Party Queen

Ayumi Hamasaki is back. And she's back "as your Party Queen". Or so she says.

Her lastest album, her 13th album, in 13 years (yes, lucky 13!) is pushing boundaries I don't think she's ever pushed before.

CD+DVD cover

CD only cover

CD+2DVD cover

Party Queen tracklist

01.Party queen
02.NaNaNa
03.Shake It♥
04.taskebab
05.call
06.Letter
07.reminds me
08.Return Road
09.Tell me why
10.a cup of tea
11.the next LOVE
12.Eyes, Smoke, Magic
13.Serenade in A minor
14.how beautiful you are

How beautiful you are was released as a digital single in February, but I hadn't paid much attention to it since I knew it was going to be on the album.

My 1st thought on the covers: Not good. My dislike for the covers has nothing to do with the fact that she's in lingerie, posing on all, hugging a shoe or looking like a drunk. My dislike from them comes from the fact that they just look bad. I never liked Ayu with short hair, and this is even worse. Her jaw and chin on the CD+DVD cover look abnormal and the background? What's with that lamp?. The "13th album" sticker on the bar code looks tacky.

It's pretty bad when the only things I like about these covers are her nails and the leopard print.

Disappointed, yes, surprised, no. I had high hopes for this cover, but that's my own fault for expecting too much out of it. I loved her previous albums' covers so much that I just thought they would keep on being beautiful. Yet I don't find any of these covers to be beautiful.

Ayu took a lot of heat when they were released, so much that she felt the need to explain the meaning of the covers on Twitter. She said they are meant to look like gossip/tabloid magazine covers. They are meant to represent her as a "sad" Party Queen, as someone that even though she is always surrounded by staff and friends, she is always lonely no matter what.

I'm sorry but if you have to explain the concept of your covers, to me that just means that it was poorly executed.

Mind you, I don't love her any less for it, after the FAIL of mini-album FIVE, I think Party Queen brings "old Ayu" back.

Even though the physical copy of the album is set to be released only on March 21st, it was made available for purchase and download on iTunes Japan yesterday.

I had a good 1st listen to the album yesterday afternoon, and had a 2nd go at it later in the evening. My 1st thought: Wow! I didn't expect to like it so much, especially since I disliked FIVE very much and didn't care for Rock'n'Roll Circus.

Party Queen has a very good flow to it, it seems everything was well thought and executed (on the contrary to the covers).

Party queen to taskebab has a dance-rock feel to it which is what I wanted most from Ayu. She had been writing so many slow-medium ballad songs for the last year that I wanted none of them on this album. NaNaNa shocked me the most, when I think of someone singing "Nanana", I think of a pop-happy song. But no, Ayu's NaNaNa feels like raw rock, with an electronic edge to it. The only word I find that describes it best is intense.

call to a cup of tea is the soft and sad part of the album. The lyrics to call clearly refer to the relationship she had with ex-husband Mannie and how their relationship was viewed by everyone on the outside, her fans, the media, etc. Return Road refers to her divorce. It really is true when they say that heartbroken songs are often the best in terms of lyrics. Listening and reading through these songs, I really felt for her.

the next LOVE and Eyes, Smoke, Magic have jazz feels to them. Something new and very different for Ayu. Eyes, Smoke, Magic made me think of burlesque, I hope she applies the concept to her Arena Tour this year.

Serenade in a Minor didn't leave any lasting impressions on me.

How beautiful you are is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time. I'm kicking myself a bit, for not paying attention to it sooner than this. I had it on repeat for a good hour last night. "You don't know, you don't know... How beautiful you are..." really describe the song as a whole. There is also a meaningful music video attached to it, I would recommend you have a look/listen. It's well worth it, especially on one of those days where you're feeling down.

Over all, I love this album! The cover disappointed me, and I will probably end up replacing them with another fake cover in my iTunes. But this is the 1st album since NEXT LEVEL (in 2009) that I can say I'm able to listen from beginning to end without skipping a single song.

