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SUSAN IN JAPAN - 28th December 2009 - 1st January 2010. The Red And White Show
12th January 2010
Susan rang in the New Year in spectacular style performing ‘Who I Was Born To Be’ on Japan’s legendary Red And White Show which was watched by a record number of viewers peaking at almost 40 million during Susan’s slot.
On December 27th, while most of us were still digesting the turkey and pudding, Susan packed another suitcase and boarded a plane to London Heathrow. After a quick stop over in a hotel near the airport she rose early on the 28th and caught her first ever flight eastbound. The destination: Tokyo!
During the flight Susan did what every traveller does during a long haul in the air: ate, slept, watched some movies. She also set some time aside to learn some basic Japanese. In fact, Susan always endeavours to learn some courtesy phrases in the local language wherever she goes. ‘Even if I only know please and thank you I think it just shows that you have a respect for someone else’s language and the country you are visiting,’ she has commented.
She also brought along a travelling companion, Piersy Baby - no, sadly not the real Piers Morgan - but a teddy bear given to her by a friend for christmas! Oddly, most of the travellers in the club section of that flight were also carrying teddy bears including two of the stewards and a kind of impromptu teddy bears tea party ensued with everyone posing with each others bears for photographs!
Once in Japan, Susan stayed in a hotel just thirty minutes outside the main drag, the Shuboye district. The hotel was set beside a piece of land which is considered sacred. There is a beautiful, magical garden there and Susan lost no time in walking through this historic haven. She also spent time feeding the enormous koy carp in the sacred pond. These fish are giants among pond fish and they love to eat! They came close by for food but decided they didn’t like what Susan and her party had to offer and soon skulked off into the shadows again.
After some lunch - and in an attempt to stave off sleep for a few hours, Susan and her working party piled into a people carrier and went off to do some sightseeing. They drove by the Emperors Palace which hides behind its high walls and on to a beautiful entertainment shrine. In Japan the shrines are dedicated to different aspects of life - the Japanese record label felt it was apt for Susan to go to one which honoured her profession.
Dinner was taken at the hotel so that Susan could have an early night because the next day - December 30th - was rehearsal day.
Susan arrived at the TV studios and went through two full runs of I Dreamed A Dream. She watched her set being constructed and also met some of the presidents of her Japanese record label who presented her with a bouquet of flowers. Hidden in the centre was one white bloom which had been artistically fashioned to look like Pebbles!
The following day, New Years Eve, started with a good luck text from Susan’s label mate, Paul Potts, who was also in Japan singing on another show.
Susan and her party arrived at the TV studios around 8pm that evening, Susan already dressed in magnificent black beaded gown and black [jam] shoes. She went straight to her dressing room where she did her vocal warm ups with her vocal coach over the phone, had a hot drink of honey and lemon and sat for final hair and make-up touch ups.
The Red And White Show is Japan’s biggest TV extravaganza, boasting the lion share of viewers every New Years Eve. This year was particularly special because it was the show’s 60th anniversary. The show is a competition between boy and girl singers. There is every kind of vocal variant; soloists, pop groups, traditional Japanese groups, choirs of 300 or more people, kabuki artists and so on. They very rarely have foreign artists, and this evening it was Susan’s honour to be the only non-domestic artist on the show.
When Susan took to the stage just after 9pm, the applause was rapturous. Her performance was a show stopper and within two hours her album had shot to Number 1 on the Japanese Amazon download chart! During her performance the show saw a significant peak in viewing figures.
The female performers on the show were over the moon that Susan was part of the contest this year because the boys have won for the past five years. However, even with the might of Susan’s voice behind them, the boys still took the crown!
Susan rang in the New Year with her dedicated team - nine hours earlier than her friends and family in Scotland - and then went to bed as she had an early start back to the UK the following morning.
‘It was such an honour to be here,’ she said on her departure, ‘The Japanese people have been so kind and courteous. They are such genteel people. I feel I have learned a lot from this trip, including a few Japanese words.’ And with a priceless dash of Susan cheekiness she added, ‘And I in turn I taught them some Scottish - I taught them to say ‘Nay Bother!’.
To see a pic of Susan arriving in Japan Click Here!
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