Warning: May contain spoilers of the event for other countries who will participate on ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman. Experiences vary from person to person.
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| Kids and teenagers are fond of watching Anime since the 90's. Image came from Google Search Engine. |
Ever since Anime was popular in the country... like Voltes V, Dragon Ball series, and other popular anime series aired by mainstream free TV channels in the Philippines. In every time the show starts and the episode ends, anime features a certain song from a certain Japanese artist. From those music and the traits shown on the anime, that starts their enthusiasm for Japanese culture and music.
Once they start listening to Japanese music derived from anime series, movie, Japanese games, and even their likeness (or becoming a fan) towards the artist of a certain OP/ED/IN (Opening/Ending/Insert) song will trigger them to sing and memorize the song. Since there are Karaoke Contests held in the Philippines in anime conventions, some of them use these contest to start their way to stardom, or start making covers (either English cover, or Japanese cover) on the social media like Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud and other sites that can give themselves exposure.
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| Rico Trooper singing Courage by Haruka Tomatsu on Otaku Expo 2015. Image courtesy of Von Jeremy Alday. |
Ozine Fest, Otaku Expo, and Best of Anime are the popular anime conventions that held Karaoke contests all throughout the year. However, when an Asia-focus karaoke contest went in the country, many people went to push their luck to get on top to represent their Motherland in a form of Nodojiman Contest — ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman.
ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman is a Japanese karaoke singing contest held on participating countries for anyone of legal age who loves Japanese music to represent their country. The scoring system of the said contest is just like Karaoke, with a twist!
Since many Filipinos love to sing and love Karaoke to express themselves and tone their voice talents, many anime lovers take the bite to have a chance to visit Japan, an all-expense-paid trip to sing for the World Stage in Tokyo.
I first heard of this kind of contest, way back on the first week of September 2015. I am part of a group of people who loves to join Karaoke contests on anime conventions — Otaku Karaoke Enthusiasts (OKE). My friend, Messi, posted it on the Facebook group. I checked the link on the post and I saw the list of songs that has Romaji (Japanese written in Latin alphabet). Since I am a fan of Gackt (Gackt Camui), I made an entry submission to the said contest and will sing Redemption by Gackt.
First and foremost, the participant(s) must be of legal age (18 years old). The contest is first open only to solo performers. However, one week before the contest started in the Philippines (on Cosplay Mania 2015), I heard that contest is now open to group performers. The contest does not allow professional singers/artists to join the contest (to prove that they can also be good in singing Japanese songs as well).
I took my time practicing and researching for the song I am going to perform. I viewed the song track on YouTube about people singing the song on Karaoke bars (the original Karaoke track played on Karaoke bars). I did my practices on computer shops via Audacity; as well as singing out loud while I play the instrumental of the song or the original track with my MP3 player during free times and when people are not around. I am not fond of singing when people are around because what I like listening Japanese music since my elementary days.
Just a tidbit:
What is good on listening Japanese music? Japanese songs are meaningful, unlike Western songs and even OPM (Original Pilipino Music) songs. I am not saying that most Western and OPM songs are bad, or I hate Western and OPM music. I like Phil Collins, Jose Mari Chan, and Gary Valenciano songs though.
However, nothing beats the rhythm and meaning of the songs of Japanese music (despite they are in Japanese)!
On the day of the contest, I was notified via the contact information I provided on the form I sent about when the contest will start. However, since Cosplay Mania is under SM Tickets, I bought the ticket before the event day (to avoid the long lines that every anime convention goers face). I seriously hate going early to get in early to register on Karaoke Contest (because Karaoke Contest have limited slots for contestants).
When I got inside the venue, I took time to observe how the flow of the contest go. Since the Asia Nodojiman staff got overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to join the contest, the qualifiers are chosen via lottery and assigned per blocks divided to three. I am assigned on Block B and provided proof that I am one of qualifiers on that block (printed out on paper, or a screenshot on smartphone). They made certain announcement that participants can change their song they want to sing on the registration booth.
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| The registration booth of ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman on Cosplay Mania, Day 1. Image courtesy of ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman Facebook Fan Page. |
Participants are given a number tag, and papers to sign as proof of their participation to join the contest. There are cameras on all angles of the stage. There's a different screen seen on the stage level angled approximately from 45 - 60˚, where the lyrics are written. Unlike the Karaoke contests held on the country that only allows songs featured in Anime series/movies, Tokusatsu, Metal Heroes and Vocaloid; ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman offers a wide variety of Japanese songs from J-Pop, Visual Kei, and other related Japanese music genre; and as a norm by most Karaoke contest participants, they must memorize the entire song. However, lyrics written on paper or saved on the phone/tablet is allowed on the contest, since there are limited songs that are written in Romaji, and the rest are written in Kanji... and there's no deduction on the points for that participant using lyrics on paper.
