Entries tagged with @ utaite spotlight

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Utaite Spotlight: Bibi

Bibi/ビビ

mylist | community

Bibi is very new to the utattemita scene, having only started uploading his covers February of this year. Despite being a rookie, though, he has gained enough attention and respect from fans and other utaite alike because of his unique covers and high-quality uploads.

Bibi's style can be likened to the types of Touyu, Kouhei, Furuike Yuusuke, etc. albeit at a less loud degree. He's a passionately strong singer and always sings in high-strung, full-forced voice. What is impressive about his style, however, is his tenacity and solidity in terms of holding the rhythm as well as pitch very well. Singing in this style plus carrying out the perfect rhythm (and second voicing) is quite a task even for seasoned utaite, and I think it's in this part that Bibi earns people's admiration. Despite singing in this style, though, he can sing basically anything from rockish songs to gentle 40mP songs without effort.

sample songs
• Babylon (Tohma original)
• Gaikotsu Gakudan to Lilia (Tohma original)
• Shiryokukensa (40mP original)
• Yoku Aru Rinne to Neko no Uta (KotsubanP original)
• Sleep, Sky, Walk (YuuyuP original)
• Tokyo Teddy Bear (with Panyo; Neru original)

nikki says
Bibi is one of those few utaite who have impressed me at my first listen. Usually, it takes a while before we get used to someone's voice, especially if they only have a few covers, but Bibi really actually made me loop his covers of Lilia and the Skeleton Band and Babylon. Even though I likened him to a few utaite above, I find his style entirely different, probably because aside from the passionate singing, he can also change his pitch from out of the blue without difficulty, reach high notes effectively, sometimes even without screaming, and create a whole new approach to covering a particular song. I honestly think that he is amazing and that has a lot of potential as an utaite. I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing how he can manage to cover certain songs in different genre.

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Utaite Spotlight: Inakamono

Inakamono / イナカモノ

mylist | community | mixi community

Inakamono started his utattemita career way back from 2009. Last August 10, he reached his second anniversary as an utaite. He is fairly active in updating, uploading songs at least every two months. He is also fairly popular in the community, with all his uploads exceeding more than 10,000 views. He holds irregular namahousou, sometimes of him singing not only Vocaloid songs, but also popular J-pop/rock songs.

Inakamono is known for his deep, solid, "ikemen" voice that can shift from being "refreshingly gentle" to "impressively erotic", as his listeners say. He also has a very stable hold of his pitches and tones and while he only sings covers by the book (meaning almost always without his own adlibs or additions to the original style), he always brings out a wonderful cover of each song. Most of his songs are ballads/rock ballads in nature and he rarely does screaming, harsh rises in his voice or even falsetto/high pitches. Compared to other utaite, he is mostly categorized with Tourai or Nero.

Aside from singing solo, Inakamono also sings in duets with utaite like maro., Soraru, Wataame and Seriyu.

sample songs
A. solos
• Eh? Aa, Sou (papiyon original)
• Kimi no Te, Boku no Te (40mP original)
• Hysteria (KuwagataP original)
• Ama no Jaku (164 original)

B. duets
• Yuki no Nagori (with Seriyu; PattsunP original)
• Nakimushi Kareshi (with Wataame; FernandoP original)
• Starduster (with Soraru; JimmythumbP original)

nikki says
I rarely talk about Inakamono, but he is one of my favorite utaite. I don't know much about him nor do I follow him as much as I follow Clear or other utaite but I always make it a point to listen to his songs. Actually, I don't remember disliking any of his covers at all! He just seems to be out of the limelight sometimes because he's singing the songs everyone is singing, though I think he should have more listeners as he's just...a wonderful singer. He reminds me so much of Tourai, with their similar voice qualities as well as with their tendency to sing songs as exactly as they were in the original (no adlibs, crack whatsoever). While that might seem boring to some, I appreciate it because I can see how well he manages to sing each song.

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Utaite Spotlight: Kakichoco

Kakichoco / 柿チョコ

mylist | community | blog

Most of you might have already listened to or encountered Kakichoco, especially if you like listening to covers by Wotamin, Valshe, etc. Kakichoco is a relatively popular utaite, with a ton of uploads ever since her debut in 2008. Her name Kakichoco was decided by herself, when she was uploading her first song in NND and she ended up seeing a persimmon seed chocolate in her house (persimmon seed = kaki), and she used it ever since. Her nickname is "Kakki". Some of her tags like "Kakichoco wa kawaii" and "Kakichoco Oneesan" were coined by Clear during their large group radio shows.

Kakichoco is said to be one of the most versatile female utaite in NND. Her list of covers had spanned almost every genre from pop, ballad, rock, hard rock, jazz, etc. It's said that she can sing basically anything. Her voice is solid and alto-ish, although she can reach very high notes if she needed to. Her diction as well as her sense of phrasing is also nice, which is why listening to her covers makes it easier to understand the lyrics or mood of the song. Her voice can be likened to Choucho, Wataame and other singers who prefer singing in mid-range but can do very high or very low octaves.

