【予選1st 第12ブロックA】OTONOVA2023 - Participation Report

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 A 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. Multiple

Congratulations to Multiple for winning first place 🥇 in this qualifying group and advancing to the next stage. Please continue to give your best 💪 .

Multiple is a very intriguing instrumental duo consisting of consisting of violinist Takashi Sakamoto, who comes from a classical music background, and guitarist Kiyomi Fukunishi, who comes from a metal rock sound background. 

The duo named themselves 'multiple', meaning multiple, with the idea of expressing a sound spread out many times over with just two instruments (violin and guitar).

Multiple has all kinds of musical drawers and is characterised by aggressive performances that make the most of the well-honed techniques of these two amazing musicians.

In addition to regular individual live performances, Multiple is active in various other fields, for example adapting original songs for TV commercials and performing at various events. They have released three singles: "Horizon", "Color and Oblivion", "Dream" and the mini-album "Afterimage". They also boast a collaboration with leading Japanese sound engineer Takayoshi Yamauchie "Dr." , who recorded four of their tracks. It's worth visiting their Youtube channel (@multipleJapan), which will transport you to the overwhelming sounds of the combination of violin and guitar. Among other things, you can find recordings of live performances, MVs, recordings of live broadcasts, great rearranged pieces (covers) of famous artists such as Johann Sebastian Bach or Ado.

This is a very amazing duo with an amazing sound. I am very curious to see how his future will turn out in the Otonova2023 competition.

2 Minerva

In second place with 5290 points was the band Minerva 🥈 Congratulations on advancing to the next stage! Please continue to give it your all 💪 .

Minerva is a four-member band that imagines a modern fantasy world with the sweet vocals of Ryusei Mori. 

Minerva has a released album 'Eyes' containing six original songs.

On their Tik-Tok account (@min.ervaforgroup), we can experience their rendition of rearranged hits by Japanese pop/j-rock legend L'arc~en Ciel, such as Driver's High and オリジナル楽曲.

In turn, on their Youtube channel (@minervaofficial4515), we get to see two great MVs for the songs Start Light and 心の内曇 from their first album Eyes.

心の内曇 is a sensational music video for a great song that makes you feel like life is passing us by very quickly and therefore worth following your heart. To better illustrate their work, below are the lyrics of this great song.

心の内曇

作詞  Ryusei

作曲  Ryusei・Sena

あの雲は僕たちを見下ろして

薄明光線の光の矢が

遠くへと導いて

明日のことなんて誰も分からないから

明日から逃げても

今日は待ってくれない雲は過ぎ去って

雲は過ぎ去ってく

心の光閉ざしては　

消えさってくいくつもの影　

雲は動いている

風にのせられ　

時間の流れと共に太陽となって

明日のことさえも嫌になるくらいつらくて

明日が怖くて

まだみぬ景色の先は暗すぎて

時の流れの中に映る

その影は暗すぎて見えなくて

打ち砕いて進んでいく

その影と共に影と共に

明日のことなんて誰も分からないから

永遠に響け心の声よ

風に乗せてどこまでもどこまでも

3. ひぃくん

Third place along with 780 points went to ひぃくん, 🥉 who is a very positive twenty-three-year-old from Kagoshima Prefecture with a very warm, wide smile. ひぃくん's dream is to become a famous artist in his Kagoshima prefecture. He loves to sing and wishes that his singing could resonate in the hearts of many people. We can get a glimpse of his singing on his Tik-Tok account (@hiikun0326 ).  It is a great pity that there is only one song there.On his Youtube channel ( @ag_4nnin616), on the other hand, we can get acquainted with, I guess, one of his hobby - playing games on consoles. I wish ひぃくん all the best and that he continues to pursue his dream.

4. くろえい

By the decision of the audience, fourth place with no points scored went to くろえい. くろえい specialises in playing Japanese drums, especially large drum solos. On his Youtube channel (@kroei_taiko), among other things, we can find numerous videos that take us back to the Japanese heritage in the world of drumming.

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 Multiple and Minerva, and I can't wait to see how they will fare in the Otonova2023 competition.