Mika Nakashima <3

I voted for others...Ayaka!

I love mika nakashimas voice out of all of these singers!

alan is definitly the top vocalist in japan ATM

yeah i love alan.
i also said that alan is on the top in my previous post on this thread

but now i think, if alan wants the crown she should experiment with more music styles. she's rather new, no?

mika, namie, ayu, kumi & utada already have proven themselves
-----------


namie amuro, my fav artist, i like her voice the most, her voice and music just hits me the right way. props to her as well for sounding better live than she does on her cd's (imo). and ofcourse being able to sing great while dancing. and i love that when she sings ballads, it really shows her real vocal ability

koda kumi, she has a very powerful voice. i haven't seen alot of live performances of her, but from what i saw, she's an amazing live performer as well.

ayumi, as much as i love ayu, her vocal ability is very limited. :no sometimes she surprises me though. like asfxx @ a-nation '08.

utada, i can totally see why she's one of japans best selling female artists, but her voice and music just isn't my thing.. i can't enjoy her songs :dead2

but as much as i love namie, mika nakashima is still the best vocalist in my book. :yes
it's a shame she's so low on this poll.. you guys should check out her music. seriously >__>

Other - Natsukawa Rimi

Observe:

Namie Amuro actually is improving. She has a great voice live if you've heard her recently sing.

Also, she dances when she sings. And her dances are pretty hard

i would think her wail is whiny o_O owell
sakura modern had no wailing but was not boring :innocent
if that debut u were waiting for was VoE, how did she go downhill if she hasnt done much after that at all..

none of them! even alan is better vocalist than putada, kuu or ayumi...

State your opinion less creatively and with better grammar, please. : )

I voted for Utada. Out of the others on this poll, I think I'd rank Kuu or Mika (even though I don't really listen to her) second and then Ayu.

I just noticed last time I forgot a person:
Nana Mizuki, she always sounds VERY near to the studio versions though shes dancing and has quite hard songs
alan...well, we never saw a concert of hers, but shes definitly top in single performances

Mika ! i love her voice

I love Ayu, but the best vocalist is HIKKI.

Koda Kumi. Her voice is just amazing in concerts and on albums. I just love the emotional ballads of hers and everything else. She just does it so much better. <3

Definitely Utada Hikaru, her voice for me just pushes all the right buttons.

:roflmao :roflmao :roflmao

:lech:lech:lech:lech:lech:lech

lol i forgot about that. i was just joking though, i was saying that in reply to a post saying ayu and kumi sounded like nasally men and utada had the best voice but i think it was deleted.

i still say kumi and namie!

I've already voted (Utada out of these choices) but I wouldve easily voted for alan if she was one of the choices. Her voice is epic. Utada's music is better IMO though.

Namie Amuro

(and if alan was here I would vote for her)

Kumi gets my vote. Her voice is amazing, even though it's not perfect and not strongest in Japan. But time like this are very rare. So Kumi is my all as vocalist.

ayaka.

^wow she's so much better live than recorded.

I still like alan's range over her's though.

im thinking the same thing ~

KUMI KUU :yes

yep, ayaka definitly is great, but alan wails and range totally save her, ayaka has a more...powerful voice though

Hikaru Utada

If she were on that list I would definately choose alan
Her voice is incredible and so gorgeous

But since she's not on the list my vote goes to Kuu ^_^

AYUMI HAMASAKI.

She's the only Japanese singer I love.

-Ayumi has a very emotional voice and a good range, back in the begining of her career, she would be the worst on this list, nowadays she isn't an amazing vocalist, but is a very good one. Her very hated vibrato is actually very hard to do... 3,5/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZOJRTALn40

-Hikaru has a very good range and most of the time her vocal improvisation is very good, but she gets out of breath easily and can't always reach the high notes. Even so, when she is good, she is GOOD. 3,5/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUx-nWG21Y

-Koda... sorry people who loves her vocals, I just hate them! On fast songs she is just plain horrible (btw, fast songs are harder to sing than ballads), and she screams a lot while singing her ballads, don't see anything special with her range too... 2/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv6cQ...eature=related

-Namie... very beautiful low notes, lots of sufering to reach the high ones... I wish her songs where lower so she could show the best of her voice... 3/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZOtwOLGLqg

-Mika... Goes off-key a lot, can't properly reach the high notes (but at least she shows some emotion when she gots hurt by trying to reach them), breath problems... very beautiful low notes even so... 2/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQBD6...eature=related

I don't follow Koda's and Mika's career, maybe they are better now and I just don't know...