Being one of the "older" singers in NND, she is close to the other singers of the same generation, namely Seriyu, Wotamin, Vivienne, Kazukin, Valshe, Ten, Clear, Dasoku, PUPI, etc. While she has not released a solo album, she's part of utattemita collab CDs like VUCA's "New Wave". She also debuted live for the first time during a Dokinama concert this year.

sample songs
A. Solos
• If (MuryokuP original)
• KiLLER LADY (HachioujiP original)
• Yokkyuufuman March (21seikiP original)
• The Servant of the Moon (don original)
• Monochroact (doriko original)

B. Collabs
• Yume Sakura (with Valshe; Hitoshizuku original)
• Knife (with Vivienne and Ten; Rerulili original)
• Never (with Wotamin; DATEKEN original)

nikki says
Kakichoco is not one of my favorite singers, but I find it such a pleasure to listen to her EVERY TIME. She has a wonderful diction and every song she sings, whether it's hard rock like that don-san song above or a ballad, she always sings with a clarity that lets me enjoy the song AND the lyrics. How she can sing fast/loud songs so clearly I don't know.

One thing about Kakichoco's covers is that they are varied. Not all of them are popular songs and she shines whenever she sings something that is not the bandwagon song. Take for example "Yokkyuufuman March", which is a really good song and one of my favorite among her covers. I also like her Killer Lady and Yume Sakura with Valshe.

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Utaite Spotlight: Shuuta

Shuuta / 秀太

| mylist |

If you regularly watch the the Anime Theme Collaboration in NND, like this one for summer 2011, you sure have met Shuuta, also known as the guy with the weird masks who sings awesomely ;). In the link above, he sang Blood-C's theme around 20:08 and Hyadain no Jojou(ry @ 24:40.

Shuuta is a a prolific NND singer, having uploaded more than ten covers despite being in utattemita category for a little more than a year. He is not that well-known (yet), but people who listen to him wonder why someone who's blessed with an awesome voice like him is not yet popular.

Shuuta is known for his loud, solid and slightly rough voice with a quality similar to UVERWorld's vocalist. Because of his voice, he can sing rock songs well without sounding garbled or slurry. He also has a wide range and he can sing in falsetto for one whole song without showing any bit of difficulty. Aside from that, he can also do screamo and the ever popular death voice. This superb vocal quality is one reason why Shuuta's covers are always entertaining.

One reason why Shuuta's covers aren't that popular is because he caters only to certain people. He has a habit of singing a song loosely. It means he sometimes sings with random changes in pitches (drastic even) and sometimes he creates his own rhythm of the song ^^;. Those, however, are only a part of his "performance" and can be entertaining when used to a certain degree.

Aside from singing in the anime medley, he also does collabs, usually with Kanamu.

sample songs
A. Vocaloid covers
• Ama no Jaku (164 original)
• Carnival (otetsu original)
• Bye-bi Baby Sayonara (saiB original)
• Mukuro Attack!! (UtsuP original)
• Sakurazensen Ijou Nashi (WataruP original)
bonus: Sweet Devil (HachioujiP original)

B. Collabs
• Nakimushi Kareshi (with Kanamu; FernandoP original)
• Cantarella (with Kanamu; KurousaP original)
• Usotsuki no Sekai (with Kanamu; scop original)

C. Anime covers (from the medley)
• Spring Anime 2011 - Gintama's "Samurai Heart" (3:00) and Tiger and Bunny's "Orion wo Nazoru" (21:58).

nikki says
I first encountered Shuuta in the anime theme medleys and I really loved his rendition of the songs, especially "Samurai Heart". I couldn't read his name the first time (you notice the names in the videos are really small :( ). I wondered why he isn't that popular compared to some of the other singers in the group like Keisen, non and kalon.. And eventually, I went through his mylist and liked most of what I heard.

We're all new to his songs but right now I think I'm starting to make a favorite out of him :). Almost all of his songs are popular ones which are covered by a lot of wonderfully popular people so I thought it'd be nice if he gets more views!

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: a friend giving me a private concert

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@ utaite spotlight

Utaite Spotlight: Montea

Montea/もんちー

mylist | community | blog | twitter | mixi

Montea has been active in Nico Nico Douga since 2008 but she is not as popular as her collab partners, Vivienne and Hanatan. Montea's voice is not distinct at first as she may be mistaken as other utaite. However, the more you listen to Montea, you can get used to her voice and tell her apart. Her voice can go low like in Just A Game and high like in Last Night, Good Night. Though at times, Montea sounds strained as she puts a lot of effort to hit some of the notes. However, in majority of her covers, she has managed to pull off songs that are out of her range.

She holds lives every month where she usually sings any songs she's in the mood in. Aside from Nico Nico Douga, Montea is also a member of the doujin circle, Crest.

Montea has appeared in the live event, Every Smile, with neko, Ten and Vivienne, just to name a few. She performed Risky Game and Connect with Vivienne.

sample songs

Just A Game (takamatt original)
Kasou Kyoku (No.D original)
one more kiss (OSTER project original)
honey & clover club (baker original)
Perfect Crime -with Syota- (samfree original)
South North Story -with neko and Hanatan- (mothy original)

len says

I like Montea's voice especially if she sings the right songs. Her voice is not too powerful that it's overwhelming. But it's also because that her voice is not powerful that her voice is being overpowered by Hanatan and Vivienne in their covers.

My favorite cover of Montea is her Just A Game because I think this is the best range for Montea to sing without sounding strained.

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Utaite Spotlight: Miy

miy

mylist | community

Miy is a slightly popular utaite who started uploading songs in NND sometime in 2008. She is mostly known for her collabs with amu, forming the unit, AMIY.

Amiy is often depicted as a cheerful. bubbly girl, particularly because of her voice quality and choice of covers. She often sings upbeat songs in mid-range, without straining her voice too high or too low. Because of that, her covers often sound really simple compared to others, but that also means she's good at choosing songs which sound good in her preferred range. She also has a way of singing songs with a happy-skippy voice, which sounds adorably amazing, especially in pop songs.

