Kwon Bo-ah, known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. BoA has been recognized as one of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers throughout her career, and is therefore commonly credited as the "Queen of K-pop."
Mai Kuraki is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single "Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single "Love, Day After Tomorrow" in 1999. In 2000, she released her debut album, Delicious Way, which debuted at number-one and sold over 2.2 million copies in its first week. The album has spawned four top-three singles, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", "Stay by My Side", "Secret of My Heart", and "Never Gonna Give You Up". Eventually, the album sold over 3.5 million copies nationwide and became the best-selling album in Japan in 2000, and has been the ninth best-selling album in Japan of all-time.
(Miss)understood is the seventh studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released January 1, 2006 by Avex Trax. Hamasaki acted as the album's sole lyricist, as she had on all of her preceding albums. (Miss)understood marked new musical directions for Hamasaki: she explored new influences such as funk and used gospel choruses in some of the songs, foreign to her previous works. This was the result of her having heard compositions by Geo from Sweetbox and asking him for his works; subsequently, Hamasaki rewrote the lyrics to fit (Miss)understood. Lyrically, the album was a departure from her previous work, My Story, which had been primarily autobiographical.
Hands is Japanese R&B-turned-pop star Koda Kumi's 14th domestic single. The single charted No. 7 and remained on the charts for eight weeks.
"Dakishimeru" (抱きしめる) is BoA's 17th Japanese single, The title track was unexpectedly previewed at the Lipton event on October 15, and the song was reminiscent of some of her earlier songs such as Valenti. This was the third single for BoA's then-upcoming album, Outgrow.
"Do the Motion" is BoA's 15th Japanese CD single, and third highest selling. This was also BoA's first number one single, and made her the first non-Japanese Asian singer to top the Oricon charts in over 21 years. This single scored commercial endorsements for every song on the single and is BoA's highest selling single of 2005. This was also the first single for her sixth Japanese album, Outgrow.
Beni Arashiro is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni.
"Nanairo no Ashita: Brand New Beat / Your Color" is BoA's nineteenth Japanese single and her fifth double A-side single. It is her first single to be released in both CD and in CD+DVD formats. The former is an upbeat pop song while the latter is a ballad, similar to her previous single, Everlasting. This is her first single released off of her fifth Japanese studio album, Made in Twenty (20).
"Blue Bird" is the 40th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on June 21, 2006. "Blue Bird" was Hamasaki's 15th consecutive single to top the Oricon and 27th #1 single in total. Initially planned to be a triple A-side single, it features two new songs, "Blue Bird" and "Beautiful Fighters". "Blue Bird" was the CM song for Zespri Gold Kiwifruit while "Beautiful Fighters" is featured on a Panasonic D-snap and D-dock commercial. A rearrangement of "Ladies Night", featured in her (Miss)understood album, called "Ladies Night " is also featured on this single. A trance remix to "Blue Bird" is also on the single. On her official website, she describes "Blue Bird" as being a summer song, and "Beautiful Fighters" as being a song praising women.
"Key of Heart" is BoA's 20th Japanese single and 6th Korean single. The single was available solely in CD+DVD format in Japan with a "special summer low price" and first pressing to commemorate this for being her 20th single.
Secret is the eighth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, released November 29, 2006 by Avex Trax. As with all of her previous works, Hamasaki wrote all of the lyrics on Secret. The album's composition was handled largely by Dai Nagao and Tetsuya Yukumi, both of whom were frequent collaborators with Hamasaki. Generally a rock-pop influenced album, Hamasaki said that the meaning of the album was itself a secret, and that it incorporated secrets she was keeping about herself that the public did not know.
"Kiss the Girl" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman for Walt Disney Pictures' 28th animated feature film The Little Mermaid (1989). Originally recorded by American actor Samuel Wright in his film role as Sebastian, "Kiss the Girl" is a romantic calypso ballad; the song's lyrics encourages Prince Eric to kiss Ariel before it's too late.
Made in Twenty (20) is the fifth Japanese studio album by South Korean singer BoA. It was released on 17 January 2007 by Avex Trax. The title of the album refers to the fact that this is her first album since leaving her teenage years and her first album made in her 20s - specifically, when she was twenty years old. The album debuted with first-week sales of 182,009 copies, debuting at #1.
"Hot Summer" is a song by German pop group Monrose. It was written and produced by Danish musicians Remee Sigvardt and Thomas Troelsen and recorded by the trio for their second studio album, Strictly Physical (2007). A dance-pop song with heavy elements of electropop, house and sprechgesang, it was selected out of sereral hundreds of songs and set much of the tone of its parent album, which was chiefly produced by Remee and Troelsen. "Hot Summer" also introduced a stronger dance pop edge to Monrose's overall sound. Lyrically, it features a female protagonist expressing her desire for her love interest.
Secret Ambition is a Japanese-language song, and the 15th single from Japanese singer Nana Mizuki. Secret Ambition saw a massive change in Nana Mizuki's music style, dramatically changing from pop and powerpop to an explosive rock sound.
The Face is the sixth Japanese studio album by South Korean singer BoA. It was released on February 27, 2008. The album was released a week after her single, "Be with You." The full album is known to have total of fifteen tracks along with 3 different types of packaging: regular CD, CD+DVD, and first press. This is also BoA's third consecutive Japanese studio album released.
"Beautiful" is Mai Kuraki's thirty-second single, released on June 10, 2009. The single comes in two formats: limited CD+DVD edition and regular edition. It sold 29,446 copies in its first week and peaked at #2.
Nicole Yongju Jung, referred to as Nicole, is a Korean-American singer. She is a former member of South Korean girl group Kara.
"Mr. Chu" is a song by South Korean girl group Apink. The song is their 5th Korean single and served as the lead single from their 4th mini-album Pink Blossom. It was released on March 31, 2014 by A Cube Entertainment. The song composed by Duble Sidekick. The song's music video was directed by Digipedi and released on the same day. Apink performed the song for the first time on KBS's Music Bank on April 4. The song peaked at number 2 on Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100. Apink won six music show trophies for "Mr. Chu" and wrapped up promotions for Mr. Chu on May 25. The song was the eighth best selling digital song in 2014, according to Gaon's year-end chart. "Mr. Chu" was used for G9 TV commercial featuring Apink and comedian Lee Guk-Joo. The Japanese version of "Mr. Chu" was released as their second Japanese single on February 18, 2015. On January 22, 2015 the short PV for "Mr. Chu (on-stage)" Japanese version was released.
BoA has released more than 100 music videos since her debut in 2000, for songs performed in Korean, Japanese and English. Since 2003, BoA has released 15 video albums, primarily recordings of her concert tours in Japan. These video albums have been commercially successful in Japan and Taiwan, consistently reaching the top 10 in both regions. BoA's most successful video album is the music video collection 8 Films (2003), which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for 100,000 copies shipped to stores.
