Ayumi Hamasaki: Empress of Pop (Part III)

Screencaps from Ayumi Hamasaki's 2009 Arena Tour

Ayumi Hamasaki puts on fantastic performances whether it be for her Asia tours, or for television shows. She is definitely a veteran of the stage and has a great stage presence. She is simply amazing!

Here's a fact for you: In 2006, she was diagnosed with Tinitis, which caused her to deaf in one ear. Despite her rough go and the loss of half her hearing, she is still strong making albums and performing even better than before! She still sings live and sounds awesome!!! Now you can see for yourself, Ayu LIVE.


Bold & Delicious at her Countdown Live 2005-2006


Fairyland at her Countdown Live 2005-2006


Startin' at her Arena Tour 2006


Love 'n' Hate at her Arena Tour 2009


1 Love at her Arena Tour 2007


Audience at her Arena Tour 2006


Microphone Live in 2010


Mirrorcle World at her Arena Tour 2008


(Don't) Leave Me Alone at her Arena Tour 2008


Next Level at her Arena Tour 2009

Alright, I think that's alot for now! Ayumi Hamasaki is one of my favourite singers EVER, not just for J-Pop. She is amazing, talented, and beautiful! I hope that you all appreciate her music as much as I do!

Ayumi Hamasaki: Empress of Pop (Part II)

Screencaps from the music video to 'Step You'
As I mentioned before, Ayumi Hamasaki is pretty much the most successful musician in Japan right now, which means she has had some really interesting music videos! Let's check out some of my favourite Ayumi Hamasaki music videos!


Next Level PV (Doesn't she look STUNNING!?)


Rule PV (Love the song & love the dancing!)


Mirrorcle World PV (Beautiful scenery and she looks AMAZING!)


Green PV (Cinematography is great, and her look is great!)


1 LOVE PV (Sexy & Weird!)


Bold & Delicious PV (Filmed in New York on the streets...so random and awesome!)


Ourselves PV (Soooo creepy! I love it! I want a Ayu mask!)


Talkin' 2 Myself PV (Great dancing and great scenery!)


Startin' PV (Cute, Creative, and Sexy!)

Here's a fun fact: Three of Ayumi Hamasaki's music videos are in the top 20 most expensive music videos of all time! They are My Name's Women, Fairyland and Green! Jewel is also in the top 30! :)

She has 77 music videos...so check them out! She has a channel on YouTube! :) All of these were taken from her channel as well! I can't post all 77 up here, so find your favourites!

Ayumi Hamasaki: The Empress of Pop (Part I)

Ayumi Hamasaki: Chances are you've heard the name. If you haven't...well, she's only the most famous singer in Japan having sold over 80 million albums worldwide. If you don't know too much about album sales...that's ALOT. That's more than many American singers will ever sell, whose music goes international. Ayumi Hamasaki is the Empress of Pop and quite possibly one of the most interesting and imaginative singers there is. She also happens to be my absolute favourite J-Pop singer and she is for millions of others. Ayumi Hamasaki, or Ayu, as her fans call her, is one of the most influential figures in Japan.


Ayumi Hamasaki's 10th Studio Album 'Next Level'
She has released 11 studio albums in her short professional career of just over a decade, all of which have become very successful. She has had 47 singles and 77 music videos. Best of all, she actually writes her lyrics...which seems to be rare these days. Ayumi Hamasaki was also the first female singer to have eight studio albums since her debut top the Oricon and the first artist to have an album debut at number one for eleven consecutive years! I guess you could say she's almost like a God! :)


Ayu being swarmed by the paparazzi, much like celebrities in the United States
She is widely known for having a unique sense of style and apart from winning awards for her music, she consistently wins awards for her fashion sense. Everything from her hair to her fingernails. Ayumi Hamasaki is also not afraid to change her hair style or her hair colour: long and black to short and blonde, or brown! She does it all!


Talkin' 2 Myself from Ayu's 2008 Arena Tour
Her tours are very elaborate with dancers, fire, with wild stage set-ups. She sings live, dances, and always makes sure to talk to the audience and put on AMAZING shows.

So because she is SOOOOOOOOO famous and has such a huge discography, I am making this in parts. This is Part 1, which is really just the introduction to who Ayumi Hamasaki is. Part II will be my favourite music videos, and Part III will be my favourite tour performances! :D Stay tuned!

Icelandic Pop Comedian Silvia Night

Alright. So Silvia Night (or Silvía Nótt In Icelandic) is a TV Personality played by Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir. Her character is really famous in Iceland, and has gained some success in Europe and Japan. Basically Silvia Night is like a 'Borat' or 'Bruno' that in her case mocks young popstars and rich socialities. The character of Silvia Night is one big parody on spoiled rich bratty popstars...but alot of people do not get the joke.


She decided to put out an album (called Goldmine) and managed to represent Iceland in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. The song that was in the contest is called 'Congratulations' and the lyrics have her sing all about how she has pretty much won the Eurovision Song Contest and that she is the best. ...problem is...that's her character. It's all an act. Her name isn't even Silvia Night! The Eurovision Song Contest Committee did not appreciate it and she was booed the entire performance and was not welcome. So she just continued to put on the act and act like a spoiled brat...but people thought she was just a bitch! Exactly! Haha, her character is a spoiled bitch! LOL I think she's hilarious! She also has her own show, much like a Sasha Baron Cohen called 'The Silvia Night Show' where she goes as her character Silvia Night and interviews people while making them feel really uncomfortable.

So here are some clips of Silvia Night for you to enjoy!


Here's the Eurovision performance that people booed her for...
The song is called 'Congratulations'.


Congratulations Music Video


Silvia getting mad after her Eurovision performance. LOL


This is Ágústa performing as herself with her older band in Iceland called 'Ske'.


A clip from her show, 'The Silvia Night Show'.


Video for the song 'Thank You Baby'.

Not gonna lie, I think her song Congratulations is so ridiculous that it's awesome. I think she's hilarious for mocking rich bitches and such. The fact that she's popular is even better. Check her out, and if you can find her album the better!!!

Young Artists for Haiti (from Canada) :D

Check out the song that K'Naan from Canada wrote to raise money to help out Haiti!

All the young and famous Canadian artists are in it, including Nelly Furtado, Avril Lavigne, Nikky Yanofsky, Emily Haines of Metric, Hedley, Drake, Lights, and more!

Valerie Anne Poxleitner AKA Lights

Lights is a young artist from Canada who has become fairly successful in her own right over the past few years. In 2009, she won in the 'Best New Artist' category at the Juno Awards in Canada. She definitely has some fun and catchy songs, and although she is not my favourite artist, she is someone to watch out for.

Here are some videos of her songs!


Ice


February Air


Drive My Soul


Saviour

She's someone to keep an eye out for if you haven't heard of her!

Elin Lanto: Sexy Scandipop Sultress

Elin Lanto is one of Sweden's most famous pop singers, who happens to sing in English! She is a new artist (her debut in Sweden was only in 2007), but she is gaining popularity. At the age of 25, she has come out with several hits in Sweden and her song 'Discotheque' can be purchased in the American iTunes store.

She also wears some really cool clothes and in my opinion, represents the pop scene well!


She's so beautiful and looks like a pop star!


I love the bottom half of her outfit...she kinda looks like Carrie Underwood, but edgy...


She's got great costumes for her performances! She looks like Edward Scissorhands! EPIC!


Unique dress...she definitely has her own look.

Check out some of her video clips:


Love Made Me Stupid


Discotheque


Doctor Doctor Live at Melodifestavalen 2010


Speak 'n Spell


Money Live at Melodifestavalen 2007

I see big things for Elin in the future! Check her out!