Even if she has started uploading songs early, she only has quite a few on her list compared to people who started the same time as her. She also has a thing for covering very popular songs, which is why she's often underlistened, even if her covers are probably one of the best straightforward renditions of the Vocaloid songs.

Miy's earliest collab partner is Amu, and they're often depicted as "adorable siblings", primarily because they like covering Rin/Len songs. Eventually, she also started covering songs with Kyuubi and Xiao. She is also fond of joining choruses.

sample songs
A. Solo Covers
• VOiCE (LovelyP original)
• Migikata no Chou (Noripy original)
• clock lock works (hachi original)
• Hello / How Are You? (Nanou original)
• Just Be Friends (DixieFlatline original)

B. Collabs
• Dog Day Afternoon (w/ amu; LamuneP original)
• magnet (w/ amu; minato original)
• IMITATION BLACK (w/ Kyuubi and Xiao; natsuP original)
• Shinitagari (w/ Kyuubi; Nashimotowe original)

nikki says
I first heard Miy, of course, with Amu in one of their collabs. I was a big fan of amiy until they parted ways and started making collabs w/ other people. While I didn't listen much to miy before, I like how straightforward her covers are. She also reminds me of Riseha, just on on a higher key, because of their disposition and connection to amu.

Note that there won't be any producer spotlight this week. But we have an announcement later on :).

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Cu6ic nama

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Utaite Spotlight: amu

amu

mylist | blog | community | twitter | mixi

I believe most people already know amu, for his love of cola, for being part of Pointfive(.5), for being part of Hiwaily*2, or for being part of the Cu6ic gang.

amu has been uploading since mid-2008, and is one of the most well-known utaites in Nico Nico Douga. amu has a wide range, with the ability to hit high notes without sounding too strained, and the ability to sound like a female at times too. He can also sound like a cheeky young boy in some of his collabs. His voice can be compared to Tourai & Kogeinu; the smoother, higher-Tourai & the rougher, lower-Kogeinu.

amu can sing about every genres, branching from rock to ballads to pop. His most popular works like Boss Death & Scissorhands are although not the top cover, they are usually the top 5 in cover ranking. He also mixes most of his songs, and collabs with multiple singers like Kettaro & Beeeeige in Vana N' ice covers, So~ma, Riseha, Jigiru, etc. His main collab partner is miy though, who is also spotlighted this week.

He usually hosts his lives late at night, and sings or play PS3 games in them. In his singing namas, he usually sings his covers, occasionally with his acoustic guitar accompany, but he also sings L'Arc~en~Ciel and anisongs from time to time. In his game namas, he likes to play horrific/bloody games & RPGs. It's always fun to watch him play these games, as he makes some extra sound effects and comments to lighten up some of the more terrified viewers.

amu has been regularly taking part in doujin releases like Cu6ic with So~ma, Riseha, Shirokuro, jonyh & Reji, Hiwaily*2 with So~ma, Riseha, Mi-chan, Ren & Jigiru, and PolyphonicBranch. He has also been releasing originals and covers under Pointfive(.5) with Asamaru, Mi-chan, clear & Dasoku. During last year's Fukukomi, he has released his 1st mini album Mu, which is available for order at Three! and Animate.

sample songs:
solos:
Yurameku (HeavenzP original)
Kimi no Taion (KuwagataP original)
Tokyo-to Rock City (Ekomaru original)
Bird of Paradise (YuuyuP original)
Yoku Aru Rinne to Neko no Hanashi (KotsubanP original)
Albino (buzzG original)

collabs:
Imitation Black w/ Kettaro & Beeeeige (natsuP original)
Juvenile w/ miy (DixieFlatline original)
Cendrillon w/ miy (Dios/SignalP original)
trick and treat w/ Riseha (OSTER Project original)
Blackjack w/ Shirokuro (YuchaP original)

debbie says:
Joining this fandom only late December last year, I actually first heard of amu & his voice from Pointfive(.5)'s Select Me. He was the one that caught my attention, aside from clear, and has been my favourite utaite since then. I always love how his covers can sound so smooth, how he can high & low he can sing, and how he curls his lyrics when he sings. I really like how he sings rock songs with using his high range, as it doesn't fail to give off a powerful impact, and how he sings upbeat songs and give off the jumpy feeling. (I'm not making much sense, aren't I ;;) His namas are never boring, in my opinion, and never fails to make my day with his gdgd spirit. xD Sometimes I just wish he'll host them earlier, and not when I'm asleep though. ;;

Also, it's coincidentally (actually, not really) his birthday tomorrow (or today). If you have twitter, please drop by and wish him well! ~ Comment here too! Since I might link him up. 8D

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Utaite Spotlight: Re:

Re:

mylist | blog | community

Re: (pronounced "re") is already an institution in the utattemita community. I doubt there are many fans who do not know of him. He started uploading in Nico Nico Douga sometime in 2007 and is still active at present. He is mostly known before for his Airman ga Taosenai and Uninstall cover. He also divides his works in three: one where he does everything (from singing to voipa to second voices), where he does half (he sings and sometimes plays instruments), and where he does only a part (where he only does the mixing or second-voicing). He composes songs, plays instruments like the piano, and sings well, making him a truly gifted individual.