Since ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman is the first amateur singing contest that opens its doors to people who love Japanese music (unlike the other singing contest facilitated by the Japanese Embassy that has stricter restrictions on the songs to sing), and even have their dream to visit Japan for the first time; participants have only an allocated time to sing the song and they will be judged using the Precision DX Scoring System by Daiichi Kosho Company. This cutting edge scoring system from Japan analyzes the vocal input by the participant according to its rhythm, pitch, timbre, volume, and lyrics accuracy. Thus, the contest strongly emphasizes that the contestant must be proud of his/her voice (the translated meaning of the word "Nodojiman") to rise on top.
I had difficulty talking to the staff because I am first of all, curious and doesn't know how to talk in Japanese. I only know a few expressions like "Excuse me", "I'm sorry", "Thank you very much", "Alright" and the basic Yes or No answer. Though, I learn a few of these expression by reading the subtitles of the anime I am watching like Sword Art Online, Eureka Seven, and other of my kind of anime and by listening on how they respond as per the subtitle written. However, I speak in English in a British accent way back there. Nevertheless, the common "nosebleed due to lack of Japanese vocabulary" occurred to my head, but Filipinos will have nosebleed because they don't have enough English vocabulary (which different on my case).
There are given times for participants to register (as mentioned on the white board on their booth; slightly adjusted on the time mentioned on their e-mail). However, the competition started on 5:00PM sharp. Unlike the staff of the local Karaoke Contests in the Philippines, because of their Filipino antics in terms of handling time, there are minute delays in the start of the competition due to some people love to be specially mentioned (or too much endorsing of themselves regarding their audio). On the contrary, the Nodojiman staff have good personnel and time management, (and the ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman staff are very enthusiastic with what they are doing and very accommodating). Despite technical and operational problems, they know how to keep the people awake.
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| A backstage shot of ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman, Day 2. Image courtesy of Von Jeremy Alday. |
On the competition proper, Rei Mastrogiovanni hosted the qualifying rounds and the Grand Prix round on 3 and 4 of October 2015. People are given less time to showcase their voice because it is just a qualifying round. To compensate for the time allocation per block, it is very clever to cater such a large number of qualifiers to give them a rightful grade base on their performance, and to sow the best qualifiers per block to advance on the higher tier of the competition. Since people have an attention span of a fly (roughly 13 seconds to get interested on what a person perceives), the pressure is entirely on the participant to make the crowd alive. Moreover, this a great chance for the qualifiers to become a one-day idol in Budokan (though Budokan is a hyperbolic expression though).
I am observing how the contestants react on the score they get after they perform. Most of the low score performers are quite dismayed because some or most of the goers are hardened contestants from the local Anime Karaoke Contests. Few made swears not heard on the mic. Some acted all sporty and accepted what they had. Some felt like a prompt is shown on their field of vision (like those in SAO's Nervegear) showing "Achievement Unlocked: Rocked on stage @ Nodojiman." To those who got 83 and above, they were surprised on their score and jumped for joy inside.
On the contrary, when I knew that my score didn't reached the top scores, I bowed for respect because it's a once in a blue moon event that many audience roared and cheered as you perform. Like what I use to do when I perform, I see to it that the crowd will enjoy my performance, despite the score I will receive. Of course, many are vying to advance to the Grand Prix and have the honor to represent their country. Many of these want to visit key places like Akihabara, Tokyo Tower, and the like.
The performance proper
When I was called, of course, I said, "Yosh (Alright)!" twice, while I am feeling determined to rock the stage. When I am about to step in the stage, I requested the production staff near the stage for a mic stand (I said there: Maikusutando, onegai?)
I greet the emcee, "Konbanwa (Good evening)" because it was already 6:00 PM on the clock when I am about to perform. The emcee/host asked for my name. To be straight, I mentioned my real name (which is very long like Spanish names; and I am not going to tell you what my real name is) but I mentioned my entry name as Rico Trooper. He asked what am I going to sing, and I said my entry song (which was Redemption by Gackt in the game Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus). I even mentioned that I am an avid of Gackt Camui, ever since I saw his PV of Mizerable way back 2004. I mentioned him that I will be using a mic stand, where (it's history) I am the first contestant in the contest to use a mic stand.
When the music starts playing, I removed my shades. People started to roar when I removed my shades. I try to perform like Gackt just like what I saw in his concert and his promotional video in the song Redemption.
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| The Facebook comment of my friend on our group at Otaku Karaoke Enthusiasts (OKE) on Facebook, regarding my performance. |
Whatever I do on stage, I am doing it confidently. I keep both my eyes on the lyrics and to the audience (and to the camera as well since there are cameras everywhere). I did poses and stances that remarked my performance. However, the score disagrees with my way of singing.
What's good with ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman?
Unlike most of the local Karaoke contest held by Otakuzine and Otaku Asia staff managed, participants are not required to provide their own audio for them to perform (with the hefty file type requirements and the need to download the instrumental from YouTube), or be left in the dead air singing an A Capella like Pentatonix (as they brag for those who didn't have audio material on the Karaoke performance).
The upper hand on going to ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman is that people can buy the ticket before the event day, which ultimately avoids them being on stress who will join the Karaoke Contest later on. This avoids them being tired and catching for breath, a great factor that affects performers for having a good performance. Since not all songs that performers sing needs enough stage presence (a criterion not included for judging performers in their singing on the contest), participants will focus on choosing the right song fit for their vocal range. That also led me to choose a Gackt song on the qualifying round.
