| Ami Suzuki 鈴木 亜美 |
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|---|---|
Ami Suzuki, November 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ami Suzuki (鈴木 亜美) |
| Also known as | Ami-Go (あみ～ゴ) |
| Born | February 9, 1982 |
| Origin | Zama, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Genres | Pop, dance-pop, electropop, eurobeat |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, actress, DJ |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1998–2001 2004–present |
| Labels | TRUE KiSS DISC 1998–2001 Amity 2004 Avex Trax 2005–Present |
| Associated acts | Tetsuya Komuro, Yasutaka Nakata |
| Website | Official site |
Ami Suzuki (鈴木亜美 Suzuki Ami, born February 9, 1982) is a female singer, songwriter, actress and DJ from Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Having been discovered at the talent TV show Asayan, Suzuki was one of the most popular female singers as an idol in the late 1990s.[1]
However, in 2000 Suzuki faced legal problems with her management company resulting in a controversial blacklisting from the entertainment industry.[2] While the public were unaware of the reason for her sudden disappearance and the Japanese mainstream media refused to cover the case, two international journalists exposed the details.[3]
Suzuki attempted to resurrect her career under her own steam with two indie singles before signing to Avex Trax in 2005. She released "Delightful", a dance song that reached No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon charts with a style similar to electronic club music, significantly different from her J-Pop idol days. She continued to release singles regularly with Avex until 2009, then concentrated on her acting career which is successful today.
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While attending high school, Ami auditioned for Sony Music Japan's talent show Asayan, the grand prize winner of which would be rewarded with a contract with Sony Music. Ami initially preferred athletics to auditions and was reluctant to travel from her home in Kanagawa, but was convinced by a school friend.[2]
The TV show became very popular and the number of viewers watching it grew and grew as the series progressed; its popularity was such that soon it was aired in other Asian countries. From 13,500 contestants, only five girls were chosen to be in the final round, and Ami won the competition supported by 802,157 phone calls from the audience. She was only 15 years old and she later explained her win as being down to her showing her natural-self, as opposed to rehearsing intensely like other contestants.[2]
Sony Music signed Ami to the label, and producer Tetsuya Komuro sponsored her on his own sub-label on Sony, TRUE KiSS DISC, with Komuro as writer and producer on all of Ami's songs.
In April 1998 Ami recorded her first song and single "Love the Island". The song was written and produced by Tetsuya Komuro, who was on the top of his career at that time, working with popular singers like Namie Amuro and Hitomi. Sony Music and the government of Japan made a deal for use of Ami's song "Love the Island" as the main theme of the "Guam Island Campaign Summer '98", which campaigned for an increase in Japanese tourism in Guam. The song was well promoted, with Ami appearing on covers of magazines like Young Jump and even traveling to Guam to promote the song live on the local version of the international music channel MTV. The single was finally released on July 1, 1998, and debuted at No. 5 on the Oricon charts. Ami's second single, "Alone in My Room" was also used for the Guam campaign, and also did well, debuting at No. 3 on the charts and selling even better than the first single.
As the "Asayan" show had already ended its run, Ami made her radio début in October 1998. The show was called Run! Run! Ami-Go! (Run!Run!あみ～ゴ!!), which topped the radio rankings in popularity. She also signed a deal with the Japanese product Kissmark for advertisements and promotion all around Asia. Sony then began promoting her third single, "All Night Long". The dance song was featured constantly at the most famous discotheque of Japan at that time, Velfarre, and was a big hit. It debuted at No. 2 on the Oricon charts. Later that year, Ami Suzuki won various awards including the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist.
1999 started well for Suzuki with the huge success of her first photo book titled Ami-Go, which sold around 200,000 copies. In March her debut album "SA" was released, becoming one of the Top 10 best selling albums of 1999.
Ami was constantly compared with "rival" Ayumi Hamasaki. The two young female singers were often called "enemies" by the tabloids because they began their careers at the same time and each had the potential to be the next "Queen of J-Pop". Both Ami and Ayumi have always denied the rivalry existed. It should be noted that Avex President Max Matsuura who ultimately signed Ami in 2005 after her blacklisting, is also Ayumi Hamasaki's friend and manager, so the rivalry seems to be a friendly one.