Re: is mostly known for his awesome falsetto which never wavers even at very high notes. He also has a characteristic vocal strength even at the high parts. He also earned the tag "kimai" which is a portmanteau of "kimoi" and "umai", meaning he sings even the funnily disturbing things so well that people have taken a liking to him. While he first became popular for covering anime songs, he has moved on a bit to the Vocaloid side and eventually, in original works. He can sing virtually anything, from ballads to pop to traditional/folk-based music, although he does very little rock covers. Aside from his falsetto, his voice can also change according to the scenario/singers in the song, which is why his covers are interesting. He has proved to be a versatile singer, in both CDs/uploads to live events.

He has formed a collaboration with a lot of people, starting with GaRiRe:O with Gazelle (Yanagi Nagi at present) and Sariya-jin. He also formed JR with J, which is also connected to the Metal of Series, where they sing metal arranges of anime songs. His most recent collaboration partner is Lilie.

sample songs:
A. Solos
• Noroi no Megane ~Stray Girl in her Lenses~ (BucchigiriP original)
• Ura Omote Lovers ~Kansai ver~ (wowaka original)
• Kami no Namae ni Ochiru Mono (kaoling original)
• 1925 (T-Pocket original)

B. Collabs
• Roshin Yuukai (w/ PUPI, iroha original)
• Mienai Kuro ni Ochiteyuke (w/ Lilie, kaoling original)

nikki says
I first knew Re: as a singer who covers anime songs, and even now I still love his anime theme/jpop covers (I love his covers of Saa and Konayuki ;; ). I'm very picky when it comes to Re:'s songs, though, since I think that while he can sing anything, his voice fits a certain type of genre. Recently I've fallen in love with his and Lilie's collabs and I had hoped that they'd do more kaoling collabs in the future. I'm glad I wasn't disappointed.

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Utaite Spotlight: Lilie/Lily

Lilie / Lily / リリィ

mylist | blog

Lilie is an utaite highly regarded for her wonderful soprano voice and impeccable mixing. She was formerly known as Ririco, and by 2010, she has officially changed her utaite name to Lilie or Lily.

Lilie's voice, as mentioned, is a clear, strong soprano. The fact that she can still sing with force despite the very high notes often make her listeners amazed. But even if she's mostly singing very high songs, she can also sing in a full and solid low voice. She mostly sings techno and folk-inspired Vocaloid songs, and generously utilizes autotune and other effects that gives her voice a whispery, digital and even scrambled effect. She often calls her shaky, echoey voice effect the Bohemian version. She is also known for "whistling" in her early works.

Lilie has participated in some Touhou vocal albums as well as some utaittemita albums including "Alternative" by VUCA. She has also collaborated with a lot of utaite including Re:, Himawari, etc.

sample songs
A. Solos
• L'azur (Treow original)
• Zou+ (AVTechNO! original)
• Tsubasa wa nai kedo Watashi wa Toberu (kaoling original)
• World's End Dancehall (wowaka original)
• Candy Addict Full Course (Machigerita original)

• Synchronicity ~Dai Ni Dan, Hikari to Kage no Rakuen~ (w/ Re:, HitoshizukuP original)
• free (w/ Himawari, AVTechNO! original)

nikki says
To be honest, I don't listen to Lilie on a regular basis, but I think her voice, while not for your usual listening playlist, is unique and is always a pleasure to listen to. I was first taken by her cover of L'azur, and took note of how great the mixing (not to mention the high pitched parts) was. Eventually, I ended up listening to her again after I loved her and Re's cover of Synchronicity. I think I like her traditional/folk-inspired covers more, especially her kaoling covers, but it's always a surprise listening to her covers of more popular songs, like wowaka's XD. I don't dig her Bohemian voice much, but I admit it adds a certain impact to her songs.

Current Mood: giddy

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Utaite Spotlight: Hanatan

For ofurotaimu's anniversary month, we will be featuring two utaite spotlights each week. These two singers have uploaded collaborations with each other over the years. Last week,

fascinais has featured Vivienne and Ten. For this week,

stephieku and I will be writing about a very famous pair.

Hanatan/花たん/YuRiCa/ユリカ

mylist | blog | community | twitter

Hanatan, who is also known as YuRiCa, has been uploading songs since 2008 and is considered as one of the most beautiful voices of the community. She has a wide range and can hit really high notes like Usa. The beauty of Hanatan's voice lies in how much emotion she puts in the song. She sings uptempo songs best but she can do ballads perfectly as well. Her most famous work is her rendition of doriko's Romeo to Cinderella which has reached over 2 million views to date.

Aside from her Nico Nico Douga works, Hanatan is very active in the doujin music scene as YuRiCa. She has released albums with circles like Crest and Sound Holic that releases Touhou soundtracks. She has also released an album under her doujin circle, cordelia, entitled Colorful Flower.

She is mostly known to have collaborated with Pokota. You can view all their uploads in their HanaPoko mylist. But aside from Pokota, Hanatan has collaborated with Montea and ASK. She has also collaborated with a lot of producers like Yuyoyuppe, minato, SignalP and doriko who produced her major debut album, Flower Drops.

sample songs:

solos:
Romeo to Cinderella (doriko original)
Palette (Yuyoyuppe original)
Saihate (Kobayashi Onyx original)
Aitai (SignalP original)

collabs:
Suki Kirai -with Ask- (FernandoP original)
Never -with Montea- (DATEKEN original)
Perfect Crime -with Pokota- (samfree original)
Cendrillon -with Pokota- (SignalP original)

len says

It's not hard to love Hanatan. One note from her and you'll fall in love with her voice. My favorite Hanatan cover is Palette. It was a very difficult song to sing but she has managed to reach the high notes without any effort. She can be compared to most professional singers as every release from Hanatan is never a disappointment.

