Who's the best vocalist?
 

Out of the great female singers which one is the best vocalist?
Means which one has the best voice live, has the best voice abilities etc.

Sorry Ayu, but for me Kuu and Mika Nakashima are much better vocalists!
Both are just fabolous live, can sing high notes as well as deep ones, both blow me away with their voices more often.

if you're talking about vocal aspect , definitely Mika

others include Hidemi Uematsu , ayaka & Ken Hirai in which both ayaka & Ken sound the same if not more superior live than what you hear on a CD

Namie Amuro of course.
Koda Kumi would be second, tbh her voice can be really good at times
anyone who votes ayu.. lol..

Ayu definately. her voice is being better day by day. other singers never improve their vocal esp hikki, her voice is just like that no improvment.
every single song has the same vocal.

but the best IMO isnt ayu. I think the best is Yuna ito, Ayaka and Hiro (member of SPEED)
esp Hiro, she really can sing very well while dancing.

i would say utada hikaru definitely. i think she was given one of the best voice, and she was able to sing a wide range of keys, be it very high or very low.

off course namie amuro, i love her voice.

Yuna Ito has the better vocals if you ask me.

Ayu-san... because i like her vibrato... my style~~~ haha
other than her, i would vote for Namie~

TAE YEON from Girls' Generation!!! She's Korean though. But she's wonderful. She's like... 20 years old? She voice is so husky and her vibrato sounds amazing. Unlike Ayu's, haha.



If it's only for Japanese vocalist, then it would be ayaka and BoA for me!

Ayu doesn't sing so well live. Her voice in general can be good or really bad. She used to be amazing around the RAINBOW era. Now it's just bad. Really bad. She can't hit her high notes and her vibrato are terrible. XD
I don't like the voices of Utada and Mika so much... But Mika can hit her high notes. Props to her.
Koda Kumi is great in performance and she often sounds exactly like her CD version but her voice in general is scratchy, not very pleasant.
Namie Amuro is wonderful on stage also. Her range is very limited but beautiful voice.

LOL. No Ayu is the worst. Namie's voice is really nice IMO.
She sounds terrific in "Wishing On The Same Star" and "ALL FOR YOU".

koda kumi, namie, ayu, mika, leah dizon, utada!

so true.. its so boring!

Plz forgive little Lee Ayu,but Kuu has an AMAZING voice.Especially when she sings ballads live<3

Best vocalist I'd have to say is either OLIVIA or ayaka.

not at all. she has an amazing voice live. better than Utada tbh. i agree with people here, Utada does not have a good voice

Hikki has the best voice in my opinion. Her vocal range is amazing. And she doesn't need to change her voice, because she had a strong voice from her debut!:shrug
I think Namie has a good voice too, but sometimes I can't really tell because she uses a lot of harmony layers in her songs.
Also OLIVIA has an amazing voice!
And though Ayu is not the best, I love her voice. (I'm a bit confused as to why people are on an Ayu forum, if they don't like her voice :P hahaha)
I also think Riyu Kosaka has an amazing vocal range. :)

Lol that video is 12 years old & as you can see she was also very emotional.
She has improved ALOT since then. I think Namie has an amazing voice~
And Utada is just boring as ever and just doesn't get better imo.

-

Sorry Ayu & Namie but Mika gets my vote. Her voice is amazing. I think i'm starting to become her fan as well xD

edit: oohhh i forgot about alan xD
she's the best vocalist imo!
But Mika is the best from those 5 :P

If you think she sounds like a mess in that video that's fine.
I think her voice sounds fine in that video and I know i'm not the only one.

So saying "She really cannot sing" is complete bs lol

i agree, i was surprised at how well namie could belt it!

and yeah, utada has gotten rly bad imo. have you seen the lives she did for cbs? :irked what a big fat disappointment

koda kumi

Utada. No competition at all...

Well...they're all very good in their own way...I think Koda Kumi particularly shines in her ballads....a powerful voice...Ayu has a likeable voice...MIKA NAKASHIMA! <3 Uniquely beautiful...namie amuro.....well I really dont have anything to say about her :(....she's a good dancer(???) If I had to put them in order...