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| This is how contestants are judged using the Precision DX Scoring System on ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman (close enough). Image source from Smash.org.au |
Since the reward of joining ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman isn't as petty as winning a jacket from a certain sponsor of the convention event, many will perform at their best to have a great reward to visit Japan and compete on a World Stage. That is something that anyone wishes to film with their eyes in their lifetime, and be documented not only on Japanese television, but by history itself.
Furthermore, ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman is a top of its class Karaoke Contest derived from NHK's Nodojiman contest from TV and radio dated during the Second World War, many might be on their get ups to be an eye catcher to the audience, and to the camera. Moreover, since it is showcased on Cosplay Mania (and as expected), the contestant(s) cosplayed a certain character from a certain Anime they like the most.
The scoring system requires less people to man the scoring. In fact, the machine does the scoring per participants of the contest. This avoids biased judgment and favoritism (on the contestant's appearance) on scoring them, unlike Karaoke Contests that are judged by three people. Moreover, the scoring system pinpoints where the contestant excels and what flops the contestant's performance.
Lastly, it is a great marketing strategy for whosoever who partnered with ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman to let them be a part of the convention since it can promote more knowledge about the Japanese culture and music, another opportunity to promote Japan, and trade their culture in the event.
What went wrong with ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman?
Since many Filipino anime fans range from teenage years to 40's, it doesn't cover much of anime series like Yu Yu Hakusho, Rekka no Honou, Voltes V, Code Geass, Shaman King, RayEarth series and other mostly viewed anime series on free TV. Few of these anime fans like certain Japanese artist like Megumi Hayashibara (the golden maiden voice in anime opening/ending song during the 90's and 2000 in the Philippines), FLOW, SCANDAL, Porno Graffiti, and others. Moreover, since mainstream free TV broadcasting companies don't have time for ending songs and opening songs, but ridiculously have more time for repetitive commercial advertisements, ending and opening songs are not that featured.
The karaoke developed by Daiichi Kosho Company have flaws in terms of the Romaji lyrics. Since there are misleading Romaji lyrics roaming around the Internet on a song I performed (which is Redemption by Gackt), even in JPopAsia website on other songs featured, there is a difficulty in attaining a better score (like 80 - 83) even if their voice is much better than Gackt or the artist him/herself. Though, on the contrary, I asked other contestants who performed a different song than mine, and they said that they don't have problems with the lyrics written on the screen because their song was from the latest (and well known anime/artist ranging from 2012 'till now). Yet, it needs to be tweaked!
Another thing that went wrong with most of the winners who advance to the Grand Prix round (and even the contestant who will represent the country) are women. I am not doubting the scoring system but there are also criteria to consider what went wrong with the men's way of performing. Since most of the known Japanese songs are sung by female artists (in anime series/movies), it is a common denominator for women to outperform men. Since most Filipino men have lower pitch voice because of their puberty changed their vocal tone, they might stick with mainstream male anime songs that have a suave voice like Daybreak's Bell, Sign, and other relative songs. Though, the song "Memeshikute" is sung by Golden Bomber where Kyan is quite a tenor or a high pitch performer.
As I researched the list of aired anime series in the Philippines, there are a lot of anime that can be featured on the list of songs. I can suggest some songs from Yu-Gi-Oh!, Rurouni Kenshin, Gundam series, Voltes V, Inu Yasha, Full Metal Alchemist (both the original and the Brotherhood) and others listed on the hyperlink on this paragraph.
The entire challenge of the contest is that other songs is encoded in Kanji. Few people (or less one percent of the population) can write and understand Kanji. Perhaps, adding more songs on the list encoded in Romaji might persuade more participants to join the contest next year. Yet, perhaps considering to have trusted sites to have the official Romaji lyrics of every song on the list so that there is lyrics accuracy, and applied pitch and rhythm precision on every track applied on every song. Otherwise, I'd like to consider that the staff or the maker(s) of Precision DX Scoring System, along with its karaoke video tracks, need to have a precise romanized lyrics of the songs (base on a reliable source, or base on the Kanji lyrics on the album/single of the artist) for the next year's run of the contest, either outside the Asia, or on other regions of Earth.
On the other people, it can be hard for others who will join that they receive scores ranging from 74 and below. Filipinos have a mind set that line of 7, in terms of grades and score, are bad.
Summary and Last Remarks of the Review
It's a good to join this prestige contest because it's a great experience. Regardless of the score, it is better to leave an unforgettable performance and impression to the audience and the judges (either they will judge your performance, and the staff/facilitators of the contest) watching your performance. Of course, the spirit of sportsmanship is important! Win or lose, it's all the same as long as the people enjoy your performance.
The contest event is really a total box office hit! It's because Filipinos are fond of singing Karaoke.
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Note: The images featured on this blog article came from the Facebook Fan Page of ASIA Karaoke Nodojiman, from my friend, Von, in Facebook, and from Google. I don't own the photos featured on this blog article.
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