Current Mood: giddy
Current Music: Asamakku Namahousou

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Utaite Spotlight: Pokota

For ofurotaimu's anniversary month, we will be featuring two utaite spotlights each week. These two singers have uploaded collaborations with each other over the years. Last week,

fascinais has featured Vivienne and Ten. For this week,

stephieku and I will be writing about a very famous pair.

Pokota/ぽこた

mylist | blog | community | twitter | mixi

Pokota is very popular singer on Nico Nico Douga. Once you've entered the fandom, he will be one of the first ones you'll meet. Pokota's voice is very deep and vibrant. Rather than comparing him to other utaite, his voice is similar to Gackt. He started in Nico Nico Douga back in 2008 by uploading his covers to show his skill in impersonating Gackt. Eventually, he has managed to stir away from being compared to Gackt and managed to make the covers his own. His voice is less fuller and gentler in comparison. He has uploaded a couple of ballads and his voice fits them perfectly.

Along with Rino, Pokota is part of egamyer. They're a duo who releases original songs and covers. He provides the vocals while Rino is in charge of the keyboards, mixing and programming. They also created few vocaloid songs like message featuring Hatsune Miku.

Pokota's lives are a treat to watch because you'll never know what he'll be doing. Unlike other singers, he usually shows his face in his lives. His lives would really depend on what mood he's on but most of the time, you'll find yourself laughing while watching him. You can also catch him dancing in his lives. You can check his community and this mylist for some recordings of his lives.

Aside from singing, Pokota has also showed his talent in acting. He was part of the Nico musical along with Dasoku and the Nico Nico Douga CM with Gackt.

Pokota is very active in the Nico Nico Douga community. He has a lot of album releases under his belt, being a part of smiley*2 and Sengoku Band to name a few. He has also performed a lot of lives including the Nico Nico Daikagi. Because of his popularity on Nico Nico Douga, Pokota quit his job as a real agent and dedicated his time into his music career.

He has collaborated with a lot of other singers like Dasoku, Clear, Sekihan, Piko and Riseha but the most popular collaboration he has is with Hanatan.

sample songs:

solos:
Dancing☆Samurai (KanimisoP original)
Paranoid Doll (natsuP original)
Uta ni Katachi ha Nai Keredo (doriko original)
Kiritosen (40mP original)
Episode 0 (KanimisoP original)

collabs:
Fate:Rebirth -with Dasoku and Riseha- (natsuP original)
Aquarium -with Clear- (Kihee original)
Perfect Crime -with Hanatan- (samfree original)
Cendrillon -with Hanatan- (SignalP original)

len says

Pokota is someone I find very amazing because he is very talented. He sings, dances, acts and composes. I am really impressed with him. Pokota is a joy to watch as he is an interesting character. He is also a great performer. If you've watched him in Daikagi, you'd see how much effort he puts in giving a high level of performance.

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Utaite Spotlight: Vivienne

As I said before in the producer's spotlight, we're trying to make the spotlights special since July is ofurotaimu's anniversary month. For each week of July, we'll have two utaite spotlights wherein the singers are closely related to each other, meaning they have consistently performed a collaboration with each other. For our first week, I write about one of my favorite collabs ;).

Vivienne / びびあん

mylist | blog | community

Vivienne might not be as popular as some, but she is one of the most prolific female Nico singers. Since her debut in mid-2008, she has uploaded more than 40 covers of varying genre. For those who do not remember much of her, she sang the Rin part in Mr. Music and is also known recently for her amazing rendition of Juu Mensou.

Vivienne and Ten's voices are actually similar. She also has a thin, strong voice which can shout really well as well as reach high notes very impressively. Despite having a powerful voice, however, she started with singing tamer songs in a low voice. Eventually, she became more adventurous with genres and ended up preferring singing upbeat, high-intensity songs as compared to the usual pop and ballads. One admirable thing about Vivienne, too, is her ability to change range and voice quality easily in each song. She can sing one very low song one time and sing a really fast and high song the other time. Her versatility is often challenged in super fast and high songs but she manages to pull them off easily.

She also does a lot of collabs, mostly with her friend Wotamin. She also had earlier collabs with Clear, who she dubs "the prince", and eventually ended up dueting with Ten (Viviten!) and they had been doing collabs ever since. They are often referred to as the RL!Rin and Len, with Ten's boyish voice and Vivienne's high, sharp one.

sample songs
A. Solos
• Catfood (doriko original)
• Imitator (UtaP original)
• Catapult Nation (YuuyuP original)
• Monochrome Blue Sky (NoboruP original)
• Himitsu Keisatsu (BuriruP original)

B. Collabs
• Tsugai Kogarashi (w/ Clear; Shigotoshite original)
• Scarlet Moon (w/ Wotamin, GozenP original)
• Knife (w/ Kakichoco and Ten; Rerulili original)
• Seidenki (w/ Ten; Emon original)

nikki says
Vivienne is one of my top 3 favorite female utaite and I love how she always surprises me with every upload. She has a very creative way of covering songs and even without adlibs, her rhythm and tone changes impress me a lot. I love her best when she sings upbeat songs because I think it brings out the energy her voice is supposed to have. Somehow, I keep stereotyping her as Rin because of the amount of good Rin songs she has covered, but she has done a lot more than that and I hope she continues being active as she is :).

