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DAHLIA starts to bloom
By:
Chris Betros,
October 3, 2003
TOKYO — It's been a busy year for 20-year-old American singer DAHLIA,
and it's going to get a lot busier. Since being chosen in July last
year to sing the theme song for Expo 2005 in Aichi, DAHLIA has
shuttled back and forth several times between Los Angeles and Japan,
to promote the exposition and the song, "I'll Be Your Love," written
and produced by YOSHIKI, the former leader of the iconic rock group
X-Japan.
DAHLIA was back again in September at METI headquarters in Tokyo to
launch the start of advance ticket sales for the expo which runs from
March 25-Sept 25, 2005, in a 173-hectare area in the eastern hills of
Nagoya encompassing Seto City, Nagakute Town and Toyota City. So far,
eight organizations and 118 countries have signed up to participate in
the expo whose theme is nature's wisdom.
The song that DAHLIA sings is a ballad in Japanese and English with
references to nature and love in the context of advances in science
and technology. It is a theme that DAHLIA says is close to her heart.
"I was born in Hawaii. Everyone knows it is such a beautiful place, so
the environment is important to us," she says. "I grew up with a lot
of respect for nature and it is a big concern of mine for the future
because I want the resources to be there for my children and my
children's children. There may not be anything left if we are not
careful about our actions and the consequences."
Born to an Okinawan father and an American mother, DAHLIA — who
adopted her stage name at YOSHIKI's recommendation — is based in Los
Angeles, but still spends a lot of time in Hawaii. She still retains a
link to Okinawa through her grandmother.
"She didn't speak much English and practically raised me because both
my parents were working," she says. "She taught me a lot about Okinawa
and Japanese culture."
DAHLIA speaks a little Japanese, having studied it in high school and
college, and sings some of the lyrics to the expo song in Japanese. "Right
now, YOSHIKI and I are putting together an album with a mix of
Japanese and English. I don't have a problem singing Japanese.
Hopefully, one day I'll be fluent."
Slim and stylish, DAHLIA is ever mindful of her figure. "I love cakes,
but I can't eat them much these days," she says ruefully as others
around her dig in. She used to do some modeling work, but in recent
years has opted to concentrate on her singing career.
"I was classically trained as a vocalist when I was younger. I grew up
with music. Both my parents were singers, and my brother is a jazz
musician, so music has been an outlet for me for a long while. I'm
trying to write my own music."
Being asked by the L.A.-based YOSHIKI, who "discovered" her, to sing
the expo theme song, was a thrill for DAHLIA. "He thought it would be
a good opportunity for me to do something really important. I was
exhilarated to be offered the chance. I was just starting my career,
so he could have chosen someone really well known," says DAHLIA.
And what is YOSHIKI like to work with? "He is very complex as all of
us are. I work well with him. He's so precise and meticulous, which is
what makes his music so beautiful. He's a bit of a perfectionist.
That's a great thing in our business because you want to make sure the
product is perfect. As a person, he's really funny."
While YOSHIKI is very well known, it is hard to find out much about
DAHLIA. "I know, I know," she acknowledges, "I need to have a home
page on the Internet, but unfortunately I don't know much about that
sort of thing."
Still, it's a sure bet the world will be soon be seeing a lot more of
DAHLIA. "I am totally open to direction at this stage of my life. I am
interested in acting and took classes last summer," she says. "In a
way, when I am singing, I feel that I am acting. Even if I am feeling
bad, I have to perform a certain song that might be about some other
emotion. That's acting, isn't it?"
The CD of the expo theme song will go on sale in Japan on Oct 29.
Aichi Expo videos:
http://www-1.expo2005.or.jp/en/mov/expo2005en.asx
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/expo2005/meta/intro_english256.wax
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