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Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda
This coming April will mark the 10th anniversary since the debut of 28-year-old J-Pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki. “A Best 2,” her second “best of” album in six years, will be released on Feb 28 and numbers for the CD have been getting a lot of attention lately.
“Her previous ‘A Best’ album sold 4.5 million copies,” said a spokesperson for Avex, the label she is under. “Unless her new ‘best of’ album sells equally as well, people will start talking about her declining popularity. In order to earn the No.1 spot on the sales chart, the label is doing everything it can for Hamasaki, such as shifting other artists’ release dates. So the release will be a turning point for her career.”
Last year, Hamasaki became the first ever solo artist to sell more than 20 million copies of her singles in her career. At a quick glance, the diva position seems secure, but Kumi Koda, 24, isn’t too far behind.
“Kumi Koda was ranked first in total sales of her singles, albums and DVDs in 2006, accumulating 12.7 billion yen,” said an entertainment reporter. “Ayumi Hamasaki, on the other hand, garnered 6.89 billion yen, which placed her fifth. In 2005, it was 7.6 billion yen for Koda and 6.9 billion yen for Hamasaki. It is clear that Koda surpassed Hamasaki in 2006.”
Hamasaki and Koda happen to belong to the same label, Avex. With two such singers in its camp, it is not surprising that Avex became the best selling label for Japanese music in 2006.
“Hamasaki is the single biggest contributor for the label,” said a label affiliate. “There was a time when Hamasaki alone accounted for 40% of Avex sales. It is not an overstatement to say that Kumi Koda and Ai Ohtsuka became who they are today with the money that Hamasaki raised.”
Long established, Hamasaki likes to indulge herself, the latest being her love for dogs.
“She brings her dog to work, because she doesn’t want to leave her alone at home,” said an Avex employee. “She is kind to us, but becomes a different person when it comes to her dog. We have to keep following her around and catch the dog and clean up after it, which is really tough.”
Far from easing any tension in the workplace, the dog has the opposite effect. “We once had to re-record because the dog barked during the session,” said one staffer.
Hopefully the diva will be back to the top with her dog giving her the energy that she needs. (Translated by Toshiya Fujii)
February 14, 2007
Japan Today Discussion
23 Total Messages (Click here to show all)
15 Messages Shown (Scroll down for most recent)
| also, |  |
smd   (Feb 17 2007 - 16:56) | Rate | Report |
| matsellah | |
| Pukey2 (Feb 18 2007 - 18:16) | Rate | Report |
http://jpoptrash.nihon-fr.com/ayu/ayu.htm
notice some of the pics of her BEFORE her operations, when she at least looked normal.
on the same site, you'll find pics of koda, acting the tart. and you'll find more of them in the 'plastic surgery' section.
and to see where hamasaki steals, sorry, 'borrows' ideas for her videos, check out:
http://jpoptrash.nihon-fr.com/copie/copie.htm
nothing about her is original and real.
| Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda | |
| MPLS (Feb 19 2007 - 16:50) | Rate | Report |
| Pukey2 | |
| MPLS (Feb 19 2007 - 17:00) | Rate | Report |
Anyway that French site seems to have it in for the Japanese.. they guy/girl must have had something horribly done by somke Japanese.
| Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda | |
| namiie (Feb 21 2007 - 13:44) | Rate | Report |
Furthermore, Ayumi is as successful as she is due to the many facets of her music. She can be fun and flirty (STEP you), deep and emotional (Memorial Address, Pride), rockish and grungey (Because of You, alterna), straight up trancey pop (Whatever, Trauma), and new wave unique (M, fun interludes like Are You Wake Up). Koda Kumi really only has one dimension to her music: sex bomb. Whenever Ayumi makes a sexy video, it's to prove a point (the current corruption of the music industry in 1LOVE), and when Koda Kumi makes a sexy video, it's for her male fanbase to get off of (sorry to put it so bluntly, but...yeah). Furthermore, Ayumi is so much more creative in her lyric writing and promotional videos, whereas Kumi pretty much passes off dry humping as dancing in each one.
Ayumi sells her feelings in her music, while Kumi sells her body. And sadly, the latter garners much more appeal in recent years.
| Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda | |
| namiie (Feb 21 2007 - 13:46) | Rate | Report |
| Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda | |
| namiie (Feb 21 2007 - 13:49) | Rate | Report |
Some of those similaries aren't even worth noticing. A lot of stars use Thai-style long nails and cowboy hats. A lot of stars recycle certain popular trends (flames, etc) often, and Ayu has even admitted that Madonna is a large influence on her (come to think of it, Madonna's probably an influence to quite a number of female pop stars).
| Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda | |
| rjd_jr (Feb 27 2007 - 04:10) | Rate | Report |
| This Thread Is Useless... | |
| matsellah (Feb 27 2007 - 07:40) | Rate | Report |
| Pukey 2 | |
| jonmatrix (Mar 5 2007 - 13:54) | Rate | Report |
| Ayumi Hamasaki vs Kumi Koda | |
| nisegaijin (Mar 6 2007 - 17:00) | Rate | Report |
| rjd_jr | |
| jonmatrix (Mar 7 2007 - 16:15) | Rate | Report |
| oh wow. | |
| goingtoshopping (Mar 10 2007 - 12:26) | Rate | Report |
I don't even wanna KNOW what that means.
| Reallyreal | |
| Zorro (Mar 11 2007 - 15:19) | Rate | Report |
OMG! Too funny!
| Kumi Koda doesn't sell her body | |
| alala904 (Jun 3 2007 - 07:58) | Rate | Report |
- "She only had her contract renewed because of the "FINAL FANTASY" single, which was a hit. But after that, her sales quickly dropped. She was just another singer, with anything special. So her staff (mostly a female agent who always goes to work in very short-shorts) had the idea of the "ero-kakoii" style."
- "She was the first very-sexy local artist and her first single with her new image, LOVE & HONEY, was a big hit. From then on, she kept the image and her sales only went up."
- "About the ero-kakoii image she said: "I don't like it, lots of people have a very negative view of me. But when I talked to AVEX president about that, he said I couldn't change my image. Maybe in the near future, when I can do what I want, I'll stop with this ultra-sexy style, but 'till this day comes, I'll keep being ero-kakoii". "
This information was from a japanese TV show did a special on Koda Kumi.
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