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Utaite Spotlight: Ten

As I said before in the producer's spotlight, we're trying to make the spotlights special since July is ofurotaimu's anniversary month. For each week of July, we'll have two utaite spotlights wherein the singers are closely related to each other, meaning they have consistently performed a collaboration with each other. For our first week, I write about one of my favorite collabs ;).

Ten / てん

mylist | blog | community

While I'd like to think that virtually everyone in the utattemita community knows about Ten, some newer members of the fandom might not have or have rarely heard of him, most probably since Ten was more active in the past compared to now. He's one of my first utaite and I still consider him one of the best I've heard.

Ten started uploading covers of songs way back to the end of 2007, and is one of the earliest utaite to become popular in the fandom. His first few uploads including a cover of Surface's Saa was well-received and soon, he moved into covering Vocaloid works.

His voice is very similar to the likes of Nodoame and Kouhei: slightly thin and sharp, loud with high intensity. However, Ten doesn't always sing like a rocker/screamer. Often, he also sings pop-ish songs with a slightly rough, lighthearted feel which made people dub him as someone with a "junior high school kid!voice". Because of his high-strung style of singing, though, he sings everything with energy that even ballads sound slightly upbeat and wild. Despite the distinct quality of his voice, however, he still manages to sing songs from every genre, making him a rather flexible (not to mention prolific) singer.

Aside from singing solo, he likes doing collaborations with a lot of people including Tourai, neko, Valshe and Vivienne (who is our other spotlight). His collab with Vivienne is so fondly called "Viviten" and they're sometimes referred to as RL!Rin and Len.

sample songs
A. Solos
• Schwartz (PaletteP original)
• Gokurakuchou - bird of paradise - (YuuyuP original)
• Rinne (Hachi original)
• Shotgun Lovers (NoboruP original)
• Poker Face (YuchaP original)

B. Collabs
• erase or zero (w/ Tourai, CrystalP original)
• Bokura no 16-bit Sensou (w/ Valshe; SasakureP original)
• Juvenile (w/ Vivienne, DixieFlatline original)
• ACUTE (w/ Vivienne and Montea; KurousaP original)

nikki says:
I've known of Ten when I was searching for Tourai songs one day and ended up seeing their cover of "erase and zero". Back then, he's the only one I know who sings as if he wants to tear his throat apart and really admired him. While I'm more fond of his collabs with Vivienne, I still think he's a powerful singer who can sing basically anything if he wants to.

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Utaite Spotlight: Shell

shell

mylist | community | mixi community

Shell is a rather prolific utaite who started to upload covers of his songs way back in 2009. His covers are hit or miss, but most of them have over 10,000 views, the most popular being Sweet's Beast, which remains one of the best covers of the song in Nico Nico Douga.

Shell's voice is low with very minimal breathiness, which makes his covers full and solid-sounding. He can reach high notes if wants to, though, although he prefers singing in a lower pitch, probably so as not to make his voice wobbly or strained. He sings a lot of rock and upbeat pop songs, probably to fully utilize the best of his voice, although surprisingly, he pulls off singing very fast-paced and hard to sing songs. He's quite versatile in his song choices and while not all of them are hits, it shows how good he is at controlling his range and flexibility.

Most of the time, he prefers singing KAITO songs to match his range, but he also sings low and upbeat Miku and GUMI songs, all of which he performs really well. He sounds similar to Xiao and terry when it comes to range and quality, but with a fuller, deeper voice.

Aside from singing solo, Shell also participates in many choruses and collabs ^^. You can check them out in his other mylist.

sample songs
• Kimi no Taion (KuwagataP original)
• FLOWER TAIL (yuukiss original)
• Migi Hidari (koushirou original)
• Chillyditty of February (DARS original)
• Sainou Sampler (koyori original)
• Akutoku no Judgment (AkunoP original)

nikki says:
I first knew of Shell when I was collecting all my favorite covers of Migi Hidari (yes, I love that song so much IDE--). After that, I totally loved his Chilliditty cover (you can't find that many good covers of it) and eventually I got into the habit of checking out his every uploads. He might not sound very boy-next-door-ish, but it's nice listening to the solidness of his covers, especially those that require very skillfull singing (Flower Tail, Akutoku). I also like his second voices, they're very well done!

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Utaite Spotlight: Gurumi

Gurumi / グル美

| mylist |

Gurumi is a season utaite who has started submitting covers of Vocaloid songs as early as 2008. She is mostly known for covering MEIKO songs, which has somehow become her specialty. Despite maintaining mediocre popularity, she's actually much-loved not only in the MEIKO fandom, but in the Vocaloid fandoms as well. In some of her videos, you might see the tag "AV", which stands for "adult voice".

Gurumi's voice can be likened to Yoru, Yamai, and the rest of the female utaite who can sing in deep, rich tones. Her voice can reach high notes, but most of the time, she prefers keeping cool and lowering her voice in seductive drawls. At loud parts, her smooth voice rings through with strength and solidity. Because of this, it has become her specialty to sing jazzy and slightly rockish songs.

As I said before, Gurumi prefers singing MEIKO songs, and in her earlier works, you'd notice that 90% of them are MEIKO songs. Later on, however, she has moved on to sing Luka, Miku and even GUMI songs, but whenever there's a popular MEIKO song, chances are she'll cover it. Since most of MEIKO's songs depict her as an adult, or at least older than most of the Vocaloids, it's no suprise that she manages to sing them all beautifully.

sample covers
• Sherry
• Shinjuu ja Panesuku
• Electrical Parade
• Sadictic Scarlet Aria
• Kaise, kaise

nikki says:
Gurumi is one of the first female utaite I've listened to, and she's sort of my go-to person when looking for cover of MEIKO songs. It's a pity that she's not popular when her covers are always nice and of good quality.

