Originally Posted by johne

^^^ My dirtly little secret is that I'm more partial to female than male vocalists. But in the end, I'd rather judge each on his/her individual merits/talents.

Thanks for helping me expand my horizons beyond my obvious Western-centric (with some African continent-centric) bias in my choices. Would like to learn more about Asian artists.

I'm not not as into pop as some other genres, therefore, I liked Koda Kum (more R&B) and Rie Fu (more folk) over the others who are, in my estimation, more Asian pop. But all have good voices. Shame about Koda Kum's controversy about the >35 statement. Although it was a silly statement to make, I don't get the controversy and why this would affect record sales. But there may be some sort of cultural context that I'm missing concerning what she said. Anyway, I hope she gets back on track with her music--she seems like she could mature into a major force in her genre. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by CaseNumber:825

Ayumi's quite a bit like that actually.... her newest album is heavily Rock influenced:

in fact.... you'll find that most Asian artist are very very good at being versatile....it's why I love Asian music so much

Originally Posted by johne

Yeah, see what you mean...