Yuna Ito
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Yuna Ito |
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Yuna Ito (伊藤 由奈[1][2], Itō Yuna, born September 20, 1983, in Los Angeles) is a J-pop singer active primarily[original research?] in Japan. Born to a Japanese father and Korean American mother, she is a native-born citizen [citation needed] of the United States and was brought up in Hawai'i. Her music is mostly [original research?] sung in both Japanese and English. She is signed onto Sony Music Japan.
She rose to fame in the movie adaptation of the manga Nana, playing Reira, and singing its primary theme song Endless Story.
Biography
Early life
Ito was born to a Japanese father and a Korean American mother in Los Angeles, California [citation needed]. Three months later, she and her family moved to Hawai'i, United States, where she remained until the start of her singing career in Japan. She has one sibling [citation needed], a younger brother named Johnny. She graduated from McKinley High School in 2001. When Ito was little, she used to sing to songs of both Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson and dreamt of becoming a singer.[citation needed]
2005
In early 2005, Ito auditioned and was chosen for the role of charismatic vocalist Reira Serizawa in the feature film adaptation of Ai Yazawa's manga series Nana. She also subsequently performed a theme song to the movie, "Endless Story", while debuting under the billing "Reira starring Yuna Ito" and reaching no. 2 on Oricon's Japanese single rankings. As the singer and the actress picked to play Reira Serizawa, Ito's identity was kept a secret until the movie's release. [citation needed]
When Nana the movie was finally released in Japan, movie-goers were drawn to the "wonderful, high-pitched", voice of Ito[citation needed]. Ito was featured on magazine covers, posters and eventually had her first TV appearance on Fuji TV's Music Station music television program, performing "Endless Story".
2006
It was only in 2006 that her 2nd single, Faith / Pureyes, was put on the market, with "Faith" featured as the ending theme to the television drama, Unfair, and "Pureyes" being a song for the Bioclen Zero contact lens television commercial. This single sold about 50,000 copies which was a disappointment considering "Endless Story" had outsold Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky" with over 450,000 copies.[citation needed]
Yuna's third single was perhaps her biggest hit after the Nana-era.[citation needed] Precious was announced as the theme song for the 2006 movie, "LIMIT OF LOVE ~Umizaru~". The single included two b-sides, "I'm Free" and "Secrets", both co-written by Ito herself. Precious sold over 200,000 copies [citation needed] and was the 5th highest downloaded song at the end of year 2006 in Japan [citation needed].
Sony later announced a 2-month Single Project [citation needed]. She covered "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", for the Daihatsu "Coo" commercial, featured on her 4th single "Stuck on You". She also performed the ending theme song to AXN Japan's Japanese television broadcast of the American television series Lost with her 5th single losin'.
On August 4, 2006, film production company Toho announced that Ito would reprise her role of Reira Serizawa in Nana 2, with a second single for Reira starring Yuna Ito scheduled for December 6 and Nana 2 opening on December 9, 2006. Truth was released as Ito's last single in 2006 and 6th in total [citation needed]. Previews for the song were put on the net on November 8, 3 weeks after it first aired on Japanese radio.
In December, Ito was shooting Nana 2 and promoted the film alongside her co-stars. Toho stated that this time, the role of Reira would have a more relevant part, however, Ito again only had few appearances.[citation needed]
2007
Sony Music released Yuna's first album, Heart, a CD+DVD compilation, on January 24 2007. The album debuted at the #1 spot on the Oricon Daily Album chart, after which the album also grabbed #1 on the Oricon Weekly Album chart and United World Weekly Album Chart [citation needed]. The official early sales for Heart were 224,000 copies sold, leaving a gap of 116,000 copies between the first and second place [citation needed]. HEART was considered a great success [original research?] as it managed to stay on the Oricon Weekly Charts in the top 3 for 4 consecutive weeks.
Ito's 7th single, I'm Here was released on March 14, 2007. It was used as theme song to "Unfair -the movie-" and was coupled with an insert-song "Reason Why." The single had moderate success [original research?], not entering the Top 10 at all.
Her 8th single, featuring Micro from the jawaiian band, Def Tech, titled Mahaloha, was released on June 27, 2007. This was also Ito's first Top 5 single since the release of Precious in May of 2006. Ito was also featured on a Celine Dion tribute album, released in September, on which she sang a cover of Dion's song My Heart Will Go On and also appeared on Micro's debut album Laid Back.
While Ito performed in 5 venues for her "Yuna Ito 1st Live Tour ~Heart~" Tour in spring, her latest single is entitled Urban Mermaid, set for a late October release, and being featured in the new Lux Hair Care commercial around Japan [citation needed].
Discography
Filmography
- NANA -the movie- - as REIRA (芹澤レイラ Serizawa Reira) (2005)
- NANA II - as REIRA (芹澤レイラ Serizawa Reira) (2006)
Awards
- Best New Artist (Best Hit Kayōsai 2005, 21.11.2005)
- Best New Artist (Japan Cable Awards 2005, 17.12.2005)
- Special Award for NANA (47th Japan Record Awards, 31.12.2005)
- Best New Artist (JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARDS 2006, 9.3.2006)
- Gold Artist Award (Best Hit Kayōsai 2006, 20.11.2006)
- Audience Request Award (39th Yūsen Taishō, 16.12.2006)
- Best Asia from Japan (MTV Video Music Awards Japan, 25.05.2007)
Radio program
From October 4, 2005 until March 28, 2006, Yuna was moderator of her own radio show, Journey, that aired on Tokyo's InterFM radio station. It was called off because Ito was too busy promoting her songs with television performances and interviews therefore, didn't have enough time to record and moderate the show [citation needed]. In an interview she stated that it was "a weird feeling leaving the radio staff" and that "she would love to have a radio show someday again" hence she "loves to connect with her fans". In 2007, Ito will once again host a radio show entitled HEART to HEART that will be broadcasted by JFN.
References
- ^ "伊藤由奈がSony Music Online Japanをサイトジャック開始！". Retrieved 2007-11-26.
- ^ "伊藤由奈のブログ". Retrieved 2007-11-25.