Best female solo single of the year 2009

© Sony Music Records Japan

01- YUI - again (15.94%) 02- Ayumi Hamasaki - Rule / Sparkle (13.76%) 03- OLIVIA - Sailing free (11.62%) 04- Namie Amuro - WILD / Dr. (8.08%) 05- BoA - Mamoritai ~White wishes~ (8.02%) 06- Mika Nakashima - Nagareboshi (7%) 07- Kumi Koda - 3 SPLASH (6.89%) 08- ayaka - Minna Sora no Shita (3.43%) 09- Shiina Ringo - Ariamaru Tomi (3.42%) 10- JASMINE - sad to say (3.06%) 11- MEG - FREAK (2.88%) 12- Kimura Kaela - BANZAI (2.75%) 13- Angela Aki - Ai no kisetsu (2.45%) 14- Chihiro Onitsuka - X/LAST MELODY (1.99%) 15- Ami Suzuki - Reincarnation (1.78%) 16- Superfly - Dancing On The Fire (1.67%) 17- BENI - Kiss Kiss Kiss (1.51%) 18- Miliyah Kato - 20-CRY- (1.22%) 19- YUKI - COSMIC BOX (0.94%) 20- Chara - Breaking Hearts (0.94%) 21- Junko Akimoto - Ai no Mama de... (0.65%)

Thanks to its tie-up as the new Full Metal Alchemist theme song YUI's come back single outperforms Ayumi Hamasaki's DragonBall movie theme song. But although Ayu is less often cited in the top3, she still ranks #1 on the male audience! OLIVIA confirms her popularity in France, being backed by a share of the Jrock community which acclaimed her collaboration with INORAN. As expected, the biggest pop stars dominate this category.

Best male solo single of the year 2009

© Johnny's Entertainment

01- Tomohisa Yamashita - Loveless (27.19%) 02- Gackt - Journey through the Decade (20.97%) 03- Ken - Deeper (7.41%) 04- Daichi Miura - Delete My Memories (5.55%) 05- Kiyoharu - Kurutta kajitsu (5.49%) 06- Ken Hirai - Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru (5.3%) 07- Hideaki Takizawa - Ai Kakumei (5.22%) 08- Yuusuke - Himawari (4.9%) 09- Koichi Domoto - Ayakashi (4.05%) 10- JERO - Eisa (3.53%) 11- Naotarô Moriyama - Namida (2.3%) 12- Masaharu Fukuyama - Keshin (2.19%) 13- Keisuke Kuwata - Kimi ni Sayonara wo (1.57%) 14- Diggy-MO' - JUVES / Vega (1.54%) 15- Motohiro Hata - Niji ga kiru mae ni (1.5%) 16- Kiyoshi Hikawa - Tokimeki no Rumba (1.27%)

It is well known that the French audience still lacks interest about male artists, so there's no real surprise in the domination of a graduated Johnny's Jimusho singer and of Gackt. However Gackt appears to be a choice by default for many people given the weak support he gets in other categories. Note that among male participants Gackt outperforms Yamapi. L'Arc~en~Ciel's Ken also performs well as does Daichi Miura thanks to a large female support.

Best single from a female band or a band with female lead vocals of the year 2009

© Epic Records Japan inc.

01- SCANDAL - Shoujo S (16.73%) 02- AKB48 - Namida Surprise ! (10.29%) 03- Perfume - One Room Disco (9.94%) 04- Morning Musume - Nanchatte Renai (9.51%) 05- GIRL NEXT DOOR - Infinity (6.18%) 06- school food punishment - futuristic imagination (6.15%) 07- Berryz Koubou - Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama / Ryuusei Boy (6.06%) 08- AAA - Hide-away / Hide & Seek / Find You (5.71%) 09- ikimono-gakari - YELL / Joyful (4.9%) 10- Do As Infinity - 81 (4.73%) 11- Tokyo Jihen - Noudouteki Sanpunkan (4.66%) 12- DREAMS COME TRUE - GOOD BYE MY SCHOOL DAYS (3.26%) 13- Stereopony - Namida no Mukou (3.18%) 14- Every Little Thing - DREAM GOES ON (2.73%) 15- SPEED - S.P.D (2.19%) 16- GO!GO!7188 - Futashikatashika (1.67%) 17- CHATMONCHY - Last Love Song (1.16%) 18- Lil'B - Kimi ga suki de (0.95%)

Although AKB48's presence at Japan Expo had lined them up well for the award this year, the male votes (4th rank) shattered the hopes of their fans. Eventually SCANDAL took the prize for this category, thanks to their theme song for the still very popular anime BLEACH. Perfume completed the podium but seems to generate less excitement than last year. Also GIRL NEXT DOOR sparked some interest within the female audience, while its male counterpart definitely seems to prefer school food punishment. Interestingly, the Hello! Project performs about as well as ever.

