In
just over one week's time, teenaged singing newcomer Nami Tamaki
traveled to three U.S. anime conventions and performed concerts at all
of them, the third convention being Project: A-Kon. For the first
performance at the Pacific Media Expo, "At first I had no idea how the
audience would react," said Tamaki when she met U.S. fans a few hours
before her Saturday night concert." After the performance, everyone was
so warm and cheering me on that I was happy and I hope to get that same
type of audience at the concert tonight." Tamaki has been performing
before audiences of any kind for barely a year. "Both Japanese and
American audiences get into the music in the same way, but American
audiences express themselves more freely. "I'm addicted to the American
audiences now, and I hope to be able to come back and perform."
Some
anime fans will be interested to learn that the word "Disney" figures
into Tamaki's decision to become a singer and dancer. I wanted to be a
dancer in the Disneyland parades," but the auditions were for age 18
only. Then I watched TV, and I realized I wanted to be a dancer and
person up front, so I started to sing." The result has been some
high-flying success in the Japanese pop music world, which loves a
young and cute face. how does it feel to succeed? "Even now when
people come up to me, I can't believe it. Being able to come here to
the States and interact with you guys is like a dream come true." Part
of the dream is Tamaki's performance of the gundam Seed theme song, a
popular move in her family. "My mother liked Gundam and talked about
gundam, so I watched Gundam Seed from the beginning. When I was asked
to do the Gundam Seed theme song, I couldn't believe it."
Tamaki
is a small-town Japanese girl whose success has taken her from home to
the big city of Tokyo. "Singing and dancing is my love life," she said.
Enjoying the music of Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Madonna and Namie
Amuro, Tamaki at one moment sounds much wiser than her years, and in
the next moment sounds like a typical Japanese teenager. "I really
enjoy doing my hair and makeup and nails. I'd like to study that in
college. I also like to make sweets, so I'd like to go to a college
where I can learn to make sweets and confectioneries." But Tamaki
doesn't have a teenaged girl's work schedule: following the A-Kon
concert, she was planning to return to Japan to record a music video
for her next single due for release in July, followed by nine more
concerts.
In
just over one week's time, teenaged singing newcomer Nami Tamaki
traveled to three U.S. anime conventions and performed concerts at all
of them, the third convention being Project: A-Kon. For the first
performance at the Pacific Media Expo, "At first I had no idea how the
audience would react," said Tamaki when she met U.S. fans a few hours
before her Saturday night concert." After the performance, everyone was
so warm and cheering me on that I was happy and I hope to get that same
type of audience at the concert tonight." Tamaki has been performing
before audiences of any kind for barely a year. "Both Japanese and
American audiences get into the music in the same way, but American
audiences express themselves more freely. "I'm addicted to the American
audiences now, and I hope to be able to come back and perform."
Some
anime fans will be interested to learn that the word "Disney" figures
into Tamaki's decision to become a singer and dancer. I wanted to be a
dancer in the Disneyland parades," but the auditions were for age 18
only. Then I watched TV, and I realized I wanted to be a dancer and
person up front, so I started to sing." The result has been some
high-flying success in the Japanese pop music world, which loves a
young and cute face. how does it feel to succeed? "Even now when
people come up to me, I can't believe it. Being able to come here to
the States and interact with you guys is like a dream come true." Part
of the dream is Tamaki's performance of the gundam Seed theme song, a
popular move in her family. "My mother liked Gundam and talked about
gundam, so I watched Gundam Seed from the beginning. When I was asked
to do the Gundam Seed theme song, I couldn't believe it."
Tamaki
is a small-town Japanese girl whose success has taken her from home to
the big city of Tokyo. "Singing and dancing is my love life," she said.
Enjoying the music of Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Madonna and Namie
Amuro, Tamaki at one moment sounds much wiser than her years, and in
the next moment sounds like a typical Japanese teenager. "I really
enjoy doing my hair and makeup and nails. I'd like to study that in
college. I also like to make sweets, so I'd like to go to a college
where I can learn to make sweets and confectioneries." But Tamaki
doesn't have a teenaged girl's work schedule: following the A-Kon
concert, she was planning to return to Japan to record a music video
for her next single due for release in July, followed by nine more
concerts.