Good job Ayu! And welcome back~


What do you think of Party Queen? The covers? The songs? The music videos?

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

Nicki Minaj has grown to become one of my favorite artists right now.

I've gotten D. to like some of her music, but he thinks she looks fake.

Somehow she reminds me of a gal, or gyaru, in her own little ways. Big lashes, funky hair! Personally I love her style, different looks and variety. She always has different wigs, bold make-up and wears flashy colors, outfits you wouldn't see on a daily basic in the street.

Lady Gaga has gotten a little too crazy and weird for me, I don't like her style anymore. I find Nicki to be a breath of fresh hair. Her outfits are so bright and colorful, it's like instant cheer up!

Super Bass is currently running quite popular on the radio out here and it's one of my favorite songs out of her PINK FRIDAY album.

I loved the blond and pink wig! I wish I could pull that off~


What do you think of Nicki Minaj?
Love? Like? Hate? Don't care?

FIVE [Ayu Mini Album] + Ayu Contacts

This was announced a while back but I was waiting for track list and covers to come out to speak of is on Gossip Candy.

Hamasaki Ayumi releasing FIVE, a "mini album", on August 31st 2011.

CD + DVD Cover

CD Only

CD Only -Limited Edition-

Track list

CD content.

01. progress (●PS3「Tales of Xillia」theme song)

02. ANother song feat. URATA NAOYA (●BeeTV「sweetTV」theme song)

03. Why... feat. JUNO (●HIS Taiwan Campaign CM song / Recochoku TV-CM song)

04. beloved (●Japan Television「Sukkiri!!」 theme song for August)

05. BRILLANTE (●music.jp TV-CF song)

Dvd content.

01. progress (video clip)
02. ANother song feat. URATA NAOYA (video clip)
03. Why... feat. JUNO (video clip)
04. beloved (video clip)
05. BRILLANTE (video clip)
06. progress (making clip)
07. ANother song feat. URATA NAOYA (making clip)
08. Why... feat. JUNO (making clip)
09. beloved (making clip)
10. BRILLANTE (making clip)

A song for a video game, Tales of Xillia, thus why the anime limited edition cover.

I'm not as excited for this as I've been for previous albums. Probably because it only has 5 new songs and doesn't feel like a "real" album does.

I mean, this could have very well been split into 2 singles and then we could have had a new album at the end of the year or something along that line. But with Ayu's life changing (aka. she got married) and the earthquake in March, I've noticed her way of doing things has changed. It's like she taking more time to focus on the things she does rather then rushing through it all. Which is good, I think.

In this album, she has 2 songs in collaboration with 2 different male singers. URATA NAOYA, whom she's performed and produced a song with already. And a new guy, JUNO. He looks tasty. Wait, what? Did I just say that out loud?!!

I like the CD Only, bust shot cover, but the other two leave me going "meh". I don't like the font they used for her name and in the face shot she looks very manly to me. I don't know if it's the hair or the eyebrows or what, but I don't find it feminine at all, and to me Ayu is all about being feminine. I could care less for the anime cover, I mean, if it'd been HER as an anime character then OK, but this one doesn't say or remind me of Ayu at all.


In other news, on the exact same date, a collection of color contact lenses will be released! Seems to be some kind of collaboration 「浜崎あゆみ × SWEET DAYS」



I don't know if they were designed by Ayu or if they just affiliated with her to use her name. Maybe they'll be using her as spokes person for this serie of lenses, who knows. I'd love to see a photo shoot of her wearing each one of them, but that's probably just me dreaming.

You can view everything in details with better pictures of the lenses Here


What do YOU think of Ayu's "FIVE" mini album? What do you think of the covers? What about the contact lenses? Would you buy any of them?

