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The story
On the TOKYO MX YouTube show “Aiko Wada Becomes Best Friends with an AI Smartphone,” streamed on the 19th, Aiko Wada heaped praise on singer Koji Tamaki — a favorite impression of comedy impressionist Mr. Shachihoko — saying, “He’s such an amazing singer, I’d put him at number one or two among men.” The remark set off a singing-skill debate on 5channel’s Entertainment/Sports News+ board over “who’s really number one,” with names like Yosui Inoue, Akira Fuse, Chiharu Matsuyama, ASKA, Hideki Saijo, MISIA, and Toshinobu Kubota all coming up one after another. Some judged by vocal power, others by tone or expressiveness, and there was even disagreement over what “good singing” actually means.
Sat, Sep 19, 10:48 PM
Singer Aiko Wada (76) appeared in an update posted on the 19th to TOKYO MX’s YouTube channel “Aiko Wada Becomes Best Friends with an AI Smartphone,” where she spoke about a male singer she’d rank as “number one or two.”
The episode featured impressionist Mr. Shachihoko as a guest. When Tamaki’s name came up among his impression repertoire, Akko (Wada’s nickname) gushed, “He’s such an amazing singer, I’d put him at number one or two among men.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
They aired an old Anzen Chitai & Yosui Inoue concert on TV the other day (Anzen Chitai = Tamaki's band), and yeah, Inoue's greatness really stood out.
I like Yosui Inoue best too. He and Miyuki Nakajima are the only ones who are truly, genuinely skilled.
I don't like MISIA. She sings like she's going 'aren't I such a great singer,' just getting herself off on it.
Honestly I think Miwa Yoshida at her peak was better than MISIA. Something about MISIA's voice and enunciation feels muffled to me — not that I'm a huge Yoshida fan either, but still.
Chiharu Matsuyama: 'Obviously I'm the best singer around!'
Kubota's the one who's overrated. His singing style is just a knockoff of Black music. All he's got is vocal power — same as MISIA.
Kubota was on Utaban once for a segment testing vocal range, and his range turned out to be really narrow — even he panicked. (Utaban = a Japanese music variety show)
Re: #26
Takashi Hosokawa's great too.
What an insane old man, lol
That Newcomer Award race was intense. The Grand Prize song 'Cyclamen' was great too.
Did you actually listen to that duet track that just came out? Different styles aside, Tamaki's emotional delivery felt way above the rest to me.
And Masashi Sada — the one guy Chiharu himself admits is good.
I saw Kohei Fukuda on Nodo Jiman and he was great — way better than when I saw him on Kohaku. (Nodo Jiman = amateur singing show; Kohaku = NHK's New Year's Eve music special)
There's no way Tamaki could pull off those long tones even doing a handstand. (Higedan = the band Official HIGE DANdism)
Higedan? No way.
Today's songs are technically way harder to sing — Tamaki's stuff is just flat-rhythm old-school kayokyoku pop.
Melodies are completely tapped out these days.
Everything just ends up sounding the same.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The remark was sparked when Koji Tamaki happened to turn up in impressionist Mr. Shachihoko’s repertoire, prompting Aiko Wada to blurt out her honest opinion. The claim that “Koji Tamaki always ranks #1ollo in vocal-skill rankings voted on by music-industry insiders and musicians” has long circulated in the entertainment world, though no specific survey or source is clearly identified. In the thread, people who judge by vocal power, people who judge by tone and sustained long notes, and people who judge by expressiveness and vocal-run technique each named different singers — the fact that “good singing” has no single yardstick was a major source of the talking-past-each-other. While support for veteran acts like Yosui Inoue, Akira Fuse, and Chiharu Matsuyama stayed strong, opinions were split on newer-generation artists like MISIA and Toshinobu Kubota too, hinting at a generational divide in taste.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “Aiko Wada: ‘Koji Tamaki is one of the top one or two male singers — his singing is just incredible’.”
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