So... even if I'm a biased Ayu and Hikki fan, can't vote for them cuz even if IMO they are the best on this list, they are far from being amazing vocalists... My vote would go for either Hitomi Shimatani (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_pBt...eature=related), Ayaka Hirahara (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9UWh780V7Y), Alan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bWLm...eature=related) or Akina Nakamori (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX9xJRE_L7c)... And Rina Aichi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQtvnNEHSJs) on the more popish/"I'm not a ballad singer" side... Yuna Ito, the Superfly girl, Ayaka are also better than anyone on that list, but I don't know their work...

btw: I HATE youtube covers! they make it almost impossible to find live performances from the actual singer, and most of the covers are pretty bad ~~'

I absolutely agree for Ruki ♥

For female singer, Ayu gets my vote!

In this order:

1. Mika Nakashima
2. Kuu
3. Ayu

they all have great performances and meh performances, but Mika usually has amazing voice control

...But she can't, lol. She has THE most horrible crescendos I've ever heard, and her range is quite terrible. Not to mention she's usually lacking with emotion. >_< And yeah, I'm probably playing with fire by calling out Namie with a Namie-stan, but meh. I want to let people know that I agree. :yes

Annnyywayyy. I was going to vote Kuu, but yes, ayaka for sure! Some of her lives have made my jaw drop. (Specifically a few of the Mikazuki lives, and her version of I LOVE YOU. :heart)

uhm.. she can sing. I love her voice, especially live. and I think her range is amazing.
and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who thinks so.
it all depends on if you like her singing voice or not. and obviously you don't
but yeah, saying that she can't sing is complete bs.

just like how I don't like Utada's or Koda Kumi's voice, but I never denied the fact that they can sing. otherwise they wouldn't be famous.

^ theres one thing in this i need to disagree with, Namies range is TINY! I doubt it's actually near 3 octaves, which is like...the minimum of skilled singers How can a tiny range be amazing?
And she is far from being a great singer, its obvious that many off notes on her concerts had to be corrected afterwards and she rarely shows power in her voice(though there ARE some songs where she does)
Though I do agree that her voice has a nice sound, I actually prefer her live recordings over her studio ones because she doesnt sound as bored live as on her studio recordings. Do Me More was horrible on Best Fiction, chorus totally killed it.
and you dont need to be able to sing to be famous, look at britney spears

^ Thank you! >_< I also think she's lucky if she has much more than two octaves. That's the main reason I don't consider her a good singer. But whatever you like, I suppose.... Like you said, singers today don't need to have an ounce of talent to be known. It's really more about luck than anything. :\

And actually, I was watching a few days ago some videos of Britney Spears when she was a kid. She actually USED to be good, lol. >___> I dunno what happened, 'cause now....oh boy. :tired.

Hikki out of these :yes...this is a really close poll though.

Namie Amuro

hikki

I'm going to give credit to where credit is due and vote "Other". :yes There are other Japanese female singers who have better trained and controlled vocals than these "well known" ladies. I am a devoted fan to some of the artists listed but I'm going to keep it real and put 'fandom' aside. There are MUCH better female vocalists in Japan.

(Misia "phenomenal vocals", ayaka, Thelma Aoyama, Crystal Kay, Beni, Superfly, Angela Aki, Miho Fukuhara "superb voice range", etc...) ;)

安室奈美恵
浜崎あゆみ
倖田來未

Others: alan

ayu

:yes

MISIA (one of the greatest voice in the world)

Namie and Mika are both great, but the best J-Pop vocalist is easily MISIA. Her voice is just...godly.

EDIT: ^ Yay, I'm not alone!

