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Yeah, I know this is totally off topic, but hey, that's what this sub-forum is all about, right?

Anyway, some of you may have heard of her, but I doubt most of you have. She's getting ready to release a CD here in the US while working with the R&B talent developer, Timbaland. Honestly, I appreciate how much he helped Nellie Furtado advance her career, and I'm sure he will do it for this singer, but I hope he doesn't try to turn this young lady into another meaningless, intellectually void, drivel producing R&B diva.

Here are some videos from youtube; I selected ones that I really enjoy. Her voice is absolutely spectacular, at least I think so

Awesome live performance from her last big tour (upload didn't sink voice to video well):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNeC89kUE84

Green Day cover:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMmu41UQHAs

Ones you might have heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8VbdLPe-oQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8paU0KdEeU

Some with more of a "pop" feel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5yNFqGZL-Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLED5od5880&feature=related

Hope you enjoy; she writes and helps produce all of her original work, though she has been known to do covers.

Some of us can't view YouTube at work... How about naming this talented Songstress?

Eric

I am so sorry, I didn't even think that some people might be blocked from youtube at work. Her name is on every one of the videos...duh to me.

Her name is Utada Hikaru. She's one of the biggest names in popular music in Japan right now, and has been for almost a decade. She did some of the music for the Kingdom Hearts game for the PS2, which is how I heard the music. I liked it, so I poked around and really enjoyed what I found.

She really does have an incredibly powerful voice with an impressive range. Unfortunately, her stuff isn't stocked in the major music stores as of yet, but they'll order it for you. She only has a single CD out in English right now, but I'm sure that's going to change....

Utada has been around for some time. I have one of her albums. I can't remember if I bought it in the UK or Japan.

She is Japanese but was brought up in New York and is bilingual.

Both her parents were models or something and she is "easy on the eye" as well as a good singer.

Hahaha...yes, she is quite the pretty young lady.

According to a bio I read, her mother was a pop-singer in Japan in the 1970's and her father was a music producer. She actually didn't want to go into music as a child because she remembered going to sleep on a couch in the music studios late at night while her parents worked. She got her first record deal in Japan when she was 15; it was released when she was 16 and sold over 10 million copies. It is the all time most selling album in Japanese history.

Feel free to click the links if you can; I promise you won't be disappointed, even by the songs you don't understand