Tsubasa Masuwaka is Milky Bunny

For most of you ladies following gyaru (or gal style) in Japan, if I say Tsubasa Masuwaka, you know exactly who I'm speaking of. But for you other ladies (and gents?) who just went "Tsuba-wha?", here she is:


More commonly know as TSUBASA, or simply Tsu-chan by her fans, Tsubasa Masuwaka is a very well know magazine (Egg, Popteen, PopSister) model in Japan. She's quite the icon out there and has made a huge impact on gyaru style among japanese girls, and in the most recent years, western girls looking up to become "western gyarus" themselves. She has a clothing line by the name of LIZ LISA, which is a very "sweet" and "floral" oriented brand. Not only that, she has her very own cosmetic collection also, titled Candy Doll with blushes, eye shadows, nail polishes and even eye lashes.

Oh and also she's married and has a kid. All this and she's only 26 years old! Mad crazy I say!!

And just when I thought she'd done it all, she goes into a singing career. Thus Milky Bunny (her stage name) being born.

Tsubasa advertising her new single "Bunny Days" as Milky Bunny in the recent Popteen August 2011.

I've been following Tsubasa on her blog just because I like the "behind-the-scene" look of all of her projects. Her blog is the #1 resource to see and learn about what she's doing and working on at the moment.

You can find it Here

Tsubasa with a copy of "Bunny Days" in hands.

Covers of the new single.

"Bunny Days" is set to release on July 20th. You can find it online on most japanese music selling websites, such as YesAsia, HMV Japan and CD Japan.

In the mean time, you can heard what the new song sounds like and view the music video, right here on Gossip Candy!

In my honest opinion I really don't think she's that great of a singer. Her voice sounds really annoying. So I'm going to skip on the music and keep looking forward to more Candy Doll products instead.

What do YOU think of Tsubasa?
Her style? Her cosmetics?
How about her new single?
Like it? Love it? Hate it?

Royals for Canada Day

July 1st in Canada is off for mostly everyone because it is Canada Day. A day of celebrations all around, well, in Ottawa it is anyway. I'm not sure about anywhere else in this huge country.

Prince William and Kate Middleton came to town and started their first North American tour in my own little (well it's not very small, it's actually pretty big!) city, the capicale of Canada: Ottawa.

I avoided the crowds and did not go down town to try and have a glimpse of them, but I enjoyed reading the new and checking out all the pictures of their outings and doings.

So here are a few pictures for those of you that did not get to watch on TV or catch up online. I'm not a big royals fan, but I think this is still interesting to see, especially since they were out and about in places I have often gone to in the past.

They landed at the airport at 2h30pm on Thursday June 30th. I was worried I'd be stuck in traffic with all roads blocked when I got off work at 3 since I live 5 minutes from the airport and go by on my way home. But everything was as normal as usual.

I love Kate's dress! What do you think?

For Canada Day celebrations, Kate was dressed in white and red to match the Canadian flag. Love the red shoes, not too sure of the hat though...

And then they were on their way to a tree-planting ceremony. (Kate got changed, again!)

And then they were out for the evening celebrations which took park after dinner hours, mostly shows with music and of course fireworks!

Apparently the purple dress was her 5th change of the day. But by the pictures online, I've only been able to see 3 different ones for July 1st.

All in all, it seems 500 000 people went out of their way to go downtown for the celebrations and have a glimpse of the royal newlyweds. Watching them from afar was good enough for me.

Instead I was out at a museum since the admissions were free, and out to the park for a walk since it was super nice out.

At 33 degrees C though, I'm not sure how Prince William managed to stay in a suit all day. Couldn't have been easy that's for sure!!

Now they're out visiting other areas of the country, they were in Montreal and Quebec over the weekend, and Prince Edward Islands today I believe. They're heading up north to Yellowknife next.

Have you been following the royals these past few days?

Judgement Day: May 21, 2011

Call it whatever you want: The end of the world, Judgement day, Doom's day, The return of the Lord, etc... It is coming. TOMORROW! On Saturday, May 21st, 2011.

