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Thursday, 16th January 2014
In Japan Entertainment News,
US singer to release single in Japanese
Chris Hart, a US musician, has announced his intention to release his first single sung entirely in the Japanese language.
The artist, who won the Nodo Jiman Za! singing contest on NTV in 2012, has received a great deal of acclaim for his soaring vocals and mastery of the language.
Entitled 'I Love You', the single will go on sale on February 24th, as reported by Japan-based publication Sankei Shimbun yesterday (January 15th).
Hart's relationship with Japan started when he began lessons in the language when he was just 12. Although he had expressed a desire to learn Korean, his school only offered lessons in Japanese.
After majoring in music, he posted a Youtube video of himself singing a Japanese song which was noticed by the producers of Nodo Jiman Za!, a reality show similar to The X Factor that pits foreign singers against each other.
Following Hart's win in 2012, he released his first album Heart Song, made up of covers of Japanese songs, which reached third place in the Oricon music charts.
He reportedly doesn't mind that fame has come to him so far away from his home city of San Francisco, telling AP: "I am a part of the J-pop world now."
Japan is known for playing host to dozens of foreign musicians, with Sir Paul McCartney recently visiting the country and Katy Perry describing one of her songs as "Japanese inspired".
Those wishing to experience the Japanese music scene at its best are advised to head to one of the many karaoke bars and sing along with the locals.
Failing that, find out about the fakest pop star in the industry by visiting Akihabara, Tokyo's electric town, and asking about Hatsune Miku, who is popular despite being a digital avatar and a voice synthesiser.
Written by Susan Ballion
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