At the release of her highly-anticipated 7th single "Be Together" (which was a cover of a song by TM Network), Ami competed with "rival" Ayumi Hamasaki for the first time for the top position in the charts. Ayumi released her ninth single "Boys & Girls" on the same day. Ami went to the first position on the Oricon charts for the first time, leaving Ayumi second.[2] However, "Boys & Girls" would go on to become a number one single itself and eventually outsell "Be Together". Her next single, titled "Our Days", also ranked number one in the charts later that year. At the end of the year, Ami released her eighth and last single in 1999 entitled "Happy New Millennium", which debuted at #2 and sold 364,000 copies, becoming Ami's second lowest single in 1999.
In January 2000, Ami released "Don't Need to Say Good Bye" which debuted at #5.[4] A week later Ami released her second studio album Infinity Eighteen Vol. 1 which sold 1,063,000 copies and debuted at number one.
Suzuki has said of this first period of her career that she was not free to do what she wanted and only followed what she was told, leaving her feeling "pretty disheartened and down, like there was no future.".[2]
Suzuki had been writing lyrics from an early age and passing them to her manager and producers. The first song to feature them, with the help of Mitsuko and Tetsuya Komuro, was her tenth Sony single "Don't Need to Say Good Bye". The lyrics were influenced by events occurring in her personal life at that time, specifically her upcoming high school graduation and she has said "it was more important to me than sales and chart rankings to know that I had put my thoughts and feelings into what I was singing."[2]
Three months after Infinity Eighteen Vol.1, Ami released her twelfth single, "Thank You 4 Every Day Every Body" [sic] in the beginning of April and 3rd studio album, Infinity Eighteen Vol.2 at the end of April. "Thank You 4 Every Day Every Body" sold a total of 234,000 copies reaching number one and Infinity Eighteen Vol.2 sold a total of 427,000 copies reaching number two.
"Reality/Dancin' in Hip-Hop" was Ami's 12th single released under the Sony Music Japan label, on September 27, 2000. It reached #3 on Oricon weekly chart and sold a total of 211,000 copies. A compilation album of Suzuki's tracks, Fun for Fan, was released on May 30, 2001. It reached #1 position at the Oricon charts, despite the fact that by this point, Ami herself had vanished from the public eye.[5]
In 2000 Suzuki's career came to an abrupt halt when Eiji Yamada, the President of her production company AG Communication, was convicted on tax evasion charges. AG Communication was avoiding tax by underreporting their earnings, and by consequence were underpaying royalties to artists. Suzuki Ami's parents Tadao and Miyako Suzuki[2] sued AG Communication for termination of her contract on these grounds, and that the association would taint her squeaky clean image. They attempted to set up a subsidiary called Music Tribe to solve the problem. The Tokyo District Court found in her favor, but the lawsuit resulted in Ami Suzuki's blacklisting because of an unwritten rule of the entertainment business in Japan: artists who get into legal disputes with their masters are blacklisted.[3]
In court documents it was revealed that AG Communication was paying her very little to begin with: Despite eight-figure record sales that year, Ami Suzuki earned just $1500 a month at the start of her career, and a minuscule 0.4% royalty rate on CDs, raised to $9780 and 0.55% in 1999.[6]
Having lost all of her endorsements too, Ami was faced with the problem of production companies refusing to sign her and tried to make a comeback in the next two years with little to no success. Her relationship with her producer, Tetsuya Komuro, also ceased. Many people were convinced that her chances for making a comeback were nil.[7] In 2003, Ami finally negotiated an out-of-court agreement with Sony. Her contract with the label was scheduled to end in December 2004.[7]
Eiji Yamada was subsequently fined for his role in the tax evasion. Government officials linked to the scandal included former Education Minister Takashi Kosugi and two other legislators, who allegedly received 34 million yen in unofficial payments for referring AG Communication and other clients seeking tax evasion.[3]
Particular credit for covering Suzuki Ami's legal problems goes to music journalists Steve McClure writing for The Japan Times and Rori Caffrey for the Daily Yomiuri. The blacklisting was not discussed in the mainstream Japanese Press, and McClure himself was warned against reporting it, but claims that getting court records themselves was fairly easy.[2]
Of the period, Suzuki herself has said "I really didn't know what was going on, lots of lies were being thrown about in the media. For people to hear little things on the TV and believe that to be the truth was a surprise, and I suddenly realized the kind of world I was in. What kept me going was the thought of one day being able to tell the truth myself"[2]
Following the blacklisting, Ami decided to change her stage name from 鈴木あみ (kanji/hiragana) to 鈴木亜美 (completely in Kanji) to try to make a comeback to the music industry.