---

On an unrelated note, tomorrow is Nico Nico Dance Master 2. Aside from tons of utaite, HachioujiP will be there to act as DJ and Hashiyan and Zebra as guests. Last year's Dancemas was very impressive, so I'm expecting more this year. Gate to the streaming is . It can be viewed by anyone and it also can be timeshifted.

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Utaite Spotlight: Chano

Chano / シャノ

mylist | community | blog

Chano was first known in Nico Nico Douga as a namahousou personality and had started as early as 2008. She usually held namahousou to sing accompanied by her own piano playing. At first, she mostly sang Jpop songs as well as her own compositions, but she eventually started covering Vocaloid songs, also because of her closeness to FuMay and 40mP.

Chano's voice is thin with a high range and a slightly rough feel to it, although she rarely strains her voice and keeps her covers simple without vocal stylistics. Her voice can be likened to aiko's (the Jpop singer) and is very similar to singers like wotamin and Kakichoco. Her voice quality suits ballads and slightly upbeat poprock songs. She is also known for her wonderful diction and clear singing, even when she's singing while playing the piano and even while performing live in her namahousou.

She has formed namahousou units with FuMay and 40mP and they used to perform live with her on vocals and piano and the two guys in guitars. She has also participated in the CD Panoram a Note with 40mP and last year, has released her own CD Shalimar Tea where she both composed (with prominent producers like signalP, 40mP, yuxuki, etc.) and sung the songs.

Last September/October 2010, Chano got married to Vocaloid producer 40mP as you can see from the greetings in their collab Natsukoi Hanabi (which was also part of "Panoram a Note"). Recently, Chano and 40mP both reported that she is pregnant with their first child.

sample songs

* with her own piano accompaniment
• Saihate (Kobayashi Onyx original)
• Watashi ga Kami wo Kitta Riyuu (40mP original)

* Niconama recordings<
• Melody in the Sky (with FuMay and 40mP)
• Step to You (with FuMay and 40mP)

* utattemita
• Amazing Grace -a capella-
• Sakura no Ame (halyosy original)
• Yuuhizaka (doriko original)
• Life Size (40mP original)
• Kiritorisen (40mP original)
• Kimiboshi (40mP original)

nikki says:
I didn't know much about Chano before because her covers then were not as many as other more prolific female singers. What introduced me to her was actually her own CD last year, Shalimar Tea, when its crossfade was uploaded in Nico Nico Douga. It is probably one of the best ballad CDs I've ever heard in this fandom and I'm amazed that most of the songs there were her own compositions. I like her gentle voice especially when accompanied by her own piano-playing. Sadly, I've only been to her namahousou once long ago and I'm hoping there will still be a time when she'll perform like that again.

And as for the baby news, best wishes to her and 40mP :).

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: watching Madoka

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Utaite Spotlight: Nayugorou

なゆごろう/Nayugorou

mylist | community | | mixi | blog

Nayugorou is one of the youngest people I've encountered in Nico Nico Douga. She's only 16 years old but she's been uploading songs actively since 2008. Her voice is childlike -- very sweet and cute. I'm reminded of Kano when I listen to her covers. Unlike Kano, her voice is slightly higher and isn't whisper-like. When I first listened to her voice, I thought that she was someone in her 20s who just sounded really young. I wasn't surprised when I found out that she's very young.

What's great about Nayugorou is she manages to choose songs that would fit her voice like Hello, How are you and Melancholic. There was one instant that she sang Romeo and Cinderella and she managed to pull off an angelic version of it.

Not only her voice is cute, you could see her cute dancing skills in this video posted in her community. Somehow, her voice fits her appearance very well. If you check out her blog, Nayugorou likes to post about her plushies, dresses and even the purikara with her friends.

sample songs
letter song (doriko original)
Seventeen (scop original)
Melancholic (JUNKY original)
Namae no Nai Uta (DATEKEN original)
Hoshizora Sketch (koma'n original)
Nakimushi Kareshi with Smile (Honeyworks original)

len says

I encountered Nayugorou in Smiling ✽ Xmas edition ✽. I have a habit of checking out the mylists of the utaite included in a Smiling collab and check if they've covered a favorite song of mine. I saw that Nayugorou covered Namae no Nai Uta. I listened to it and I wasn't disappointed with the cover. I'm usually turned off by overly cute voices but Nayugorou has managed to sing the songs sweetly that it's hard not to love it.

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Utaite Spotlight: Srip

srip

mylist | community

As I said in Moroq's writeup, I can't write about one of them without mentioning another, so here's his partner/friend/nama buddy/etc. :).

Srip started singing early, sometime towards the end of 2009. Unlike Moroq, he seems to have no specific preference in terms of music styles, and just sings whatever he wants whether it's a ballad, rock song, pop song or...well, anything XD.

Srip's voice is deep and thick with quite a flexible range. His voice might seem to have a certain syrupy-ness sometimes, but actually he sounds rougher as is shown in his ballads. He just sounds too gentle for rock but too rough for ballads, which makes his covers pretty diverse and unique. He also rarely uses autotune and is prone to overfeeling the songs, resulting to quite emotional covers, especially the ballads. If Moroq sounds rough because of his screamo and rock covers, Srip sounds more boyish, especially in his early covers. His earlier works have less dexterous mixing, but his raw voice is good enough to be a pleasure to listen to.

