Ami Suzuki

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Ami Suzuki bigraphy, stories - J-pop singer

Ami Suzuki : biography

February 2, 1982 – living

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.

However, in 2000 Suzuki faced legal problems with her management company resulting in a controversial blacklisting from the entertainment industry. 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.

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 pop idol days. She continued to release singles regularly with Avex until 2009, then concentrated on her acting career which is successful today.

Biography

Early life

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.

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.

1998-2000: Sony era

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 , 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.