Hitomi Takahashi (singer)
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| Hitomi Takahashi (高橋 瞳?) | ||
|---|---|---|
 Promotional photo from Hitomi's latest single Ko·mo·re·bi
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | 高橋 瞳 (Takahashi Hitomi) | |
| Born | April 8, 1989 | |
| Origin | Shiogama, Japan | |
| Genre(s) | J-Rock/J-Pop | |
| Years active | 2005–Present | |
| Label(s) | gr8 records! | |
| Website | http://www.takahashihitomi.com/ | |
Hitomi Takahashi (高橋 瞳 Takahashi Hitomi?, born April 8, 1989) is a J-pop singer who's from Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. Hitomi debuted in 2005, and made a successful debut with her single Bokutachi no Yukue, which entered the weekly charts at #1.
Contents |
[edit] Profile
- Height：147cm
- Favorite Artists：Shiina Ringo, Avril Lavigne, Ellegarden, LOST IN TIME, Jack's Mannequin, Shaka Labbits, and We Are Scientists
[edit] Biography
[edit] Pre-Debut
Hitomi Takahashi was born on April 8, 1989. Because of her abnormally large eyes, her parents named her "Hitomi", which means "pupil/eye" in Japanese. By the influence of her father, she grew up listening to his favorite music, which was classic rock such as Eric Clapton and the Beatles.
In 2002, she entered junior-high/middle school. Once entering middle school, Hitomi joined the school softball team, and expressed an interest in becoming an artist's backup dancer. So, every morning she would practice dancing before she went to Kendo practice; she obtained the first level degree in Kendo. Every night after school Hitomi and her friends would gather together and street dance.
In the year of 2003, while she was at dance practice, Hitomi's friends encouraged her to try to sing at a local popularity event. Hitomi disliked singing karaoke in front of such a large crowd, but her friends continued to encouraged her to sing, and from that time on the desire to become a singer awoke in her. During her second year in junior-high school, in the middle of the summer of 2003, Hitomi applied for the Sony Music Auditions. For the auditions, she recorded the rock song "Ukifune" by the band GO!GO!7188, but because the deadline was drawing near, she sent in the tape without listening to it. Also, because a change of interest, Hitomi moved from singing dance music to singing rock music.
In 2004, Hitomi was selected as the finalist for the Sony Music SD audition (Vo-che3); 20,000 others had auditioned. She had been worried that because of her height (147 cm), she would be overlooked, but her powerful voice attracted the attention of people while she sang live. The end of 2004 found her being chosen to sing the theme song for "Gundam SEED DESTINY". Recording of her song "Bokutachi no Yukue" began at the end of the year.
[edit] sympathy era
In 2005, she was in the middle of high school entrance exams as the title for her 1st single "Bokutachi no Yukue" was announced. The single was released on April 2005, and debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts. This was a huge success, making Hitomi the second female singer to have a debut single in the #1 spot, and the third solo artist to have a debut single reach #1. The single ended up selling well over 100,000 copies, and was widely popular.
Hitomi soon entered senior high school, and started her first radio personality on Date fm (FM Sendai) called "Takahashi Hitomi ~Sound D・N・A~".
The second single from Hitomi, "evergreen", was released on August 12, 2005. The song was used as the theme song for the Japanese TV drama "New Kids War". The single sales were discouraging, with the single only debuting at #22 on the Japanese Oricon Charts, and selling the poor amount of a little less than 30,000 copies.
Hitomi's third single, "Aozora no NAMIDA", was soon released on November 30, 2005, and it was used as the 1st opening theme song for the anime BLOOD+. (It had originally been planned for an October 12, 2005 released, but was pushed back to the later date.) Its first week on the charts found it at #8 on the Oricon charts with 44,629 copies sold. This was a huge leap from her past single "evergreen".
On February 22, Hitomi's site updated revealing Hitomi's Official Fan Club, which was titled "H147." On another note, Hitomi won an award for New Artist of the Year, and sung live at the event.
The first studio album from the singer, "sympathy", was released on March 1, 2006. The album came in two formats, CD only and CD+DVD (limited edition), and contained 12 tracks total, 7 of them being previously unreleased songs. The album received much promotion, and debuted at #10; it eventually sold over 30,000 copies.
[edit] 2006 and Beyond
For the release of the album, Hitomi held her first live concert on April 1, 2006. During her concert, Hitomi sang a new song, which was at first untitled. Soon, however, the title was revealed thanks to the Japanese TBS website - its name turned out to be "Little Star". As of now, this song has appeared on no single or album. Hitomi soon decided to hold two more concerts for her "sympathy" album. Both were performed at SHIBUYA BOXX on May 14, 2006 & June 18, 2006. Four more concerts were held at the same location in August, September, October and November, bringing her Hitomi Takahashi Live "Sympathy" ~BOXX Series~ to six lives in total.
In May 2006, online shopping websites reported that Hitomi would be releasing her 4th single on July 12, 2006. This went as a rumor, until her official website finally confirmed it in June, with the single officially given the title "Communication." Once finally released, this single failed to make it in the Top 20 Daily Charts. It also failed to make it in the Weekly Top 30, and was revealed to debut at #60 on the charts, selling a little more than 2,000 copies in its first week.
During the eighth month of 2006, news of a new song finally surfaced. This song, titled "Ko·mo·re·bi", was officially announced to be Hitomi's 5th single at the end of August, and was used as the theme song for the movie "Tegami", which features actors Takayuki Yamada, Tetsuji Tamayama, and Erika Sawajiri. Reminiscent to her past single, "Ko·mo·re·bi" failed to chart in the Top 20 Daily Charts, and debuted at #50 for its first week on the chart, only selling about 300 more copies than "Communication".
In spite of this, Hitomi was chosen to be one of many artists to take part in the new tribute album for the new Death Note movie coming out in December.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| # | Cover | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st / Debut Single |
 |
Bokutachi no Yukue 僕たちの行方 |
135,898 copies sold |
| 2nd |
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evergreen | 29,116 copies sold |
| 3rd |
 |
Aozora no NAMIDA 青空のナミダ
|
83,523 copies sold |
| 4th |
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Communication コミュニケイション |
2,142 copies sold |
| 5th |
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Ko·mo·re·bi コ・モ・レ・ビ
|
2,457 copies sold |
[edit] Albums
| # | Cover | Information | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st / Debut Album |
 |
sympathy | 31,333 copies sold |
[edit] Featured/Collaborative Releases
- Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Complete Best (November 2, 2005)
- ("Bokutachi no Yukue")
- Hit Style (January 25, 2006)
- ("Bokutachi no Yukue")
- Matchy Tribute (January 25, 2006)
- ("Midnight Shuffle")
[edit] Concerts
- Hitomi Takahashi Live "Sympathy" ~BOXX Series~
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ↑ All Biography Reference Materials
- ↑ Japanese TBS Site
- ↑ Tegami Movie Official Website
- ↑ Death Note Song Tribute
| Hitomi Takahashi |
|---|
| Albums |
| sympathy |
| Singles |
| Bokutachi no Yukue | evergreen | Aozora no NAMIDA | Communication | Ko·mo·re·bi |
