‘X Factor’ Competition Stirs

Sony Music Japan recently announced it had signed Stevi Ritchie, a contestant on the UK audition show, “The X Factor,” to a contract and is releasing his first single, “Come On, Come On, Come On.” Ritchie is mostly unknown in Japan, but the single’s writer and producer, Yasushi Akimoto, is definitely not. Akimoto is the Svengali behind AKB48, the female idol collective-cum-music industry juggernaut who many believe is single-handedly propping up the domestic business. Though Akimoto’s brand is increasingly prevalent in Asia thanks to all the local versions of AKB popping up in regional capitals, he has no footprint in the West, and perhaps the signing of a somewhat obscure but pliant pop singer to the biggest label in Japan will help him gain a foothold, at least in the UK.

Coincidentally or not, another “X Factor” alumnus, Christopher Maloney, is also seeing chart success in Japan, though it’s for a single, “My Heart Belongs to You,” that was released in his native country almost three years ago. Fuji TV recently aired a one-hour documentary about Maloney, stirring interest in his music. The single reached No. 16 on local charts, and the video for the song went viral. Plans are now to follow it up with a new single, “The Strength Within Me,” and a promotional tour this summer, which will likely conincide with a Japan tour by Ritchie.

Audition shows like the “X Factor” have been TV staples in Japan since the 1960s, though they rarely result in superstars, mainly because the idol-making machine behind most of Japan’s pop stars focuses on its own discoveries at the expense of everything else. The sudden success of Ritchie and Mahoney may simply be a fluke of timing. By the end of summer they could be memories.