Koda
Kumi's concert on Ushicon's Friday was as much an adventure for the
singer as it was a thrill for the fans who cheered the performance. To
start, when she stormed onto the stage, she forgot to turn on her
wireless microphone, so the first lines she sang were silent to the
audience - but they didn't mind. "I flipped out a little bit, but the
fans were going crazy so I could stay calm and remember to turn it on,"
Koda said on the day after the concert. Then there was a moment after
her first set of songs when Koda paused on stage and wiped away some
tears. It turned out they were tears of relief. "I was kind of nervous
when I came on stage. When I heard from the crowd - from non-Japanese
people - `arigato,' I felt so relieved. All of my tensions went away,
and that's when I got a little teary."
The
dance and song show that the audience cheered at Ushicon was the result
of long preparation and rehearsal. Koda was accompanied by two male
dancers on stage, but "...the dancers constantly change and when the
dancers change the crowd changes." The version of the song and dance
that fans have seen in the Final Fantasy game is different from what
happens on stage, of course. "I learn the choreography in one day and
then I forget it. It usually takes 2-3 hours a day to prepare for the
live performance - it takes quite along time to absorb the choreography
because I tend to forget it." The songs take an unusual path through
the division of Avex for which Koda sings, she said. Composers create
the melodies and harmonies for the songs, and the Avex staff takes
groups of sixty songs and whittles the list town to ten or so. Then
Koda chooses the best two or three and writes the lyrics to fit the
music.
Koda
says her powerful voice comes from family and genes. Her mother, who
attended the Ushicon concert, is a koto player and singer who
entertains at dinner parties in Japan. From a young age, Koda wanted to
follow her mother's example and become a performer. While their music
and performance styles are worlds apart, their voices are similar.
"Even when I was a little kid and and answered the phone, people
mistook me for my mother. Voice training helped, because at my debut my
voice wasn't as deep, but I thank my mother for the DNA." Koda was
amazed at the reaction she got from Ushicon fans, saying "The people I
met here are very warm and friendly. I wish Japanese people would be
the same way, and I hope I could be the bridge between those people."
Koda
Kumi's concert on Ushicon's Friday was as much an adventure for the
singer as it was a thrill for the fans who cheered the performance. To
start, when she stormed onto the stage, she forgot to turn on her
wireless microphone, so the first lines she sang were silent to the
audience - but they didn't mind. "I flipped out a little bit, but the
fans were going crazy so I could stay calm and remember to turn it on,"
Koda said on the day after the concert. Then there was a moment after
her first set of songs when Koda paused on stage and wiped away some
tears. It turned out they were tears of relief. "I was kind of nervous
when I came on stage. When I heard from the crowd - from non-Japanese
people - `arigato,' I felt so relieved. All of my tensions went away,
and that's when I got a little teary."
The
dance and song show that the audience cheered at Ushicon was the result
of long preparation and rehearsal. Koda was accompanied by two male
dancers on stage, but "...the dancers constantly change and when the
dancers change the crowd changes." The version of the song and dance
that fans have seen in the Final Fantasy game is different from what
happens on stage, of course. "I learn the choreography in one day and
then I forget it. It usually takes 2-3 hours a day to prepare for the
live performance - it takes quite along time to absorb the choreography
because I tend to forget it." The songs take an unusual path through
the division of Avex for which Koda sings, she said. Composers create
the melodies and harmonies for the songs, and the Avex staff takes
groups of sixty songs and whittles the list town to ten or so. Then
Koda chooses the best two or three and writes the lyrics to fit the
music.
Koda
says her powerful voice comes from family and genes. Her mother, who
attended the Ushicon concert, is a koto player and singer who
entertains at dinner parties in Japan. From a young age, Koda wanted to
follow her mother's example and become a performer. While their music
and performance styles are worlds apart, their voices are similar.
"Even when I was a little kid and and answered the phone, people
mistook me for my mother. Voice training helped, because at my debut my
voice wasn't as deep, but I thank my mother for the DNA." Koda was
amazed at the reaction she got from Ushicon fans, saying "The people I
met here are very warm and friendly. I wish Japanese people would be
the same way, and I hope I could be the bridge between those people."