1.Utada
2.Koda Kumi (reversible with Ayu depending on song)
3.Ayumi Hamasaki (reversible with Koda depending on song)
4.Mika Nakashima
5.Namie Amuro

No offense but I really dont see how it sounds a mess =/ I mean...I might not like Namie...as a singer (never got into her, still cant) but I dont think it was DOWNRIGHT HORRIBLE! I think you exaggerate a bit when you say its a mess. =/ And she CAN sing. Rather nicely...

emi hinouchi honestly for me has the best voice in Japan. I've not come across another japanese singer that can sing with the same softness and power she has. She must be the number one most underrated artist.

On that list I'd probably say hikki though, even though for some reason her voice is not that great lately.

Ayu's is not so good. Namie's is nothing special...it's just pleasant. She...doesn't really do anything spectacular...not only that, her upper register is just wtf...like a wailing sort of thing...not only that...I don't like how in a lot of her lives her vocals don't match her backing track...its annoying...but I think her voice is the most pleasant, like i've said.

Mika's is nice, but she doesn't really...i dont know i cant explain.

Kuu, kuu actually has wonderful vocals. Too bad they are reserved for ballads when she's standing still. Her voice is also unique in a way, where people don't like it. Just like Ayu's. But people really need to get over their stigma with kuu, because as much as her voice seriously sucks with fast songs, her vocals are near perfect everytime she does ballads. And I'm not saying that because I love her.

I will give anyone credit, where credit is needed.

Some of you guys are so annoyingly rude btw.

So anyway, I say emi hinouchi...and maybe alan...although emi's is more pleasant for me. Alan's voice is like...reserved for that one style of music.

:yes totally agree

omg i love that performance :heart
oh well, that live is better than a lot of lives i've seen of Utada. but of course you have your opinion :P actually with a sing-off i'm sure Koda Kumi would beat Namie or Utada, her voice is a lot stronger than both of theirs.

hmm i say ayaka and alan

i loved ayaka's voice live, it's just that smooth deep kind of voice
alan can just reach those high notes beautifully without hurting your ear

though i love the other people in that list, but i don't think they're really all that good live

^The poll is not "Who Sings the Best Live" its "Whos the Best Vocalist" :P Though I agree with you that Ayaka is amazing live compared to most....even Utada at times.

Sometimes I wish the artists would just put out like...one good song that really shows off their vocals...

I don't really think we have a lot of those with ayu, namie, and hikki...I think kuu's are shown off in her ballads...I don't think her voice is going to get much better than in those. But with the others, I wish they'd put something out where they could just stand in front of a microphone and belt it out lol

Part of the reason why I said emi was because she has a song called "grow" that is just...damn.

Like Xin Zhan for alan...which is also just woah.

ohh emiko i forgot about emi hino.. such a beautiful versatile voice!

i agree :yes her voice is beautiful and she always sounds great live.

:yes her lives always sound exactly like the studio recording. she actually beats everyone on the list for me.. lol

1 Ayu
2 Namie, Koda
3 Utada
4 Mika

LOL....Moon Crying live @ Kingdom Tour on the MOON DVD....at first...I was like pshhh...lipsyncing....cause it sounded EXACTLY like the recording....and then it varied a LITTLE bit an I'm like WHOA! Koda Kumi is amazing! And thats basically how I fell in love with her....

EDIT: Didnt know you were talking about emi hinouchi...but Koda Kumi is still amazing! LAWL! my bad x_x

Yeah. that's another reason.

She's been in the business for a while, and there's still no vocal deterioration in her voice at all.

Her lives are always perfect as well.

I don't get how she does it...but she owns.

oh i was just saying that i didn't like most of them live, i know what the poll was asking~

ayaka and alan sound amazing both live and in their records~ just mostly you can tell who is a rather great vocalist when they sing live, so that's why i only mentioned live performances

^Oh sorry if I was being rude...yeah I agree that theyre both good....I hate polls like these where you cant pick more than one!....alan is so amazing...live, recorded...w/e....UGHHH! I wish I never heard of her! Now I'm hopelessly addicted

^ oh no you weren't :D it's my fault for not being more descriptive with my post ;)
XD lol at least you discovered alan sooner than later :P

alan, alan, alan, alan, alan, no competition at all

namie :) errheeemmm she HAS vocal talent!!! she actually has the voice to sing ballads over and over again, but she adds her dancing talent to her music..
i think mika and hikki are really good too

edit:
OH HECK YES ALAN!!!!! :love

Shimatani Hitomi pwns all those in that poll.