In April 2004, unable to get a record deal, the singer found "after some research, that adding a CD to a book, such as those found in language-teaching books, would be a possible alternative."[2] She thus released a photo book called "Tsuyoi Kizuna" with a CD single included, published by Tokyo-based Bungei Shunju. She made a few appearances on TV shows to promote it, and it sold 150,000[2] despite the low promotion, reaching the No. 1 place of best-selling non-fiction books.
In August of the same year, she released a single called "Forever Love" under her own record label, Amity. The release sold well, ranking #21 on the Oricon chart and #1 in Oricon's Independent Singles Chart. In addition, a mini-concert DVD was released. The DVD included the two singles released during the year and was titled 2004 Summer Fly Hight -Ami Shower-.
In 2004, she performed live at the annual festival of her university, Nihon University. At the last performance on Ami's nationwide tour, Ami's Love For You-Live, held on December 30 at Tokyo Public Welfare Annuity Hall, the transfer to Avex Trax was officially announced[2] and Ami's return to music after three and a half years began.
On January 1, 2005, Ami's official website under the Avex label was officially opened. The promotion of her first single under the new label, "Hopeful", started as well. The release date was scheduled for February, but was later cancelled for unknown reasons. "Hopeful" was never released as a physical single but was known as the first Avex downloadable ring tone and tune single. Despite this, a music video for the song was later made with a remixed version by Japanese Trance DJ Overhead Champion; the original version of the song was never released on a regular CD, just on Avex airplay promos.
In March, Ami finally marked her return to the music industry with a "comeback" single (a physical CD single) titled "Delightful", a song produced by German "hands up" trance producer Axel Konrad and whose executive producer was Max Matsuura. The trance song was massively promoted by Avex with a diverse array of releases of the single (CD, CD+DVD, CD+Photobook, CD+Illustration Essay), with a different remix on each version, and also a b-side: a ballad "About You...". The single debuted at number 2 on Oricon's charts. "Delightful" placed 97 place in Oricon's Yearly Top 500 best singles of 2005.
Her second single under Avex, titled "Eventful", also a dance track, had moderate sales, debuting at number nine. Later in the year, "Eventful" won a Gold Prize for Best New Artist at the 47th Japan Record Awards on December 31, 2005. The Gold Prize is awarded to 10 of the top songs of the year.
Ami's third Avex single was a ballad, "Negaigoto" selling only 22,000 copies and debuting at #13 on the Oricon charts. The B-side, an upbeat song called "Times", was used as the main theme of a TV commercial of N's Street Online Shopping.
During August 2005, her new official "Mobile" (via-cell phone) Fan Club "Ami Sapuri" was founded, and, on her official website, Ami announced that a live tour would start in the following months. Ami also participated in the 2005 version of A-Nation, a yearly concert of the most popular artists of Avex Trax. Ami performed her singles "Delightful" and "Negaigoto". This was also the first time that Ami shared a tour and the stage with Ayumi Hamasaki.
In October 2005 Ami released her first studio album in five years, and her debut album on Avex Trax. The album was originally going to be called Hopeful, but ended up being titled Around the World. The album included all the singles that Ami released in 2005, plus "Around the World", released the same day as the album. The name of her live tour also was changed from Hopeful Tour Live House Body Shake It! to Around the World Live House Tour. Although the album sales were not too bad, sales did not reach the level of Ami's previous albums, selling only 50,000 copies. Also, it was her lowest debut on the Oricon album chart at number five.
The following month Ami took part in the Japanese 55th Anniversary of Snoopy, officially called Snoopy Life Design Happiness is the 55th Anniversary, by recording a song titled "Happiness Is..." which was sold as a CD Single exclusively at the event in Tokyo.
