'One of my strengths is that I have a lot of love I want to share through my songs, especially my ballads,' she wrote.

Her power ballads include the movie theme songs Endless Story (for Nana), Precious (Umizaru 2) and Truth (Nana 2).

'I hope to assure people who think they are all alone in this world that they are not, and people who think there is no such thing as real love that there is.'

No wonder she made a surprise appearance at a wedding dinner in Tokyo last month and performed Precious for the newlyweds.

Yuna said she hopes to find her own Mr Right soon and dreams of becoming a good wife and mum - but not before the age of 30.

One may think her ultimate goal is Hollywood, but the down-to-earth artiste said she plans to concentrate on Japan and Asia for the time being.

She added she may one day return to Hawaii where her parents run a chain of restaurants. Her folks are 'very happy' for her, she wrote.

'They not only watched Nana, but they have everything that I've done so far on video or DVD. LOL,' she wrote. LOL is Internet jargon for 'laugh out loud'.

For now, Yuna plans to focus on singing. She staged an unplugged gig in Tokyo on 9 Feb and is preparing for a concert tour of Japan in April and May.

Nana 2, in which she again plays rock band Trapnest's sexy singer Reira, opens here on 22 Mar.

'My scenes were mostly performance scenes and I didn't have many lines, so I don't know if you could call that acting, but I had fun,' she wrote.

'Singing comes a lot more naturally to me than acting.'

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/st...123518,00.html