I read an article on this on cnn.com a month or two ago. Family Radio is a christian radio station in the United States and for a year now, a part of them have been on a caravan tour of America to deliver the message that the end of the world is coming.

On the radio this morning, Ottawa's Hot 89.9 hosts Rush, Mauler and Jenni were discussing this in between other news. Apparently now it's said that the beginning of the end will start at 6h00 pm and that it will last until October 21st. They said that we will know when the "Rapture" begins because there will be a world wide earthquake.

An article Lauri Lebo gives a ton more info with sources and quotes from some of the members of the Family radio caravan project.

Quoting from the article I linked above:

…"starting in the Pacific Rim at around the 6 p.m. local time hour, in each time zone, there will be a great earthquake, such as has never been in the history of the Earth," he says. The true Christian believers -- he hopes he's one of them -- will be "raptured": They'll fly upward to heaven. And for the rest?

"It's just the horror of horror stories," he says, "and on top of all that, there's no more salvation at that point. And then the Bible says it will be 153 days later that the entire universe and planet Earth will be destroyed forever."

I don't know for you, but I'm not a very religious person. I agree and disagree with different things from the bible, but also from other religions. I rarely ever talk of religions because it's often based on personal belief and can cause problems when having discussion (just like politics).

A friend of mine is dating a gentleman that is Muslim and he was explaining to us that for them when Judgement day comes, you are judged on what you have done in your lifetime. And while you may go to Hell, it is NOT permanent. You do your time in Hell as you would in jail here, and then you are sent to Heaven. I found that interesting, considering Christians seem to say that when you go to Hell, you can never return.

I like how this one has 2012 scratched out.
All images from rightdesired.blogspot.com/

We could speak of this for quite some time. I just thought I'd share this little bit of news if you hadn't heard already. So if you feel the earth shake like never before on May 21st, you'll know you're experiencing "Judgement Day".

I have no doubt the world will end at some point. But I don't think anyone can predict such a thing. But that is just MY opinion.

I have plans to dress up and meet friends for Wings at 7h00 pm on Saturday. So unless there is a massive earthquake, you'll see me out at Wild Wings having a good time.

What do you think of this? Are you a believer? Do you think the end of the world is upon us already? Or it's coming in the next little while?

Thor: God of Thunder

Thor is your typical arrogant prince. He's strong and knows it, but it's also gone up to his head a little too much. He does something stupid and is exiled to Earth by his father, the King of Asgard.

I'm a superhero fan, even though I admit not having read many comics, I used to watch the cartoons on Saturday mornings. Before this movie came out, I hadn't heard of Thor and had no idea who/what he was. What I had heard of was Chris Hemsworth, as he was Capt. J. Kirk's father in the most recent Star Trek movie. He's in the begin there for 5 minutes but I recongnized his face as soon as I saw it. So. Freaking. Handsome.

I found he played the role very well and I believed his character 100%. Though it was Anthony Hopkins that surprised and amazed me the most. We're used to seeing him as a creep in a lot of movies, this one is totally different and made me see him in a different light. I was very glad they picked him for the role, he looked like a true king.

I found the relationship between Thor and Jane Foster was boring. There was nothing there, I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Not that I was expecting much, I mean, it IS a superhero movie after all. But after seeing Tony Starks and Pepper Pots, I was a little disappointed by this.

That being said though, I liked Thor more than Iron Man. It probably has to do with the fact I like magic, alternate universes and shiny things.

So if you were on the fence about going to see this movie, go ahead, I think it's definitely worth it. If you don't like the story, well at least you will have seen Thor/Chris Hemsworth without his shirt on.

Thor will be back in The Avengers set to come out in 2012. And you can see Chris Hemsworth in his other projects too in the mean time. (I heard he'll be playing the Huntsman, in Snow White, also coming out in 2012, totally excited about that!)