My "Once In A Lifetime" Idol, Yuuka Ueno - Solo Idol Spotlight
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| Photo Courtesy: Yuuka Ueno Official Twitter |
As a idol blogger, you listen to idol groups a lot but sometimes you have to slow it down and listen to a solo artist that you can sit back and simply enjoy the music. That is where this lovely lady comes into play. May I introduce you to Yuuko Ueno!
It is said that Hashimoto Kanna from the Fukuoka idol group Rev. from DVL is a "once in a lifetime idol," but she has nothing on Yuuka. Yeah, you just read that correctly!
Idol Information
Name: As I have repeated about twice not including the title Yuuka Ueno
Birthdate: February 5th, 1998
Hometown: Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
In 2012, she was entered into a local karaoke contest in her hometown by her mother. There were about 10,000 contestants competing for the "Grand Prix Dream Vocalist" sponsored by Young Magazine. The winner would be able to have a chance to get a record deal with King Records. Yuuka outlasted all of the contestants and won the competition at the age of 14 years old, which is really amazing in my books.
After she signed with King Records, she released her first single in July 2013 with her vocals from the Grand Prix Dream Vocalist contest.
Discography Information
July 24th, 2013 - 1st Single - Kimi to Ita Sora <Goka Ban>
December 11th, 2013 - 2nd Single - Winter Kiss
April 23rd, 2014 - 3rd Single - Diamond Days - Kokoro No Tsubasa - / Dear My Hero
October 1st, 2014 - 4th Single - Suki ni Nattemo Idesuka? / Taisetsu na Anata
March 18th, 2015 - 5th Single - Hoshi Tachi no Moment / Slow Motion
Acting Information
Not only is she a singer but she has also been in a couple of movies:
2013: Toire no Hanako-san Shin Gekijoban- portrayed Sayo Nagasawa
2014: 1/11 Juuichi Bun no Ichi- portrayed Nina Shinomori
How Did You Come Across This Artist?
I was on Twitter a while back, let us just say three months ago? when one of my original followers Hilo in English posted this video which intrigued me and I instantly watched it and I was completely blown away by her vocals and looked her up. Little did I know that she was 17, which sort of turned me away for a while but I came running back due to lack of solo artists in my life. I would like to thank Hilo for introducing me to her and for being a loyal Twitter follower.
I was honestly shocked by her mature vocals for a young lady of her age and most of her songs as I still listen to them, give me chills. I'll describe them later to you.
I think she has a brilliant future not only as a solo artist but as a actress and a model. Most of her fans and myself are looking forward to her new material. We will support you Yuuka! Count On It!
*Update (July 12th, 2015) - I got to witness her in person when I went to the Solo x Solo x Solo Girls Storm Golden. She was outstanding and I got to meet her in person. She is a very lovely girl and tried her best to communicate in English, even though we had some communication issues. I got a picture of her and her autograph, which is a big score.
Music Video Information and Review
The first music video is from her first single Kimi to Ita Sora.
I really enjoyed the PV as it was so bright and it had that Parent Trap effect with two of Yuuka, which threw me off. As for the song, it was a really good song and was high energy which you could listen to and tell your friends to watch it.
The second one is Winter Kiss from her second single with the same name.
As it was released in December, you can hear the bells in the melody, which are very enticing to hear, The song is a really good song if you like the love story aspect of it, like the lyrics:
Always Thinking of You
Always
Thinking of You
Towards the last few seconds of the song makes my hear flutter, because that is sometimes true when you like someone or even in love with that person.
The music video is sort of sad but happy, if you know what I mean. Yuuka likes the cool guy who is surrounded by all these chicks, but as for is staring at him, he catches her glance and she gets up and leaves due to shyness. As the MV progresses, you can see that this dude happens to be everywhere she is, coincidence? Anyway, the guy is strumming along and she sees him performing around a bunch of girls and randomly pulls a Michael Jackson jacket toss and shows off his white A-shirt (as wee call it in America) which is strange to do and at that point, Yuuka just says "Screw-It" and walks up to him like a boss and shoots him a smile saying "Please notice me over these over girls. I like you."