It's too bad the ones with actually good voices are absolute nobodies like Emi. Also, Stephanie.

^I heard Stephanie had a good voice...but I never got to download any of her stuff...I think I'll go searching. I need some new music.

@mishidabo: imo her voice, while good live, is quite boring. She's got that typical lower Japanese voice...kinda like the way Ai Otsuka has that typical high voice.

Don't bother :no

Mika Nakashima...but it seems she hasn't so many fans here around :(

Namie Amuro.

Other. As much as I love all of them, they are not the best vocalists of Japan. MISIA, KOIKA, Ayaka Hirahara, Alan, etc. are all better IMO.

:laugh if it's as bad as say, leah dizon, it'll just get ignored in my itunes. It's okay.
She used to around here...but it seems all those people have gone or moved on.

Kuu's the best, no lie. She's really good when she sings her ballads.

..I hate her ab-libbing, though.

Hikki all the way :yes

I pick other, Ito Yuna for female

Gackt or Atsushi Sakurai for male <3

Why are only female vocalists in the poll?? But my fav. vocalist has to be Matatabi from Onmyo-za.

^Hmmm.....

^maybe it doesn't bother him that he doesn't like their voices? is he a guy btw?

for me it bugs. I can't listen to like BoA or Ai otsuka because their voices annoy the hell out of me.

Alan actually can sing. Her voice is whiny though, which for me is just, what her voice sounds like. But she actually is a wonderful vocalist...though her music is most definitely overrated.

However on that list she actually is better...though I would definitely choose another artist in japan over her. I think she has a lot to learn though...she doesn't have too much experience.

And Ayu = a great vocalist is just laughable. I'm sorry. Even Ayu knows she isn't the greatest singer.

I'm surprised you think kuu's voice is scratchy and hoarse though...I always thought people would think her voice was more whiny...interesting.

^Kaori is a gurlie..

Anyway, I think Namie has a bad voice, but I like her music. It's all about her producers. Koda Kumi has a mangina-esque voice and bad music, though, so she can go diaf for all i care. I can honestly count her "good" songs on one hand.

Also, I agree with KAORI about alan... maybe if she stopped screaming @ me for 5 minutes i could judge her properly.

not true. theres very few songs wheres doing her traditional, unique, and shall be respected WAIL. maybe you never rlly listened to her good songs that she doesnt wail in..
and.. she has vocal training pretty much since she was little!
*not stating shes better than everyone else :rolleyes *

:yes

alan doesn't do that for every single song in her discography that will be a nightmare :dead2

That's what distinguishes her from the other artists. I love alan's wail, especially in Kuon no Kawa.

ugh, this is kinda hard. but as much as i love the ones listed, i'll be in the minority and say hitomi shimatani. VERY UNDERRATED :grumpy

oh, i also wanna add JYONGRI, Yuna Ito ayaka, and Younha, too. :yes

yeah not all the songs are like that~ and some songs without the wails still sound as good as those with the wails

but it all comes down to personal preference

^Yeah it does come down to that. I HATE her wailing in Ashita e no Sanka with a passion.

agreed.. I really dont like her voice...
although she can reach very wide range vocal, her vocal is sooooo boring. at least Namie ayu kuu are better because they are awesome in singing while dancing


i think they are the best singers. they can sing very good while dancing and hiro has very high pitch voice
she also very good in singing jazz

I never quite understood why Hitomi Shimatani isnt as famous as she should be. Her voice and control in her music is incredible and her voice is superbly effortless...Yuna Ito is another great voice...ayaka is amazing...Younha...I have to disagree...not much special about her but she's still young I guess...have yet to hear JYONGRI

dude seriously, why do you hate hikki. I see nothing she could have done to you for you to hate her so much. And it's like...all the time...I don't understand it at all.

And hunny I'm sorry, but those girls are awful in that video.

@kaori: I thought you were a girl for a second...but then I forgot...sorry! I'll go edit.

About alan's wail...I think it's really cool...but I mean...that's like her kinda trademark gimmick thing...which I really don't like because it's keeping her to the same styles of music...and I really wish she could use her vocals in other ways, because she does have nice vocals.

