Uematsu's vocalist of choice for his beautiful love song, Eyes on Me, was the highly successful Faye Wong. Final Fantasy VIII was SquareSoft’s most cinematic game yet and the inclusion of a theme song to accompany it seemed logical – and who better for the part than this Asian gem. Uematsu chose Faye Wong not only for her popularity, but because he believed her voice perfectly matched the spirit and expression needed to convey the character of Julia Heartily, who, in the game, writes the song to express her feelings towards Laguna Loire.
Convincing Wong to record the song proved to be a difficult matter in the presence of her already demanding and hectic schedule. With a paycheck of $1,000,000 in her pocket, she finally took on the task and it is even rumored that she recorded the song in only one take without rehearsal.
Wong’s career began when she arrived in Hong Kong at the age of 18. After a brief period modeling, she took up singing lessons and a year later she had signed her first recording contract. Her first album, The Day With No Patience, was a huge success and following this, she went to New York to study music. She then returned to Hong Kong and released many more albums, winning several awards along the way.
Faye Wong is also a highly successful actress. She starred in Kar-Wai’s 1994 film Chungking Express, where she picked up a Best Actress award in Sweden. While now unfortunately divorced, she lives happily with her child called Dou Jingtong, born in 1997.
Official Website: www.faye.com
Her debut as a solo artist was in 1969 with "Toi et Moi". Since then, she has sung for the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, aswell as the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics where she performed her own song, "Flowers for You". She has also lent her voice in theme songs for the television animation series "Moomin", the TBS drama "Hotel" and the movie "Doreamon".
Many people have been inspired by Rikki's singing voice and her ability to combine elements of both folk and pop music. The singer Kazufumi Miyazawa of rock band "The Boom" was one of those inspired by her voice and Rikki appeared on one of the band's albums, as well as on a solo album by Miyazawa. She was also asked to sing at the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano, and in 2001, she produced an "image album" with Joe Hisaishi for the highly acclaimed film Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Debuting in 2000, aged 18, Koda Kumi is not only a mainstream Japanese vocalist but has also had singles released in the USA, including Take Back and Trust Your Love. She has perhaps gained wider recognition now for her role in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X-2. Not only did she perform the voice of the character Lenne, but she also features as the vocalist for the songs Real Emotion and 1000 no Kotoba (1000 Words) which form an important role in the game. Although she recorded English versions of the two songs, they were not used in the Western version of the game because it was felt her pronunciation of the language was too poor. However, these recordings were eventually released as part of her Come With Me single.
Both singer and songwriter, Jade Villalon is best known as Jade of Sweetbox, having replaced Tina Harris as the lead vocalist. Recent Sweetbox album releases include After The Lights and Adagio. Born in California but raised in Japan, Jade had a showbiz childhood, appearing in a Chinese noodle commercial aged 5, as well as auditioning for some of New York's major musicals. In her late teens she tried her hand at television, appearing in "Touced By Angels" as a guest actress, but settled for a singing career when she returned permanently to the USA.
The theme song for Final Fantasy XII, Kiss Me Goodbye, is to be performed by Angela Aki. The single is set to be released in Japan on the 18th January, 2006. The Japanese-Italian-American singer and songwriter is currently in residence in Japan and has only recently released her major debut album in Japan, Home.
The soloist who lends her voice for the vocal collection soundtrack, Final Fantasy: Pray, as well as for a select number of tracks for the Final Fantasy: Love Will Grow soundtrack. She was born in Osaka, Japan, and graduated from the Osaka College of Music where she formed the band, Pagent. She debuted in 1986. Her skills in music also include the Keyboard and composing.
Ikuko Noguchi is the second vocalist who features in the vocal collection soundtrack, Final Fantasy: Love Will Grow.