Best single from a male band or a band with male lead vocals of the year 2009

© PS Company

01- the GazettE - DISTRESS AND COMA (15.95%) 02- abingdon boys school - JAP (12.11%) 03- VAMPS - I GOTTA KICK START NOW (11.51%) 04- B'z - Ichibu to Zenbu / DIVE (9.5%) 05- GReeeeN - Haruka (8.91%) 06- ORANGE RANGE - Hitomi no saki ni (8.69%) 07- Aqua Timez - Velonica (6.15%) 08- SID - Uso (5.14%) 09- Remioromen - Starting Over (3.75%) 10- GLAY - SAY YOUR DREAM (3.14%) 11- flumpool - Hoshi ni Negai wo (3.12%) 12- BUMP OF CHICKEN - R.I.P / Merry Christmas (2.74%) 13- KOBUKURO - Niji (1.63%) 14- NICO Touches the Walls - BIG FOOT (1.56%) 15- FUNKY MONKEY BABYS - Hero / Ashita e (1.52%) 16- the HIATUS - Insomnia (1.49%) 17- Spitz - Kimi wa Taiyou (1.15%) 18- UNICORN - WAO! (0.73%) 19- Hilcrhyme - Shunkashuutou (0.65%) 20- Chicago Poodle - Sayonara BABY (0.57%)

As soon as JaME communicated on these J-Music Awards, things definitely changed in the rankings! A swarm of extremely devoted fangirls of the GazettE went all-out, which also resulted in many fraudulent registrations and other cheating attempts. But even after removing all the bogus votes, the band still sits at the top of the ranking. The male audience preferred abingdon boys school and B'z, while VAMPS and GReeeeN got decent support from both genders. Also the male audience (on average older) seems more open to discovery in this category: the bands ranked in the last seven positions owe male voters the majority of their points.

Best boys band single of the year 2009

© J-Storm

01- ARASHI - Believe / Kumori Nochi, Kaisei (18.34%) 02- KAT-TUN - ONE DROP (15.42%) 03- BIGBANG - MY HEAVEN (14.83%) 04- NEWS - Koi no ABO (13.51%) 05- Tohoshinki - Stand by U (11.57%) 06- EXILE - THE MONSTER ~Someday~ (5.35%) 07- TOKIO - Taiyou to Sabaku no Bara / Subeki Koto (4.18%) 08- Kanjani8 - Kyu-Jo-Show!! (4.04%) 09- Tegomass - Tanabata Matsuri (3.08%) 10- SMAP - Sotto Kyutto / Super Star? (2.41%) 11- w-inds. - New World / Truth ~Saigo no Shinjitsu~ (2.29%) 12- Kinki Kids - Yakusoku (2%) 13- V6 - Spirit (1.71%) 14- Nakayama Yuma w/B.I.Shadow / NYC boys - Akuma na Koi / NYC (1.26%)

Another category for which male voters showed a substantial lack of interest. They also favored BIGBANG and Tohoshinki at the expense of KAT-TUN, which ranked only 8th among male voters. BIGBANG was the biggest surprise as they even outperformed fellow Koreans Tohoshinki. But in the end Johnny's Jimusho got the lion share and Arashi generated as much enthusiasm among French speaking people as among Japanese. The votes also confirms the lack of interest for w-inds. which has been observed for a few years now.

Best collaboration single of the year 2009

© avex marketing inc.

