Yuna Ito

Name	Yuna Ito
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Yuna Ito
Alias	(Itō Christine)
Born	September 20, 1983Los Angeles, California, United States
Origin	Oahu, Hawaii, United States
Genre	Pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress, composer, spokesperson
Years active	2005–present
Label	Studioseven Recordings
Associated acts	Celine Dion, Micro
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(born September 20, 1983) is an American pop singer-songwriter and actress who is active in Japan.

She was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Hawaii. Ito made her musical debut in Japan with the single, "Endless Story", which was used as one of the theme songs for the popular 2005 film Nana; she also starred in the film, portraying Reira Serizawa. In 2006, Ito reprised her role as Reira for the sequel of the film singing the theme song, "Truth". In 2007, Ito released her debut album, Heart, which debuted atop the Oricon chart.

Biography

Early life and music interest

Ito was born to a Japanese father and a Korean-American mother in Los Angeles, California. She has a younger brother, Johnny. Her family later moved to Oahu, Hawaii where she remained until the start of her singing career in Japan. From a young age Ito dreamed about becoming a singer, after being inspired by the powerful vocals of Celine Dion. At the age of fifteen she was offered a music contract, but turned it down, explaining: "They saw me as a girl and not a singer." Following the release of "Endless Story" was her second single, "Faith/Pureyes" (2006), which debuted at #6 on the charts. In March, Ito released her seventh single, "I'm Here", which debuted at #15 on the Oricon chart. At the end of the year, Ito released her ninth single, "Urban Mermaid", which debuted at #10 on the charts. Dion originally released this song on her latest English album Taking Chances. The song was used in an au LISMO commercial. A World to Believe In was nominated for 'Best Collaboration Video', for the MTV Video Awards Japan '08, but lost to Kumi Koda's Last Angel.

The singer's second album Wish was released on February 20 and debuted at number three on the charts. Since the release of Wish, the album has been certified gold by the RIAJ. Unite As One a song on her album, was used as the ending theme song for Konami's Time Hollow. In March, Ito became spokesperson for Proactiv Japan. Ito was featured in the commercial along with her song, "Tokyo Days", as the theme.

Her eleventh single entitled "Miss You" was released on September 3, 2008 "Miss You" inspired the cellphone novel , which was written by sin. "Love Machine Gun" was also used as the main theme song for the novel. Ito was featured in the 6/4 edition of the magazine, "Oricon Style", as the fifth-most suited for bridal wear. She was also featured in the 6/11 edition as sixth for most princess-like.

Her next single titled was used as the Gap Japan's 2008 Holiday Collection Winter Neutrals campaign song. In addition to her song being used, Ito was also chosen to be a Gap model in July. Sony Music Japan created an official website for Christine and a blog.

Ito collaborated with hip-pop/reggae duo Spontania for their single , which was released on January 28, 2009. Ito's thirteenth single "Trust You", became the fourth ending theme song for the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season. The single was released on March 4, 2009 and became Ito's first Top 5 single since "Mahaloha" in 2007.

On March 31, 2009 , which was the answer song to Spontania's "Ima Demo Zutto", was released online through ringtone sites. Ito's third album titled Dream was released on May 27, 2009. A single, "Let it Go", was released on November 11, 2009.

In June 2010, Yuna opened a special project named 洋楽カバーをやってほしい; I Want to Do a Western Cover. The idea was that she would do a live cover on her radio show Heart to Heart. However, there were so many requests that her official website took the project and turned it into Ito Yuna Respects. After that 10 songs were selected (that were requested the most) and people could vote on one of these songs. The song that won the poll was Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. After recording and releasing the song on July 28, the project announced a second poll. The song that got selected was Elvis Costello's She. The song was released on August 25. A third song was Chicago's Hard to Say I'm Sorry.

On 9 September, the website Spanspo mentioned that the drama named Ougon no Buta would feature a theme song sung by Yuna. Two weeks later Sony's Music Shop confirmed the theme song would be released as a new single named Mamotte Agetai. The single was released on 3 November 2010.

Ito then released her first compilation album on December 8.

Discography

Studio albums

2007: Heart

2008: Wish

2009: Dream

Compilation albums

2010:

RIAJ certified singles

2005: "Endless Story"

2006: "Faith/Pureyes"

2006: "Precious"

2006: "Truth"

2007: "Mahaloha"

2007: "I'm Here"

2009: "Ima Demo Zutto" (Spontania feat. Yuna Ito)

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! Year || Film|| Role |- |2005 |Nana |Reira Serizawa |- |2006 |Nana 2 |Reira Serizawa |- |2010 | |Herself (Guest Performer) |}

Awards

Best New Artist (Best Hit Kayōsai 2005, 11.21.2005)

Best New Artist (Japan Cable Awards 2005, 12.17.2005)

Special Award for Nana (47th Japan Record Awards, 12.31.2005)

Best New Artist (Japan Gold Disc Awards 2006, 9.3.2006)

Gold Artist Award (Best Hit Kayōsai 2006, 11.20.2006)

Audience Request Award (39th Yūsen Taishō, 12.16.2006)

Best Asia from Japan (MTV Video Music Awards Japan, 05.25.2007)

Radio programs

From October 4, 2005 until March 28, 2006, Ito was moderator of her own radio show, Journey, which aired on Tokyo's InterFM radio station. Ito later returned with a new radio show, Heart to Heart.

On February 27, 2008, Ito did a public live talk show with Hilary Duff on Tokyo FM's radio show entitled Wonderful World. Although she appeared on the radio show, Hilary Duff's main purpose was to promote Disney Mobile, which she did also on the show.

References

External links

Yuna Ito official site

Reira Starring Yuna Ito

Official blog

Category:1983 births Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:American people of Korean descent Category:English-language singers Category:American musicians of Japanese descent Category:Japanese female singers Category:Japanese female models Category:Japanese-language singers Category:Japanese musicians Category:Japanese pop singers Category:Japanese singer-songwriters Category:American musicians of Korean descent Category:Korean female singers Category:Japanese people of Korean descent Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Hawaii Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Hawaii Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Oahu Category:Sony Music Japan artists Category:Video game musicians