2008 J-pop Awards

Here are MY awards in a number of different categories for 2008, many of which will never be seen in any mainstream awards list. I also ‘made up’ a few new categories this year (and some categories got dropped because I would not find a worthy winner) !!!

2008 for me again included the introduction of many new artists, thanks to the amazing efforts of those running the ‘Blog of the Year’ as listed below !!!

Please note of course that I have not heard every release from every artist of 2008, so there may be omissions that may appear glaring to fans of some other artists. These are all my own personal preferences, so don’t complain if a certain artist is not mentioned – also please note that my preferences lie with female artists, not males. Also note that some of these items may not have been released in 2008, but it was in 2008 that I first heard them 😆

So, in no particular order, my winners for 2008 are ……..

• Favourite Singer – Mika Nakashima (2007 winner was Mika Nakashima)
• Single –  Miho Fukuhara for “Change” (2007 was Mika Nakashima for “Mienai Hoshi” & Kumi Koda for “Ai no Uta”)
• Album – MISIA for “Eighth World” (2007 was Mika Nakashima for “Yes”)
• Debut Single – Miho Fukuhara for “Change” (new award for this year)
• Debut Album – Superfly for “Superfly” (new award for this year)
• Music DVD –  Double for “10 Years Best We R&B 1998-2008” (2007 was ZARD for “Le Portfolio 1991-2006”)
• Live Concert (musically) – MISIA for “The Tour of MISIA 2008 Eighth World” (2007 was MISIA for “The Tour of MISIA 2007 Ascension”)
• Live Concert (visually) –  Kumi Koda for “Live Tour 2008 ~Kingdom~” (2007 was MISIA for “The Tour of MISIA 2007 Ascension”)
• Dance/R&B Artist – Namie Amuro (2007 was Namie Amuro)
• Dance/R&B Group – AAA (2007 was Foxxi misQ)
• Most Emotional Singer – Kumi Koda (2007 was Kumi Koda)
• Sexiest Female Artist – Kumi Koda (2007 was Kumi Koda)
• Most Beautiful Female Artist – Hitomi Shimatani (2007 was Hitomi Shimatani)
• Cutest Female Artist – Sowelu (2007 was Ai Otsuka)
• ‘Rock Chick’ of the Year – Aya Kamiki (new award for this year)
• Blues/Soul voice of the Year – Shiho Ochi (Superfly) (new award for this year)
• Tryer of the Year –  Ami Suzuki (2007 was Yuki Koyanagi)
• Best User of English – Rei Fu for “Close To You” (2007 was melody.)
• New Artist of the Year – Miho Fukuhara (2007 was Jyongri)
• ‘Veteran’ Performer – Namie Amuro (2007 was Ami Suzuki)
• Highest Achiever – Namie Amuro for “Best Fiction” (2007 was Kumi Koda)
• ‘Graduate’ Performer – alan (2007 was Leah Dizon)
• Collaboration –  Ami Suzuki (2007 was m-flo)
• Best PV – Kumi Koda for “Moon Crying” & “stay with me” (2007 was Kumi Koda for “Run for Your Life” if you like ‘fun’, or “Ai no Uta” if you like ‘serious’)
• ‘Gospel’ Sound –  Miho Fukuhara for “Happy Day” (2007 was Jamosa for “Stand Up”)
• Best Re-mix – MISIA for “Decimo X Aniversario De Misia -The Best DJ Remixes-“ (2007 was Kumi Koda for “You” (Acoustic Piano mix) from “Best – Bounce & Lovers” remix album)
• Jazz/Lounge/Electronic Group – Orange Pekoe (2007 was Clazziquai Project)
• Jazz/Lounge/Electronic Individual Artist – bird (new award for this year)
• Best Cover Song – mink for “You Light Up My Life” (2007 was Hitomi Shimatani for the whole “Otoko Uta” album)
• Best J-Pop Blog –  ‘Music & More’ (2007 was ‘Beyond the Sea’)

As you can see, both Miho Fukuhara and Shiho Ochi (Superfly) were big new entrants in 2008, and both would have been vying for the award of “Best Japanese Version of Joss Stone” 🙂 

Surprise achiever this year was Namie Amuro with her “Best Fiction” greatest hits set, which stayed at the top of the charts for 6 weeks & was the #2 album of the year !!! Kumi’s “Kingdom” beat Ayumi’s “Guilty” by #13 to #17 position, although Ayumi also had the #8 spot with “A Complete – All Singles”. Previous favourites Mika Nakashima and MISIA reached #50 & #85 for “Voice” & “Eighth World” respectively. Superfly had a very successful debut with her self-titled album “Superfly” reaching #22.

On the singles front, Namie also had the highest rated single with “60s70s80s” coming in at #18, with Ayumi’s “Mirrorcle World” at #33 and Kumi’s “Moon Crying” at #46 & “TABOO” at #86.

For fans of males artists or groups, Exile scooped the pool in the albums list, with the #1 for “Exile Love”, as well as the #4, #6, #14 & #92, and in the singles, Arashi killed them all with #1, #2, #10 & #12 !!!

Even though Mika Nakashima’s “Voice” album did not rate as highly as last year’s “Yes”, it was still a good album and I still couldn’t stop listening to her. I was also very pleased to be able to acquire and watch both NANA movies 🙂