Asian News 11/30

Dizon Makes Concert Debut

American Web star Leah Dizon made her concert debut at a Tokyo club November 7.

Dizon, who released an album in Japan earlier this year, performed 16 songs in a 90-minute set that also included multiple costume changes, which was the focal point of the concert.

Dizon became famous in Japan for her "cosplay" blog, where she appears in various sexy costumes associated with science fiction, manga and anime characters.

She took the name "Leah" from the princess played by Carrie Fisher in "Star Wars."

Because cosplay originated in Japan, the blog drew particular attention here and she was eventually taken on by a powerful talent agency that brought her to Japan in 2006 for personal appearances.

A book of Dizon’s pinups was a best-seller and she also made a music video in which she sang a song popularized by dance music queen Namie Amuro.

Many of Dizon’s Japanese fans think she is at least part Japanese, but she is actually half French-American and half Chinese-Filipino. She was born in Las Vegas and raised in Los Angeles.

According to reports of the concert, her Japanese language ability has improved markedly since her last trip to Japan. Show biz reporters have predicted that she will win the "Best Newcomer" honor at the next Japan Record Awards ceremony.

 

‘Spiritual Adviser’ Hits The Stage

Fortune-telling has always been popular in Japan, but in recent years the field has expanded considerably with the emergence of "spiritual advisers" who do everything from reading "auras" to plumbing a subject’s previous lives to provide guidance for life.

In other words, rather than predict the future, these individuals probe paranormal phenomena in order to give their customers some idea of how they should live their lives.

The most popular spiritual adviser is Hiroyuki Ehara, who has parlayed his soft-spoken, empathetic image into a hit TV show and now into a blockbuster stage act.

Tickets are about to go on sale for two "performances" at Budokan Hall in March called "Spiritual Voice: How to Change Your Life."

Ehara will of course offer advice to lucky selected individuals from the audience, but he will also sing and dance, backed by a full band. DVDs and CDs of the concert are sure to follow.

 

Kiyoshiro Imawano Returns

Veteran rock and soul artist Kiyoshiro Imawano, who once toured Japan with Booker T and the MGs, will return to the stage December 8 after an 18-month break during which the idiosyncratic singer was treated for cancer of the esophagus.

Reportedly on the road to recovery, Kiyoshiro will help Yoko Ono, former Plastic Ono Band bassist Klaus Voorman and a large contingent of Japanese rock stars raise money for Ono’s favorite charities at the annual "Dream Power" tribute to John Lennon.

Kiyoshiro will also appear as one of the many acts at the big New Year’s Eve Countdown Japan blowout at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center December 31.

However, his full-fledged comeback will happen February 16 at Budokan, when he and his longtime band Nice Middle with the New Blue Day Horns will have the martial arts hall to themselves.

 

Short Notes

MTV Japan will hold its annual "Cool Christmas" show at Pacifico Hall in Yokohama December 14. Among the performers will be Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am, whose third solo album, Songs About Girls, was the top-selling foreign album in Japan for October. The show will be broadcast December 22.Elton John performed two solo concerts – only him, his piano and a red tuxedo designed by his "good friend" Yoji Yamamoto – November 20-21 at Budokan.

To coincide with the concerts, Universal International released a special Japan edition of the single-disc greatest hits compilation Rocket Man-The Definitive Hits, comprised of songs released as singles in Japan.

Tickets for Celine Dion’s concerts at Tokyo Dome March 8-9 went on sale December 1. Dion’s new album, Taking Chances, was released November 7 in Japan and debuted at No. 2 on Oricon’s Foreign Album chart, right behind the Backstreet Boys’ Unbreakable, which was released in mid-October.

Dion’s achievement was matched by the Eagles, Britney Spears and Bruce Springsteen, whose respective albums also debuted at No. 2 the weeks they were released. In line with the title of their album, the Backstreet Boys seem to have a lock on the top slot for the rest of the year.Burt Bacharach will make his first concert appearance in Japan in more than a decade next February at the Tokyo International Forum accompanied by the Tokyo New City Orchestra.