Leslie Kee and Akina Nakamori

Image: Courtesy of 乱火from VAMP

I was the one that introduced Japanese music to my friend, Leslie Kee, who is now a famous photographer. I am "the root of the evil" because we became so embroiled in it that our studies were affected. Maybe because we were both trying so hard to fit in somewhere somehow, this avenue allowed us a safe place to hideaway. The best thing is that it has helped us to bond deeper and I am so proud of his every achievement and I hope that I will continue to draw more inspiration from him in my life everday.

Akina is and always has been my favourite. I will never forget a birthday present that I was given by Leslie where he superimposed Akina and my image together in a photostand (he photocopied our images a couple of times till he obtained the right size and proportion because there was no photoshop in the late 80s). It is still sitting in a cupboard in Singapore and everytime I see it, I remember the exhilaration I experienced when I first set my eyes on it.

Until last year, I had never seen her live and thus, when I was urged by friends to offer 3 free tickets to Leslie, I hurried. Alas, due to bad timing and weather, he had to give it up because of a CM shoot with new Japanese superstar Koda Kumi. He told me that he will try his best to watch the last concert on the 8th August with a TV producer but couldn't commit to it. Still I begged him not to miss the concert after reading all the fabulous reviews that our fellow VAMPires had gushed about after they returned home.

2 days had passed and I hadn't heard back, so I assumed that he didn't make it. But I am crying silently now because Leslie has written me an email about him catching Akina's final performance at the Tokyo Forum, and here is his letter ...

Dearest James

Wow, I have to say Akina is a killer on stage.

I have probably seen more than hundreds of concerts in the last 12 years
in Japan, but nobody is like Akina, what a perfectionist on stage, and the
most incredible experience for me, was that all the audience stood up
throughout the entire 150 mins concert !!!

Not even Yuming nor Ayu nor Hikaru's live ever have such response
from the audience, inspite of the mega scale in big halls.

Guess that all your Akina's fans must have already shared with you their
feelings for this The Last Destination Live. Luckily enough was that I
was sitting in the middle, 10 rows from the stage, very very good seat
and her charm and power that night, was just so irresistable !

In her 2nd encore, she sang Momoe's 夢先案内人, Takeuchi Mariya's
September and Slow Motion, which was requested by the audience.
She performed those 3 songs without any music, but so beautifully.
I managed to enter backstage, as I met actress Kanda Uno (who acted
in the drama with her, and is also one of the 300 artists in my book)
and she was very nice to have brought me in. However that night,
according to Akina's record management (Universal Record) , she was
not in the mood to meet anyone, so even Uno has no choice but to
leave without meeting her.

Almost there, so close, but too bad. However I have a great talk with
Universal Record, and began to understand many reasons why Akina
refused so much major offers in the last 10 years of her career.
Akina thinks very deeply, and will only accept projects and jobs if
she feels it. Sometimes it's also about timing.

Please keep on loving Akina - she is such a lengendary Diva, and I
promise you that one day, not very far from now, I am going to photographher with the most amazing beauty which we have been missing from her,for a long time.

By the way, my SUPER STARS Book will be out on 10 November 2006.
Opening party on that evening, at the Omotesando Hills, Tokyo.Another 3 more months from now !

This is such a fabulous review from someone who is not a core Akina fan but who loves and admires her as well and I am so touched by the comments. I feel almost as if I was there watching and screaming with Leslie, which we had not done since 1994 at Yuming's concert with Zing and Kong as well. This is a wonderful testament to Akina's prowess and I can't wait to watch the performance on DVD which I hope will be released. Thank You Akina. You have made all of us fans very happy and extremely proud of you.

More Reviews of Akina's concert on VAMP.

Lastly, for those of you who are in Tokyo on the 10th November, please go and support Leslie on his launch. I am sure you will see many famous artistes there if they are free. Yuming will be writing the foreword/preface for the book, so she might be there too. Thank you lastly to Leslie for keeping my dream alive!!!

Please visit Leslie's website for more information on his upcoming publication and why he is dedicating this book to the unfortunate people who died and suffered during the tsunami 2004.