01- BoA - UNIVERSE feat.Crystal Kay&VERBAL (14.7%) 02- Ai Otsuka x SU from RIP SLYME - aisu x time (13.26%) 03- Koda Kumi x misono - It's all Love! (12.16%) 04- LANDS - BANDAGE (11.03%) 05- w-inds. x G-DRAGON (BIG BANG) - Rain Is Fallin' / HYBRID DREAM (8.84%) 06- MELON KINENBI x BEAT CRUSADERS - DON'T SAY GOOD-BYE (5.57%) 07- ravex - ROCK U feat. Namie Amuro (4.69%) 08- TOKYO No.1 SOUL SET + HALCALI - Konya wa boogie back (3.93%) 09- Aya Kamiki w TAKUYA - W-B-X ~W-Boiled Extreme~ (3.87%) 10- Kato Miliyah x Shimizu Shota - Love Forever (3.71%) 11- DREAMS COME TRUE feat. FUZZY CONTROL - Sono Saki e (3.48%) 12- Spontania - Ima demo zutto feat. Yuna Ito (2.93%) 13- m-flo - SOUND BOY THRILLER feeeeeeeeeat.LISA (2.78%) 14- JUJU with JAY'ED - Ashita ga Kuru Nara (2.6%) 15- Daichi Miura - Your Love feat. KREVA (1.94%) 16- HOME MADE KAZOKU - Tomorrow featuring Kusuo (1.43%) 17- BENNIE BECCA - Dreamer (1.13%) 18- Yuzuguren - two Yuu (1.02%) 19- Miss Monday - The Light feat... (0.94%)

Because of the lack of buzz this year in this category, the winners are to be found among the collaborations involving major pop stars. Nevertheless, female voters allowed Johnny's Jimusho to get a spot in the top5 rankings with LANDS, whereas male people tended to vote in favor of ravex and Namie Amuro.

Best female solo album of the year 2009

© avex marketing inc.

01- Ayumi Hamasaki - NEXT LEVEL (16.21%) 02- KOKIA - KOKIA AKIKO ~balance~ / AKIKO KOKIA ~balance~ (11.12%) 03- Kumi Koda - TRICK (10.88%) 04- UTADA - This is the one (10.8%) 05- Namie Amuro - PAST < FUTURE (10.09%) 06- alan - Voice of EARTH (4.24%) 07- MEG - BEAUTIFUL (3.73%) 08- Shiina Ringo - Sanmon Gossip (3.71%) 09- Angela Aki - ANSWER (3.62%) 10- Meisa Kuroki - hellcat (3%) 11- Kaela Kimura - HOCUS POCUS (2.89%) 12- Chihiro Onitsuka - DOROTHY (2.29%) 13- Mao Abe - Free (1.92%) 14- MiCHi - UP TO YOU (1.92%) 15- Superfly - Box Emotions (1.81%) 16- BONNIE PINK - ONE (1.77%) 17- Mai Kuraki - touch Me ! (1.59%) 18- Aira Mitsuki - PLASTIC (1.46%) 19- BENI - Bitter & Sweet (1.16%) 20- Miliyah Kato - Ring (1.16%) 21- JUJU - What's Love ? (1.1%) 22- Chara - CAROL (1.08%) 23- LISA - Disco Volante (1.03%) 24- lecca - BIG POPPER (0.71%) 25- Miho Fukuhara - RAINBOW (0.71%)

This category is a perfect stage for a giant clash between the most popular female singers in Japan, and of course Ayu got the better advantage thanks to her large and solid fanbase, well ahead of rivals Kumi Koda, Utada and Namie Amuro. The surprise comes from KOKIA, whose twin albums rank second thanks to a regular appearance in top3 votings. Male voters ranked Namie Amuro second and Shiina Ringo third, relegating the other singers to lower ranks. Despite quite a decent support from male voters who ranked her 8th, Superfly ends up in a disappointing 15th position since female voters do not seem to care about her works...

Best male solo album of the year 2009

© uprise-inc.

01- Acid Black Cherry - Q.E.D. (21.97%) 02- Ken - IN PHYSICAL (11.13%) 03- Kiyoharu - Madrigal Of Decadence (8.65%) 04- Daichi Miura - Who's The Man (7.64%) 05- Yuusuke - Ano...konnan dekimashita kedo. (5.43%) 06- JAY'ED - MUSICATION (4.88%) 07- JERO - COVERS 2 (4.83%) 08- Masaharu Fukuyama - Zankyou (4.62%) 09- Takeshi Tsuruno - Tsurunouta (4.42%) 10- SoulJa - COLORZ (4.3%) 11- Kazuya Yoshii - VOLT (3.79%) 12- Shunsuke Kiyokiba - Rockin' the Door (2.61%) 13- KREVA - Shinzou (2.61%) 14- Masayoshi Yamasaki - IN MY HOUSE (2.46%) 15- Micro - SPACE RHYTHM 1 / 1.5 (2.21%) 16- Diggy-MO' - Diggyism (1.88%) 17- Ichirou Ito - DIVERSITY (1.86%) 18- Curly Giraffe - Thank You For Being A Friend (1.68%) 19- Ôhashi TRIO - A BIRD (1.61%) 20- Kusuo - R (1.41%)