On December 7, 2005, Ami released her 5th Avex single, "Little Crystal". The Maxi Single was full of Christmas feeling, including four different ballads by four different arrangers. Two different music videos were made to promote the singles, "Crystal" and "To be Free". "Little Crystal" had poor promotion by the Avex label for unknown reasons, with only one live performance on Music Fighter and at its release it debuted at #22, selling only 15,000 copies in its first month.
Just two months and a day after "Little Crystal", and one day before Ami's 24th birthday. "Fantastic", the 6th single, was released. The song was her first to be used as an opening theme on an anime series, as the tune for the TV adaptation of the third season of Blackjack. But just like her previous single, "Fantastic" did fare well, debuting only at #14 with low sales (only 14,000 copies its first week and only 3,000 more copies its second week).
Ami's first remix album, entitled Amix World, was released on March 29, 2006. It contained a remix of the song "Around the World" and of every single Ami released off Avex except for "Little Crystal", plus remixes of some non-single tracks from Ami's album Around the World. The remixers included Sham-Poo, M.O.R., and Ferry Corsten. At the end of its first week of sales, the album peaked at the #78 position on the Oricon charts, making it Ami's lowest-charting album to date.
Ami's 7th single was a different style: a little far from the previous trance style and more pop in nature. The music producer HΛL was chosen to work with Ami on "Alright!", released on May 17, 2006. In the first week the single did not even sell ten thousand copies, being one of the lowest-selling singles for the artist in its first week.
The 8th single released under Avex, "Like a Love?", was released July 26, 2006. The single had caught more attention before its release mainly because of it being the first composition of J-Pop singer Ai Otsuka for another artist besides herself, and it was expected to sell considerably because of that. The two girls met at 2006's A-Nation and became good friends. The single placed at #23 and sold just under 9,000 copies its first week.
Ami debuted on the bigscreen for the first time in the movie Rainbow Song, produced by Shunji Iwai, and it was released on October 28. In her web-diary, Suzuki said that her role in the film is not as major as had been previously stated, but she still considered it a great way to start an acting career. She also said that she would like to sing and act at the same time.
After a short break, it was announced that Ami would be coming out with new music. She covered two Disney songs, one from Beauty and the Beast and also "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah". These songs were only available on the Disney Music Store Japan's website starting December 20, 2006.
Shortly after the news of Ami's two new Disney songs, it was announced she would be releasing three new singles under a new project called "join", in which Ami would be collaborating with different artists and trying various music styles. These singles were her first releases of 2007, each one a collaboration with three different artists released three weeks in a row, starting February 28, finishing with a second Avex album on March 21. The "join" singles featured the bands Buffalo Daughter, THC!! and Kirinji and received low promotion, and were only minor hits in the Oricon charts. After that, Connetta, her second Avex album and first "join" album, debuted at #26 on the Japanese charts.
Ami's acting career went more seriously at this time: she starred in the live action drama "Skull Man", and also in the Japanese-Korean movie "Magnolia no Hana no Shita de", in which she shot some scenes in New York and Korea. She was also invited for a third time at 2007's a-nation, where she was chosen as the opening act.
A new single with electronic producer and capsule leader Yasutaka Nakata then emerged. Her 4th "join" single, and first Avex double A-side single, "Free Free/Super Music Maker", was released on August 22, 2007. For this single's promotion Ami drastically changed her image, from a cute Pop image to a more mature and sexy-erotic style. Her new look was called as "Ero-Pop" by herself and Japanese media, even comparing Ami to singer Kumi Koda.[8] This single did considerably better than the previous "join" singles, debuting at #32 on the Japanese charts, and achieving more than eight thousand copies sold, almost the three previous singles sales combined.
Suzuki's fifth "join" single was released on November 28, 2007. It was a collaboration with Aly & AJ on their song "Potential Breakup Song". The original song by Aly & AJ was used as the theme song of the horror film XX (X Cross)', in which Ami starred as the lead character. Ami released her second "join" album and third Avex studio album (6th overall), Dolce, on February 6, 2008. The album, which was much more dance-oriented than its predecessor, included collaborations with Ram Rider, Studio Apartment, Tomoe Shinohara, Captain Funk, among others.
On January 4, 2008, TV Asahi started transmitting its special drama Oishii Depachika, in which Suzuki starred as the main role. This was the first time she is given the main role in a TV series.