Like I said before, Srip likes holding namahousou with Moroq and other utaite/Ps. Most of the time it's pointless, funnily amusing talk, bordering on 18+ talks. He dreams of having a harem and holds "pink namahousou" periodically, the contents of which are always a mystery XD;.

sample songs
• Love Trigger (papiyon original)
• Tokarev to Shoujo (MochiibeP original)
• Guriguri Megane to Gekkouchuu (FullkawaP original)
• Itsumo Yori Nakimushi na Sora (Rerulili original)
• Kimi wo Wasurenai wo (ryo original)

nikki says
While I got acquainted with Srip through Moroq just last year, I realized I've been listening to his covers even before then XD. I found him while looking for covers of XionP songs and ended up listening to his cover of Harukaze, which sounded so boyish and pure (I was wrong on the pure part). I'm amused at his choice of songs because they're so diverse, one time it's ballad and the other time it's some fast, rock song. In his namas he tends to be overtalkative that you can't understand what he's saying but it's amusing nonetheless because he thinks of the most random things.

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Utaite Spotlight: Moroq

Moroq / モロQ

mylist | community

Today's utaite spotlights are kind of related because I can't make a spotlight on one of them without mentioning another, so do please check the next one, too :).

Moroq started uploading song covers earlier than what his mylist actually says (he started sometime early 2010, his mylist starts end of 2010). He said he wanted to redo the previous songs he had covered before. While his view counts aren't as impressive as most of the utaite we know, he actually is gaining popularity due to his unique way of singing as well as his developing skill for mixing songs.

Moroq (pronounced morokyu) prefers singing fast rock songs with a sharp edge towards screamo/emo. His voice might seem shaky at times, especially at lengthened notes, which makes it seem like he's about to run out of breath at the end of lines. But it is in itself, a distinguishing characteristic of his covers and as you listen, the shaky long notes becomes comfortable to the ears. He makes up for it by his ability to actually reach high notes thanks to his thin voice and wide range. One of his trademark points is his screamo, which he continues to polish up to this date. While he mostly sings rock/screamo songs in his natural voice, he also uses autotune in his more pop-ish covers, and he is one of those who actually sounds good in autotune and doesn't overdo the vocal effects.

Unlike his "partner", Moroq is not very fond of ballads and it does seem that rockish songs fit his voice more, especially since he's bent on improving his screamo and loud singing skills. Most of the time, he holds namahousou with Srip (who you will hear about later) or by himself to talk about the most mundane stuff or to practice making music/screamo.

sample songs
• Migi Hidari (koushirou original)
• Dark to Light (JimmythumbP original)
• Babel (ATOLS original)
• Palette (Yuyoyuppe original)
• Omoide Kakera (DevilishP original)

nikki says
I first met Moroq in twitter and he was actually the one who made me start listening to and appreciating screamo (since I don't like it much). While I prefer his autotuned pop songs more (like his deleted DATEKEN songs ;_; ), it's actually fun listening to his screamo because they don't sound hard on the ears like I expect them to. His namahousou with Srip are most interesting to listen to only because they're pretty flexible and easygoing with their topics.

Current Mood: cheerful

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Utaite Spotlight: Ryo-kun

りょーくん/Ryo-kun

mylist | community | twitter | blog

Ryo-kun is a fairly new utaite. He just started uploading September of last year but he's slowly gaining a lot of fans. He's very active in uploading and makes it a point to upload 1 or 2 songs every month.

Ryo-kun's voice can be classified in the boy next door type of voice. I'm reminded of Keysuke every time I listen to him. His voice is not too high and not too low. Probably what sets Ryo-kun apart is the distinct gentleness of his voice. He can do a wide variety of songs and he doesn't lose the gentleness of his voice. He can do boyish covers like in Suki Kirai and he can go sexy like in Ee? Aa, Sou. He also shows his rapping skills in the Smiling ✽ Xmas edition ✽ collab. His BlackJack is his most popular cover and it is also the most popular cover of the song. What sets his BlackJack apart from other covers is that he doesn't seem like he's rushing the singing.

Make sure to listen to his twitaudio clips here. You can here him sing in shota voices and female voices. Ryo-kun usually sings in shota and female voices during his lives as well. He sings random songs as well.

Last May 10th, Ryo-kun celebrated his birthday. It was also on this day that I started following his twitter account.

Ryo-kun also mixes but he's still in the learning process so there's some lapses in his mixing. Usually, he has other people mixing for him.

Blackjack (Yucha-P original)
Kakurenbo (buzzG original)
Catfood (doriko original)
Risky Game (KurousaP original)
crack (keeno original)
Shinkaron code:variant -with maro.- (ORYO original)
Suki Kirai -with Meeko- (Honeyworks original)

len says

I first learned of Ryo-kun when we started updating the ofurotaimu tumblr. Because of the tumblr, I got to learn a lot of new utaite and Ryo-kun is one of my best finds. My favorite is his cover of Kakurenbo. However, all of his works are worth a listen. I really have a weak spot for gentle, medium range voices so Ryo-kun really caught my attention. What I noticed with Ryo-kun too is that in collabs, you'll notice him more than his partner.

Since Ryo-kun is young in NND, I can't wait to hear more of his covers. I could really tell that he will still improve.