For those saying Namie can't sing - you obviously haven't heard some of the rare gems in her discography. If you can listen to I Will, Wishing on the Same Star, Rainbow Moon, Wagamama Wo Yurushite, and Shine More and tell me she can't sing then you need to get your hearing checked.

And she sounds fantastic live. You try dancing your butt off and then popping out some of the notes she has to and then you'll understand.

Comparing her to Britney Spears is just ridiculous. She could sing Britney Spears under the table.

In my own opinion, Utada is the best to me out of those listed. I don't really see how her music is boring :rolleyes . Heart Station wasn't the most exciting for me, so I'll give you that, but I even loved that album. Anyway it's not about the music - as was previously mentioned - but the vocals. Utada has an extremely powerful voice. Say what you want about her range, but her VOICE is powerful. In most of her concerts you can't hear her audience applaud or cheer because that's how overpowering her voice is. Also -despite what some have said - there IS maturity in her vocals. Go from Heart Station to 'Me Muero' on This is the One and then to Show Me Love (Not a Dream) on Singles Collection Vol 2 and you can hear it (and elsewhere).

I don't really see Ayu's vocal progression as maturity. Instead I see it as 'these are the only notes I can hit now days so let's see what I can do at this level' -- she was practically screaming all throughout 'Love Song' (not the entire album though). Though I still love her so i'm willing to look past, lol.

I am NOT a fan of Ayaka but I will say she has an amazing voice. Her vocals are very smooth and powerful. 'Why' is such an amazing song.

Nops, u can't hear the audience applaud or cheer both because japanese people remain silent while the performer sings for showing respect, and because its a common practice to remove those sounds from the DVD edit so u can better listen to the music... It has nothing to do with Hikki's voice being powerfull...

BTW, if her voice was that powerful, there were no need for her to sing with the microphone almost inside her mouth...as much as a love her, and her voice, as she is my favorite musician ever, she is most likelly the one with the less power of those on the list...

^Are you even kidding me? Then why are they so loud during Ayu's performances? And I never heard the audience edited out during hers.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard that 'out of respect' bs -- fans are fans everywhere, of course they're going to be excited for their favorite performer so shouting/applause will be inevitable anywhere. I believed that at first too until I saw enough performances by Japanese artists where that wasn't the case.

I don't even know about the microphone 'almost inside her mouth' bit because I don't pay that close attention to notice whether it is or not. Even if it is though, that really means nothing. I've heard artists that were amped up to the max with backing vocals and surround sounds and still sounded weak when they were performing live. Utada rarely uses backing vocals and when she does her voice soars over them (IE: Devil Inside).

Anyway, I've been listening to more of Ayaka's music and I have to say, she is really impressive. Her voice transitions between notes so smoothly (as weird as that might sound). I've listened to Alan, and I think she was just a miss with me. I can certainly see where people would appreciate her vocals, because they 'do' have a pretty quality, they're just not my cup of tea.

I also really love YUI's vocals, even though she doesn't have the biggest range ever. Her voice sounds really youthful for being 25ish (I could be wrong).

I voted Ayu, but I think that namie amuro (even though her voice gets autotuned and edited like **** on some tracks) and Utada Hikaru (simple and clean /hikari FTW) deserve the 1st place too.

This is were I strongly have to disagree. She puts too much emphasis on the dances rather than singing.

@Not Fade Away

They sound loud during Ayu lives cuz Ayu's style of concert focus a lot on audience interaction, while Utada's doesn't focus on it at all...

Still, even in Ayu concerts, for most of her career, the audience only cheered when they were demanded to (her staple songs like Boys & Girls, evolution, Trauma, etc.). You will never see people screaming while she sings ballads or mid tempos, and those kind of music are 90% of Utada's discography...

On the same way it works with Ayu, when Hikki ask some reaction from the audience, u can hear them... When they aren't asked to, they keep there watching her sing...

