【予選1st 第12ブロックB】OTONOVA2023 - Participation Report (the power of youth)

I am very happy that Mudia exists and supports artists of all kinds. I am glad that events such as Otonova2023 are organised, which I am participating in for the first time.

As someone for whom life would be empty without music, I am even more excited about the Otonova2023 event and looking forward to all the performers taking part.

The course of the first qualification of this block 12 B was very interesting and exciting, as we were able to witness the confrontation of participants representing different musical genres and artistic achievements. It was also noticeable that the criteria for choosing to support a particular performer varied widely: admiration for their work, familiarity with a particular performer, following the majority of people.

Congratulations to all the performers taking part in Otonova2023 for their excellent participation! It was a really exciting duel, which in this group resulted in the following outcome:

1. 春夏秋冬彩歌 (Ayaka)

Congratulations to Ayaka for winning first place 🥇 with 1769 points in this qualifying group and advancing to the next stage. Please continue to give your best  in the future💪 .

Ayaka, who has adopted the nickname associated with the seasons "Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter" to characterise her way of singing, is a young performer who, after seeing a live artist's performance in Budokan, wanted to become a singer, a dream she has had since childhood. Ayaka's tone of voice and the way she sings changes from song to song. Ayaka firmly believes that as a singer who passionately appreciates every sound and the way it is conveyed, she is also the narrator of a song. With music that only she can express, Ayaka hopes that it can be a cure or a supplement for anyone who listens to even a little bit of it. A video of her performance is available on the Mudia website. Ayaka really knows how to handle her voice well and is worthy of attention.

2. Masayuki Matsumoto

In second place with 580 points was the band Masayuki Matsumoto🥈. Congratulations on advancing to the next stage! Please continue to give it your all in the future 💪 .

Masayuki Matsumoto is a young performer whose aim is to create masterpieces with heart. He plays original songs and favourite melodies by artists he respects and admires such as Mr. Children, Osamu Tezuka and Yutaka Ozaki. Masayuki also regularly hosts the Growin' radio programme on stand fm. His Tik-Tok account (@masayukigrowinfactory) and Youtube channel (@masayukimatsumoto) are well worth a visit for his original work, numerous guitar and vocal covers or vocal covers. 

Masayuki on 29.10.2022 released his original track "Garasudama" , which  is really good job.

3. sei-twosides

Third place along with 291 points went to sei-twosides, 🥉 who is a young performer who started a music channel (@seioriginalmusic2488) on YouTube to share his original music with the world. As well as being a vocalist and songwriter, Sei is also a guitarist and uses a Gibson Les Paul guitar to create his work. 

Sei respects and rearranges well-known songs by artists such as Tomoyasu Hotei; B'Z, Nuno Bettencort, Sheena Ringo, hide, among others. 

His main hobbies include muscle training (Sei is currently undergoing a physical transformation) and watching foreign dramas such as Walking Dead, Sweet Home, The Handmaid's Tale, Prison Break or Lost.                  

Sei creates music in a variety of sounds with a predominance of rock, rock ballads and funk. Inspired by the American TV series Walking Dead, he wrote a rock ballad with the theme Walking Dead S7-1. Through this song, Sei tried to represent the love of the main characters. You can listen this song on his Youtube channel.

4. Re:Ze.

By the decision of the audience, fourth place with 40 points went to the band Re:Ze.

Re:Ze is an amazing acoustic band formed in 2016, consisting of singer/keyboardist akicö and guitarist guitaristしぎ～. This young, ambitious duo is not afraid of any challenges and performs music from different genres like western music, Japanese music, songs from anime etc. All songs are covered with a light bossa nova style acoustic arrangement, whether they are new or old. The comfortable vocals and sharp rhythmic guitar playing are very appealing. It should be emphasised that Shiga's superb guitar playing brings out the power in Akicö's voice even more. In 2021, they finally started producing their own songs. On 26 March 2022, the premiere of their first album 'Li: Fe'. The duo mainly performs at live bars, live houses, restaurants and cafes in Kanagawa Prefecture. It is worth visiting their Youtube channel (@reze.9680) to learn more about their work. This is a female-male duo very well in sync with each other and worthy of attention.

Everyone in this group proved to be very strong and intriguing, from which it was difficult to choose two performers who . I'm rooting for the winners Ayaka and Masayuki and I can't wait to see how they will fare in the Otonova2023 competition.