Ami Suzuki Does Kylie - Twice!

My copy of Ami Suzuki's "Supreme Show" finally arrived from Japan - two months after its November release. I was concerned that the album might be a rush job, coming only 9 months after her last opus but my fears turned out to be completely unfounded. I loved "Dolce" (it made #15 in my year end album countdown) but "Supreme Show" is in a whole new league. Once I've had a chance to fully digest its brilliance, I'll write a detailed review. In the meantime, I just can't resist commenting on the album's first two singles - more specifically, on the video clips. In the past, I've jokingly referred to Ami as the Japanese Dannii but it seems the fabulous diva has loftier aspirations. This time around she's decided to pay homage to the more successful Minogue, chanelling Kylie in both of her new videos!

I first heard "Can't Stop The Disco" way back in September but like a lot of songs released last year, it kind of fell through the cracks during my trip. I would have paid the song considerably more attention if I had bothered to watch the video clip (above). This will be old news to J-Pop fans but I almost fell off my chair when I finally checked it out a couple of days ago. "Can't Stop The Disco" is a virtual scene by scene remake of Kylie's "In My Arms" video - only filmed on one tenth of the budget. The result is pure trash heaven. Instead of Gareth Pugh couture, Ami wears a hoodie from K-Mart and rolls around in a box that could well be made out of bin liner. It seems that my girl copped a lot of criticism for "copying" Kylie's video but I prefer to view it as a loving tribute to another fabulous diva. Happily, the controversy didn't prevent the song debuting in Japanese top 20. $ucce$$!

After the unprecedented fabulousness of "Can't Stop The Disco", I thought it would be prudent to check out the film clip for the album's first single. Unfortunately, "One" (below) completely passed me by last July. In my defence, I was probably getting pissed with ladyboys in Thailand at the time but I still can't believe I missed one of the year's best songs - from one of my favourite divas, no less! I could rave about "One" all night but I'll leave that for my "Supreme Show" review. Needless to say, the song is pure genius. I don't know what I was expecting from the video but I thought the chances of two Minogue knock offs were pretty slim. It seems I underestimated my beloved Japanese princess. "One" is clearly inspired by Kylie's "Wow" but it's not quite as shameless. In fact, if I hadn't just watched "Can't Stop The Disco", I would have given Ami the benefit of the doubt. A lot of videos share the same premise (Kelly Rowland's "Work" comes to mind) and the similarities are nowhere near as glaring. "One" does use the same neon light sticks and epilepsy inducing editing but there's no fatsuit or unflattering bob to be seen. If nothing else, the Japanese diva can take solace in the fact that she actually looks good in her video. "One" seems to have sparked the usual allegations of theft but Ami's resourceful approach to music videos makes me love her even more. I just hope this fabulous bitch rips off "All I See" for her next clip!