Having bested her rivals in the first and second rounds of the competition, which resembles "American Idol," Sarı is the only foreigner who will be performing in the finals in the Japanese city of Osaka. She will be singing in the traditional Japanese enka style. Impressed with the melody of classical Japanese music, Sarı was interested in singing enka-style songs and decided to go to Japan. "I was working on enka songs I found on the Internet, and Japan became the country of my dreams. I tried hard to find a way to go to Japan and found myself here after some time," Sarı explains in an email interview with Today's Zaman.
Enka is a type of Japanese ballad sung in a traditional and melodramatic style, often by women in kimono, Sarı explains. "Enka-style songs are full of emotions and the way you sing them enables you to convey your sincerity. I think in this respect they resemble Turkish folksongs. Unlike Japanese social structure and culture, enka involves a great deal of romanticism. The themes are generally centered on love, loneliness, loss of loved ones, difficult situations and death," she says, adding that although the younger generations are not very interested in this music, there are still a great deal of people who listen to enka songs. "Enka songs are also very hard to sing since there are difficult transitions. It requires a long time and discipline to learn how to sing," Sarı explains, adding that she has been working on singing in this style for six years. Nowadays she is practicing 10 hours every day to win the competition.
Having had a strong relationship with music since childhood, Sarı believes she cannot live without song. She plays the piano and the guitar. "I am also interested in writing and painting," she adds. A multi-talented singer capable of singing in six different languages, including Turkish, English, Japanese, Arabic, Russian and Chechen, Sarı says she had the opportunity to sing in these languages when she worked in the tourism sector.
The "Best Singer of 2008" finals will be held on Sept. 7, and Sarı says she has a good chance of taking home the top prize. "The fact that I am the only foreigner who will be in the finals gives me an advantage," she says. The competition, which includes entrants from every part of Japan, will award $2,000 to the winner, $700 to the second runner up and $300 to the third. All three winners will also sign record deals with Japanese music production companies.
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