In July 2008, Suzuki reached her 10th anniversary in music. For celebrating this special occasion, she worked once again with Yasutaka Nakata, and released her first non-"join" single since 2006, "One". The song was also used as the theme song for the 28th National High School Quiz Championship, and charted at number 17. At the release party on July 5, Ami played music for the first time as a disc jockey, and performed live along with Nakata. "Can't Stop the Disco" was then released on September 24, 2008.[9][10] This same month Ami debuted as the main character in the musical by Avex for their 20th anniversary, Kokoro no Kakera.[11]
In November Suzuki played the main role in another TV drama: this time for the 40th anniversary special remake of Ai no Gekijo's Love Letter.[2] Suzuki played the hearing-impaired Minami Tadokoro, whose dramatic love life was explored over a 15-year period.
Ami's 10th anniversary album, Supreme Show was released on November 12, 2008. The album was fully produced by Yasutaka Nakata.
Suzuki's 28th single, "Reincarnation", was produced by Taku Takahashi of M-Flo and was released on February 25, 2009.[12][13] From September 27 to August 7, 2009, Suzuki starred in her second musical: "Blood Brothers". Suzuki recorded a song called "Kiss Kiss Kiss" which appeared on the House Nation compilation called Aquamarine released on August 5.,[14] and was later released as her 29th single on October 28, 2009.[15]
In 2010, Suzuki's cover version of Kylie Minogue's international hit "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" appeared on the compliation "Tokyo Girls Collection" 10th Anniversary Runway Anthem[16] Also, she collaborated with Phoenix 2:00am - a special unit formed by Dj Koo from TRF and motsu from m.o.v.e- for the song, "Living In The Castle" that appeared on "House Nation 3rd Anniversary".[17] In July 2010, she released "Blooming", her first album as a DJ. It is a 15-track collection of songs mixed by herself, as well as her own song "Kiss Kiss Kiss".[18]
On 9 February 2011, her 29-year-old birthday concert was broadcast online live by website Nico Nico Douga.[19] In March 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami that affected Japan, Suzuki joined Gackt's charity campaign "Show Your Heart" for collecting money for the victims.[20]
On July 27, 2011, a new recording version of Ami's debut single "Love the Island" was released as a special collaboration with clothing store Resoxy, and clients could download the song for free from the store's website. On July 29 the song was released on iTunes.[21] In October 2011, it was announced that Ami would be releasing her first Avex greatest hits album on December 7. The album, titled Ami Selection, will include most of her singles released under the Avex label, as well as new versions of various hit singles from the Sony era, such as "Be Together", "All Night Long" and "Love the Island".
| Years | Awards |
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| 1998 |
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| 1999 |
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| 2000 |
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| 2001 |
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| 2005 |
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| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Rainbow Song | Sayumi Kubo | |
| 2007 | X Cross | Aiko Hiuke | Lead role |
| 2011 | Ghost Writer Hotel |
| Year | TV Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Dive Deep | Kami Inoue | Lead role |
| 2007 | Skull Man: Prologue of Darkness | Michiko Komyōji | Lead role |
| Under the Magnolia | Lead role | ||
| Itsu mo Kimochi Switch wo | Keiko Katakura | Guest in third episode | |
| 2008 | Oishii Depachika | Mari Hiuma | Lead role |
| Otome | Lead role in episodes "Mokuami no Otome", "Kuchigomoru Otome", "Hyōhensuru Otome", "Tsudzuru Otome", "Geki wo Tobasu Otome" | ||
| Shichi-nin no Onna Bengoshi | Mutsumi Tashiro | Guest in first episode of second season | |
| Love Letter: Love Theatre, 40th Anniversary Show | Minami Tadokoro (adult) | Lead role | |
| 2009 | Mayonaka no Satsujinsha | Special of Yonimo Kimyō na Monogatari | |
| Love Game | Tsubaki Yayoi | Guest in third episode | |
| Ohitorisama | Chihiro Aoki | Guest in third episode | |
| 2010 | Face Maker | Nobuko Kisaragi (Ayumi Okamoto) | Guest in ninth episode |
| 2011 | Shin Keishichō Sōsa Ikka 9 Gakari | Kanazawa Misato | Guest in third episode of season three |
| Ouran High School Host Club | Kotoko Fujioka | Guest in first episode |
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