I dont hate hikki at all.
If i hate her I will not ever listen to her songs. I love some of her songs too but tbh. I just dont like her vocal. it's too boring for me.


and for Alan, her voice is very good although I dont like the way she is yodeling
XD

she has a very good song. she needs more practice to sing. she needs to improve her vibrato. I dont like she sing ashita e no sanka because it's too flat. should be having a vibra

lol Ashita e no Sanka SCARED me on 1st listen @_@ :dead2

it was only until I heard Sora Uta that I gave her music another chance in which things have turned around for me since then

totally agree! hikki has some nice songs but they're just..very boring..songs to sleep to. her voice is not as spectacular as people make it out to be. i remember before i listened to her people would go on about how good of a voice she has and when i listened to a couple of her albums i was like "lol wut"

oh but also alans voice is amazing too! lots of japanese singers have really unique and nice voices!

I like alan's wails....just although in Ashita e no Sanka it was a bit on the loud side....its haunting...and ethnic sounding. Iunno...just like it. Anyone tried Kanon Wakeshima? Something similar there...I was playing it the other day...and my Dad came in and was like "what is that horrible sound? It sounds like someone dying" and I was just like k...

@Cori: listen to Xin Zhan. It's the only alan song I actually really like and listen to. The others bore me. It has no wails :D

her voice is definitely very oriental though so...you have been warned lol

To all those comments about alan's Ashita e no Sanka, that song will always be a "hit or miss" track. Some people will love it, some will hate it. It just depends on their preferance. However, that song showed her true vocal abilities so if you don't like Ashita e no Sanka, then I doubt they'll be any song by alan you might like at all. =/

hmm.. did that make sense?

it does for me Alicia :laugh

I love alan
I love Ashita e no Sanka. That track is so epic. I love love love her wails.
there isn't one track i don't like of her.
That girl can sing. for real.

but yeah. you either love her voice or hate it.

that's exactly the same reaction i had.
i really tried to like her music. i basically forced myself to listen to her music.
her voice isn't even that bad. she just needs to try different things. all her songs sound the same

Excatly
Agreed with u

me too. I dont see how good her voice is. it's like her as amaze as Mariah carey's voice. but I still love her song esp final distance and beautiful world.. she's very good composer but her voice cant grow on me.

Koda Kumi without any hesitation.

Well that song will always be a miss for me. There are songs I love from her like, Kuon no Kawa, BRAVE, Megumi no Ame, Gunjou no Tani and half of her album that weren't singles.

wth why is alan not in this list :grumpy
ok so i voted for others :P

Of all those listed, I like Ayu's live vocals the best. Kumi can't really handle the ballads well. Utada is mostly ok but she tends to do loads of annoying things with her voice. Hitomi Shimatani, BoA and ayaka are far better than most of those listed (vocally).

Ayu!!!

koda kumi!!!!

I picked Utada Hikaru.

I'm not even a fan of hers, but I think she has an awesome voice. Too bad her music is soooooo boring :/

i dunno if much people ever heard if her, but..
Jane Zhang is amazing!! :love
also, since this is an asian-music poll, I cant say Mariah Carey :wtf

ayaka, Utada Hikaru and Ami Suzuki :)

oh forgot to add someone to my list, FIR's faye and amei

I agree about her voice. It's beautiful. But she's not famous because her music is so boring. IMO. XD

I love ayus voice now - maybe not live all the time anymore but her vocals are very strong on her new albums!

namie amuro has a really strong voice

yeah! jane zhang has an amazing voice. i love her

Mika Nakashima

I just realized BoA isn't in the poll... She has a great voice, better than Kumi's.

Namie Amuro. :)

oh my god oh my god kuu is winning! :heart cuz she rly is the best

I think Hikki has the best vocals, in studio and specially live. Then there are some vocalist thar are so good like ayu, Yuna Ito, BoA (her ballads are so beautiful), YUI...

From the list available, how anyone could not pick Mika out as the best vocalist is ridiculous. As much as I love Ayu, she's not the best vocalist by a long shot. However, Mika's far from being the best vocalist in (modern) Jpop. Ayaka beats them all hands down imo.

Apart from Ayu - Mika Nakashima

I dunno, I've got to hand it to Namie for being able to belt out a number of ballads perfectly after dancing and sweating up a storm. I haven't really heard Mika Nakashima live, but out of the other ladies, she's definitely the best one. Her 'worst' performances are usually better than the other's worst. :P

Kumi Kuu for the win definitely :yes