generasia:Featured article for 2010 week 36

Ando Yuko

Ando Yuko (安藤裕子) is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and former actress. She made her musical debut in 2003 under the cutting edge sub-label of avex trax with the mini-album Sally, but didn't hit the big time until the release of her second studio album, Merry Andrew.

Ando always dreamed of becoming a star, but in a different way than she ended up; she dreamed of making movies by becoming a film director. In 1999, she made her acting debut in the film Mamotte Agetai!. It was only by chance that she came upon a musical career. She happened to meet then-Oricon editor Soukou Koike when she was applying for a role in a musical. Soukou was so impressed by her singing abilities that he arranged for a musical debut. In July 2003, Ando released her debut mini-album, Sally, which failed to chart on the Oricon charts. The title track from the album was used as the opening theme for the Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden.

Her big break ended up being her fourth single, "Samishigariya no Kotobatachi". The song was used as an au W32H CM song. The single peaked at #35, making it her highest-ranking single yet. She started heavily promoting her upcoming second album, Merry Andrew. The track "Nouzen Katsura" (a piano ballad) was used as a CM song for Gekkeikan's Tsuki brand of sake. After the CM started airing, Gekkeikan's phone lines were ringing with tons of people calling about the identity of the mystery singer. Her second album, Merry Andrew, became a hit, breaking into the top ten on Oricon.

Ando released her fifth studio album, JAPANESE POP, on September 8, 2010. Three weeks earlier, a rental-only single, "Aruku", was released from the album. The title track was used as the theme song for the audience participation-based web drama Tweet Love Story, starring Angelababy.