【予選1st 第13ブロックC】OTONOVA2023 - Participation Report (a rich diversity of sounds)

Music occupies a very important place in my life, so it is with great excitement that I approach the Otonova2023 competition and follow the doings of all the participating performers.

The course of the first qualification of this block 13 C was very interesting and exciting, as we could witness the confrontation of participants representing different musical genres and artistic achievements, such as a DJ-singer, soloists with guitars and a band with a very original sound.

Congratulations to all the performers taking part in the preliminaries of this block, especially 丸山拓真 (Takuma Maruyama) and 坂口ますみ (Masumi Sakaguch) between whom it was a decisive duel.

Congratulations to 丸山拓真 (Takuma Maruyama) for winning first place in the preliminaries of this block 🥇. I am very happy that Otonova brings together such a variety of performers and that there was a DJ who was also a vocalist among them. It was great to be able to sink into the Niigata City pop music world created by Takuma and dance to the original sounds. 

It is worth visiting Takuma's Youtube channel (@user-yc2ox6is4q), where we have the opportunity to experience both nostalgic and new sounds that will either move us to dance with their sound or set our hearts aflame. There are plenty of recordings of Takuma's live performances from concert houses. 

Congratulations to 坂口ますみ (Masumi Sakaguchi) for making it through this qualifying round with second place🥈. 

Masumi represents my favourite kind of music, where someone picking up an acoustic guitar plus a beautiful voice sends me somewhere. Masumi is characterised by a very warm tone of voice that, once heard, makes you want to listen and listen and listen. If you haven't yet listened to the submitted song "あの日", please give it a listen. You won't be disappointed. I also recommend visiting Masumi's Youtube channel (@masumisan1024) where you can check out her other great songs.

Congratulations to Akari Tsukiguma on her participation in the qualifiers and please continue to give it your all. You are a great artist! Please continue to create such great unique world as "live theatre".

I congratulate Celephaïs for taking part in the preliminaries and I ask you to continue to give your best in the future. It was a wonderful and interesting experience for me to be able to explore the ethereal and gripping world of original sounds. I would love to be able to meet Mai and Comoyu more than once in the future.

I ask that Takuma Maruyama and Masumi Sakaguchi do not relent in their efforts and give their best in the next stage of Otonova2023.