About back up vocals... Utada doesn't use them, but use pre-recorded backing vocals of her own, that have the exactly same effect of backing up vocals: Making your voice sounding stronger. And about she singing louder than her backtrack, this is a very strange comment, cuz the sound of the main vocalist's microphone is always louder than the backup singers and backtracks... everyone sings louder than their backup singers and backtracks unless they want to be oversang, something very common on heavy coreographed performances...

Still, the fact that even some singers I dislike are able to sing with as much power as Utada without having to almost swallow their microphones is symptomatic...

@RayJason: She definitely puts more emphasis on dancing, I completely agree, but people have been saying she just sounds completely horrible live, which is untrue. IMO, she still sounds good live. I'm not saying she's incredible let's all give a standing ovation, but to say she sucks is just crazy.

What I mean't was that, for being exhausted from dancing and then singing, her singing is pretty good.

@Andrenekoi: I heard people cheering all during Microphone, in several spots of Moon, in most of Memorial Address (after each time she held that long note that leads out from the chorus), in Because of You, in Lady Dynamite, etc etc during Rock 'N' Roll Circus tour, and that's just THAT tour.

I actually think Utada's focuses on audience interaction about the same (but that's because she does more MC than most JPop artists) -- if it weren't for her MCs, I would agree on that point.

And that's what I meant by backing vocals for Utada -- her own, I just didn't specify or whatever, so sorry. A lot of artists get drowned out by their backing vocals (whether it's their own pre-recorded voice, or actual people) it definitely happens to Namie a lot on her more dance-oriented songs - like you mentioned with choreographed songs. But I've also heard Ayu get drowned out on songs too and she doesn't even dance.

What I'm saying is that Utada's backing vocals are more like just a whisper in the background that you occasionally notice when she's not singing because her live voice is just that dominant. Case in point being Sakura Drops or Devil Inside - again.

I really don't understand this 'swallows the microphone' comment, I guess I'm going to have to go watch her lives again because I really just have no idea what you're talking about.

My three favorite artists are Utada, Namie and Ayu.

And I usually categorize their concerts as follows:

Utada: Powerhouse Voice x More Intimate Concerts
Namie: Amazing Dancing x Nightclub-Vibe Concerts
Ayu: Phenomenal Theatrics x Going to see a Broadway Show Type of Concert

That's always been my opinion but it's just that - my opinion.

Just like yours is that she's not a powerhouse singer, so cool.

There's not going to be a compromise or anything, so I'll just leave it at that.

EDT: Sorry, I'm not trying to come off sounding like an a*hole, I'm just having a very stressful day. Plus I know that when it comes to opinions, people are very set in stone, and I am definitely one of those people (with the exception of modern social issues lol).

Utada always sings almost touching the microphone to her lips... Nothing wrong with that, but is shows lack of power on her voice... A potent voice can manage to sound fine with no need of the microphone being so close...

Anyway, I'm not saying she is a horrible vocalist... But just as Ayu and Namie (who happen to be my favorite jpop starts too), she is average... not the best over there, not the worst... totally capable of holding her own on most songs on her good days and having some really amazing performances here and there to call her own.

I myself classify the 3 women this way:

Ayumi Hamasaki: Amazing stage presence and crowd control, the best in jpop

Namie Amuro: (since Play Tour) skilled singer-dancer

Hikaru Utada: Music focused concerts, with amazing arrangments and interpretations

Hikki, no competition. :D

Angela Aki
she sounds amazing live.

Ayumi Hamasaki. :P

Definitely Nana Mizuki she is underrated beacause she is a seiyu/singer but I have never seen an other singer succeed a three hours live without lip synch and hit all notes perfectly even better than on studio, furthermore she dance and had a great stage presence !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gegdIiX8L50

However I know there are many other fantastic singer =)

Ayu is the Queen ^^

Ayu for sure but I love Utada voice too<3
Chihiro Onitsuka isn't in the list. She has a great voice.
About Mika's voice, I hate her voice :S It sounds horrible in my opinion.

Others: OLIVIA, hands down. Although live, she tends to be a bit dissapointing.

Edit: Oh damn, this poll is old.

Yes, In 2011 she was. Namie has token her place. Girl could deliver, even while dancing like crazy for 2 hours.

Hikaru Utada has the best voice.