Japanese Karen Carpenter

[molee]

Have you heard Keiko at this YouTube location? (Sorry you will have to cut and paste because I am a Newbie to this forum and don't know how to create a link). www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbFeAiNVCag
I think she sounds so similar to Karen that I was somewhat shocked when I heard it. Of course no one will ever sound exactly like Karen...no one. In any case Keiko has much of the same vocal qualities of Karen. I can't help but wonder what Richard thought and felt when he heard THAT voice again (even if it does have a slight Japanese accent).

-Mo Lee

[Rick Henry]

I've heard her but was not at all impressed.

She sings somewhat off-key and is flat in several parts. Her vocal timing is slow and her voice does not have the rich, deep and full-bodied tones that Karen's voice had.

To my ears she's not even close to capturing the essence or finesse of Karen Carpenter.

[molee]

Rick,

I agree that Keiko sings flat in a couple of places, but as a musician I understand and appreciate the incredible pressure of a live solo performance. I think she has a beautiful voice which in actuality is probably better than this performance would indicate.

Mo Lee

[Rick Henry]

Myself being such a Karen Carpenter aficionado will probably never care for any imitators. Yes, Keiko has a good voice... but nothing even remotely close to the grace, power and pure clarity of Karen's voice. Keiko is good, but Karen Carpenter was a master... she was one of the best of the best.

Mo Lee, I do respect your viewpoint and also respect your rebuttal to my comment. Kudos to you!

[carprave]

i agree with both rick and molee. keiko has a nice voice but the quality of her voice does not come close to karens.

[timo]

I think I agree with you all so far
Keiko is at the same time a miracle (a Karen Carpenter impersonator! I mean there a thousands of Elvis impersonators but not very many of KC... ) and a letdown (because as it is said here there is only one KC). But she had the guts to sing in front of Richard.
For that she might be crowned as Kar-aok-en Carpenter?
Thanks for an interesting link, molee!

[YesterdayOnceMore]

Interesting. She's an alto, and she did a nice job singing in front of so many, and especially considering that Richard was in such close proximity while she was performing. Yet, I must agree that the tone, the ease of singing, the natural ability Karen gave us was not duplicated here. I give her kudos for trying, but she has a long, long way to go before she comes close to karen's vocal abilities.