These next two are from her third single. The first one is titled Diamond Days.
I actually really like the song as it is really cheerful and it has a summer feel to it. It is very upbeat and you can jam to it if you'd like. I especially enjoy the part a little over halfway through when the music stops and it becomes a solo and then the band starts again, as it gives me chills everytime,
As for the music video is concerned, it looks like it is from a movie due to the events. Again, we had the Double Yuuka in it which is cool and also it looked like a token from the Nickelodeon show Legends of the Hidden Temple at the beginning, which brought back a lot of childhood memories, Over than that, it was just alright.
The second one is Dear My Hero.
Now as for this song, it gives me complete goosebumps and makes me teary eyed every time. (Yeah, I'm a guy, so what?) The song is so relaxing and her voice resonates throughout the entire song. The way the melody is soft and then climaxes and drops back down is a thing of beauty. It has to be my favorite song of hers.
Music video wise, it is from the movie 1/11 Juuichi Bun no Ichi which she stars in. I love the fact it was at a soccer stadium, which looked to be one of the best ones around. As she stares at he ball with words of encouragement to her crush, you can't help but wonder what she is going to write. Towards the end, she writes what she wants and he shows up in the stands next to her. As he picks up the ball, she gives that shy and nervous smile which makes her look incredibly cute. All in all, it was a fantastic song with a fantastic video, but I want to see that darn movie though.
This next one is from her fourth single titled Suki ni Nattemo Idesuka? This song was the one shown to me by Hilo.
I absolutely adore this song and music video. The way the song is arranged is perfect and the tune is so singable if you don't mind mumbling half the words you can't pronounce. I really enjoy jamming out to this at work, which is awfully strange to watch. I can whistle to it and even hum. I love this song.
I really enjoy the music video a lot. It fades in to English lettering on her bed with the light shining in as she wakes up, which caught me by surprise. I was like, "Yay! English!" Anyways, as the video progresses you see English and Japanese all over which was really cool to watch. Those moments in which she is getting ready for some fans is pretty taboo, like that toothbrushing part. (Yeah people like those kinds of shots) As it goes on, she has on glasses which make her look ultra beautiful to me. I like that kind of look in a idol. But as she reads a magazine she discovers the word LOVE written on a heart and begins to study it carefully. Then it changes to her trying to figure out what love is and changes into this great two piece outfit and belts out some more lyrics. The houses were so colorful and she notices this guy bypass her yet she goes on without a pause. She then walks through a door and BAM! It was just a dream. Ehhh? What the? You could see it on her face and I thought the same as well. She wonders what that was about and shrugs it off and gets up again. Great music video.
As for her latest music video, it is titled Hoshi Tachi no Moment. The main track from her fifth single.
I truly like this song. I enjoy the guitar and drum feel to it and it is just amazing to listen to. It makes you want to just relax and calm down if you've had a rough day. She never seems to disappoint when it comes to vocals as they are so soothing.I could listen to it for hours.
I simply adore the music video. It looks like you are on a date with her, which is quite cool because why not? The way she plays around and wears goofy stuff and acts goofy made my heart doki-doki. As you are walking along with her you stop to eat some amazing looking food and you can't help but smile. As the music video progresses. a panda puppet comes out from behind a counter singing the song for a little and then she appears finishing the lines, which was quite cute. You walk into a restaurant? and she changes into a one piece traditional dress and waits for you to show up. But you don't. Why do you not show up? Tell me. As the night sky appears, you see the stars illuminated behind her which is very superb on the production part. As you could tell, I liked it.
Final Thoughts
Over time, I have started to like her more and more. I even re-watched the videos to review them for your sake. I think I might have a little, just a little, crush on her.
I really hope you enjoyed this article about this lovely lady and support her with all your might. Please spread her talent to anyone you know and maybe you may find other fans like yourself or make some new ones.
Official Links
King Records Shop
CDJapan
HMV Japan
You can follow me on Twitter if you'd like. I would greatly appreciate that and feel free to leave comments, I don't mind.
And as always Please Wherever You Are Or Whatever You Do, Enjoy Life To Its Fullest And Have A Fantastic Day!
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