As with singles, male solo albums votes are often done by default and this category remains the least popular of the survey (participation rate : 63%). The winner is Acid Black Cherry, who tops the ranking with nearly twice as much votes as his runner up Ken. Remaining votes are much more divided and show no real difference in voting behavior between boys and girls here.

Best album from a female band or a band with female lead vocals of the year 2009

© Zetima - Up-front

01- HANGRY&ANGRY - Sadistic Dance (14.47%) 02- Perfume - TRIANGLE (13.73%) 03- PUFFY - Bring it! (12.05%) 04- Morning Musume - Platinum 9 Disc (11.62%) 05- Do As Infinity - ETERNAL FLAME (8.91%) 06- °C-ute - Akogare My Star (8.63%) 07- ikimono-gakari - Hajimari no Uta (8.57%) 08- AAA - departure (8.13%) 09- DREAMS COME TRUE - DO YOU DREAMS COME TRUE (4.75%) 10- Sweet Vacation - pop saves the world (2.93%) 11- CHATMONCHY - Kokuhaku (2.04%) 12- 80kidz - This Is My Shit (1.86%) 13- Lil'B - Ima, kimi e (1.41%) 14- Noanowa - SPECTACLE (0.89%)

In this category, French people favored artists who have already performed in France, like HANGRY & ANGRY a few weeks ago and PUFFY last summer. The podium is completed by Perfume, considered by many to be one of the best choices for performing during the next Japan Expo. Interestingly among male voters the ranking was quite different, with Perfume far ahead, HANGRY & ANGRY 3rd and PUFFY only 7th. And again the mobilization from Hello! Project fans, which allows Morning Musume to rise to 4th position among both genders should be emphasized.

Best album from a male band or a band with male lead vocals of the year 2009

© J-Storm

01- KAT-TUN - Break the Records -by you & for you- (15.74%) 02- the GazettE - DIM (13.81%) 03- VAMPS - VAMPS (12.24%) 04- Tohoshinki - The Secret Code (11.19%) 05- Kanjani8 - PUZZLE (6.83%) 06- B'z - MAGIC (5.91%) 07- GReeeeN - Shio, Koushou (5.79%) 08- SID - hakari (4.93%) 09- EXILE - Aisubeki mirai e (3.91%) 10- TERIYAKI BOYZ - SERIOUS JAPANESE (2.73%) 11- ravex - trax (2.64%) 12- flumpool - What's flumpool (2.16%) 13- MONGOL800 - eight-hundreds (1.64%) 14- NICO Touches the Walls - Aurora (1.34%) 15- Yuzu - FURUSATO (1.32%) 16- RADWIMPS - Altocolony no Teiri (1.32%) 17- the HIATUS - Trash We'd Love (1.29%) 18- KOBUKURO - CALLING (1.18%) 19- RIP SLYME - JOURNEY (1.02%) 20- DOPING PANDA - decadence (0.75%) 21- the telephones - Dance Floor Monsters (0.71%) 22- ROCK'A'TRENCH - ACTION! (0.54%) 23- UNICORN - Chambre (0.43%) 24- Shounannokaze - Shounannokaze ~JOKER~ (0.29%) 25- Chicago Poodle - Bakutabi (0.27%)

The lack of diversity of this year's releases led to decide not to dedicate a category to boys bands. As a consequence, this category became a merciless duel between fans of Johnny's Jimusho on one side and of J-rock / Visual Kei on the other. Some fangirls did not hesitate to register up to 8 times in 3 weeks to support their favorite rock band, but even if these fraudulent votes had been taken into account, the award would still have gone to KAT-TUN. Among girls, KAT-TUN gathered over 20% of total votes, which allowed them to compensate the male voters ranking them only 6th. VAMPS too did pretty good, thanks to their male supporters, which will probably have an influence on their upcoming European concert that everyone hopes to be held in France. As for Tohoshinki, they did better than in the singles rankings mainly since male participants seem to prefer them to any Johnny's Jimusho act.

