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