T3-36 POP STAR

To anon: Haha Oh really? Prove it! When I read peoples blog, though, I don't read for gossip; I read for pure entertainment from daily happenings and events that aren't necessarily classified as gossip.

To Kelly/Vivian: Yep!

For Japanese, we have a Bunkasai Festival on the April 24th, which is apparently a 'cultural festival' that is going to be hosted in the cafeteria.

Basically, we're taking the cafeteria, locking Kozuki and Wakaybashi's Japanese students in there and everybody out, and hosting our own 'fair', pretty much.

Although I understand the purpose is more to enrich ourselves rather than to show everybody what Japanese culture is like, I don't really like that idea.

Personally, I think that such a festival should be open for everybody to enjoy and engage in cultural interchange, but whatever.

Its only Churchill.

And it makes organizing stations and whatnot so much easier, so I shouldn't complain.

Now, back to Utada Hikaru.

I really am obsessed, aren't I.

Its so easy to be a fan of Utada Hikaru, if you understand what I mean.

Okay, I'll explain.

First off, she has such success in the Japanese market that its fun and easy to compare her to other people and point and say 'she's popular! More popular than yours!'. What I mean is that its much easier to convert other people.

I was a fan of Ayaka Hirahara (平原綾香) once, and although she was by no means unsuccessful, she wasn't exactly a chart-topper.

Her debut album managed to reach 2 on the weekly charts, but even her compilation album (and compilation albums sell really well in Japan) just released a couple weeks ago got #4 and sold only 87,292 sold far. Heart Station, released several weeks later, sold 480,081 in its first week.

Ayaka Hirahara's best-selling album:
Odyssey (debut album) Chart: number 2, 720,165

Utada Hikaru's worst-selling album:
as Cubic U (English) Precious Sold 702,060
as Utada Hikaru Ultra Blue chart: number 1, 910,000

Ayaka Hirahara's best-selling single:
JUPITER (debut single) chart: 2, 922,720.

Now, this is a huge hit. Except Ayaka Hirahara only had one. None of her other singles were anywhere NEAR that number.

This single became 3rd best-selling single of 2003 and 42nd best selling single of 2004.

In comparision, Utada Hikaru's COLORS, released earlier in 2003, sold 893,720
Dareka no Negai ga Kanu Koro, released later in 2004, sold 365,206.



Jupiter/Hirahara Ayaka

I'd encourage you guys never to base an opinion of an artist just because of one song.

And now there's Ken Hirai.

Awesome male Japanese singer.

Has had his peaks and valleys.

Valley=debut, peak=Utada's valleys.

His peak was having number 1 album of the year in 2005 with his compilation album Ken Hirai Utabaka 1995-2005 or something like that. It was also the 20th best selling album in the world that year, and hit number 1 on the world charts.

He's also had his share of successful singles, such as Hitomi wo Tojite (number 1 of the year) and POP STAR.



POP STAR/Hirai Ken

He's the guy in all those costumes.