Best "best album" of the year 2009

© J-Storm

01- Arashi - All the BEST ! 1999-2009 (15.95%) 02- HYDE - HYDE (13.57%) 03- BoA - BEST & USA (13.05%) 04- Ai Ôtsuka - LOVE is BEST (11.61%) 05- UVERworld - Neo SOUND BEST (6.73%) 06- Crystal Kay - The BEST of CRYSTAL KAY (4.72%) 07- ayaka - ayaka's History 2006-2009 (3.9%) 08- Tommy february6 / heavenly6 (3.88%) 09- GReeeeN - Ima made no A-men, B-men desu to !? (3.87%) 10- REMIOROMEN - REMIOBEST (3.13%) 11- GLAY - THE GREAT VACATION VOL.1 & 2 ~SUPER BEST OF GLAY~ (3.01%) 12- capsule - FLASH BEST (2.96%) 13- m-flo - MF10 -10th ANNIVERSARY BEST- (2.55%) 14- BEAT CRUSADERS - VERY BEST CRUSADERS (2.4%) 15- Every Little Thing - Every Best single ~COMPLETE~ (1.92%) 16- AI - BEST A.I. (1.56%) 17- Mai Kuraki - ALL MY BEST (1.35%) 18- SPEED - SPEEDLAND - The Premium Best Re Tracks- (1.31%) 19- Sowelu - Sowelu THE BEST 2002-2009 (1%) 20- SEAMO - Best of SEAMO (0.8%) 21- Spontania - Collaborations Best (0.72%)

No surprise here : Johnny's and J-rock fangirls once again got into a harsh fight, with Johnny's fans still getting the best results despite the fact that male votes mostly went to pop stars and electro-pop acts (capsule ranks 6th among the male audience). Crystal Kay made a remarkable appearance as she ranked way higher than many other popular acts.

Best live DVD of the year 2009

© Ki/oon Records

01- L'Arc~en~Ciel - Live in Paris (22.45%) 02- KAT-TUN - Live Tour 2008 Queen Of Pirates (14.29%) 03- ayumi hamasaki - ASIA TOUR 2008 -10th Anniversary- Live in TAIPEI (10.58%) 04- Tohoshinki - 4th Live Tour 2009 -The Secret Code- Final in Tokyo Dome (10.44%) 05- VAMPS - VAMPS Live 2008 (6.78%) 06- namie amuro - Best Fiction Tour 2008-2009 (6.69%) 07- Kumi Koda - Koda Kumi Live Tour 2009 -TRICK- (6%) 08- Perfume - ''BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!!'' (4.48%) 09- ORANGE RANGE - Orange Range Live Tour 008 -Panic Fancy- at Budokan (3.89%) 10- B'z - Live-Gym Pleasure 2008 -Glory Days- (3.1%) 11- UVERworld - AwakEVE TOUR 09 (2.87%) 12- EXILE - Live Tour ''EXILE Perfect Live 2008'' (1.5%) 13- Daichi Miura - Daichi Miura Live 2009 -Encore of Our Love- (0.99%) 14- the HIATUS - Trash We'd Love Tour Final at Studio Coast (0.81%) 15- YUKI - New Rhythm Tour 2008 (0.78%) 16- Superfly - Rock`N'Roll Show 2008 (0.78%) 17- Mai Kuraki - 10th Anniversary Mai Kuraki Live Tour Best (0.71%) 18- CHATMONCHY - Wash The Livehouse '09@Zepp Tokyo (0.69%) 19- TSUBASA IMAI - Dance and Rock Tour'09 (0.55%) 20- ZEEBRA - Anniversary The Live Animal in Budokan (0.51%) 21- NITRO MICROPHONE UNDERGROUND - NITRO CAMP '09 -10th Anniversary Special- (0.44%) 22- Eikichi Yazawa - Rock'n'roll In Tokyo Dome (0.34%) 23- Motohiro Hata - Live At Budokan (0.25%) 24- Tatsuya Ishii - Concert Tour 2009 Chandelier Scandal Black Rose / Red Rose (0.11%)

One of the highest scores of this 2009 survey: L'Arc~en~Ciel came first with the DVD of their Live in Paris, which was overwhelmingly elected best concert in France in 2008. Then come all the usual names, with a disappointing rank for Namie Amuro whose DVDs used to get more votes than in this year's survey. Once again, the female massive vote for KAT-TUN was crucial, since Namie ranks 3rd behind L'Arc and Ayu among male participants.

Best dancing of the year 2009

© J-Storm

01- KAT-TUN - Rescue (11.1%) 02- NEWS - Koi no ABO (8.05%) 03- Tohoshinki - Mirotic (4.7%) 04- Namie Amuro - WILD (4.39%) 05- Ayumi Hamasaki - Rule (3.79%) 06- Arashi - Crazy Moon ~kimi wa muteki~ (3.62%) 07- Morning Musume - Kimagure Princess (3.34%) 08- Tohoshinki - Survivor (3.02%) 09- BIG BANG - GARA GARA GO !! (2.98%) 10- Kumi Koda - ECSTASY (2.45%) 11- Morning Musume - Nanchatte Renai (2.43%) 12- Morning Musume - Shouga nai Yume Oibito (2.03%) 13- BoA - Eien (1.96%)     AKB48 - RIVER (1.96%) 15- Perfume - One Room Disco (1.78%) 16- Arashi - Believe (1.66%) 17- Namie Amuro - LOVE GAME (1.51%) 18- Buono! - My boy (1.5%) 19- Namie Amuro - FAST CAR (1.37%) 20- AKB48 - Namida Surprise (1.36%)

Most frequently mentioned artists (decreasing order) : KAT-TUN, NEWS, Morning Musume, Tohoshinki, Namie Amuro, Arashi, Ayumi Hamasaki, BIG BANG, Kumi Koda, BoA, AKB48 Perfume...

This category was completely neglected by the radical J-rock fanbase (participation rate : 66%), which resulted in boys bands taking the podium thanks to a large female support while male voters rather voted for female pop stars. Also a great mobilization from Hello!Project fans, whose votes for several different songs allowed the Musume to rank third among the most frequently mentioned artists.

Best female artist or band with female lead vocals of the year 2009

© avex marketing

01- Ayumi Hamasaki (7,71%) 02- Namie Amuro (6,11%) 03- Kumi Koda (4,86%) 04- Morning Musume (4,77%) 05- SCANDAL (4,40%) 06- YUI (3,48%) 07- Ai Otsuka (3,31%) 08- Buono! (3,28%) 09- AKB48 (3,26%) 10- BoA (2,87%) 11- OLIVIA (2,78%) 12- Hikaru Utada (2,54%) 13- Ikimono-gakari (2,34%) 14- Berryz Koubou (2,19%) 15- KOKIA (2,12%) 16- Mika Nakashima (1,97%) 17- Anna Tsuchiya (1,84%) 18- Perfume (1,80%) 19- Kanon Wakeshima (1,73%) 20- ayaka (1,60%) 21- Hangry&Angry (1,55%) 22- school food punishment (1,53%) 23- °C-ute (1,40%) 24- Uplift Spice (1,29%) 25- alan, Stereopony (1,20%) ...

From 0.5% to 1% of the votes cast : Pinky Doodle Poodle, Shiina Ringo, Crystal Kay, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, Meisa Kuroki, Mao Abe, Aya Kamiki, Chihiro Onitsuka, GIRL NEXT DOOR, Superfly, Tokyo Jihen

From 0.25% to 0.5% of the votes cast : Miliyah Kato, Angela Aki, Do as Infinity, SPEED, Danger Gang, Kaela Kimura, Berryz Koubou, AAA, Kalafina, Aya Matsuura, Beni, GO!GO!7188, JASMINE, Nana Kitade, Coma-chi, Chatmonchy, DREAMS COME TRUE, Nana Mizuki

From 0.1% to 0.25% of the votes cast : Kusumi Koharu, Kana Nishino, Juju, m.o.v.e, MEG, MiCHi, Yuna Ito, Yaneka, Yui Aragaki, Aira Mitsuki, ALI PROJECT, Chara, Every Little Thing, HALCALI, Mano Erina, MISIA, Salyu, Akiko Shikata, Kokusyoku Sumire, Maaya Sakamoto, Akino Arai, capsule, DOMINO, Hitomi Shimatani, HITT, MOSAIC.WAV, Thelma Aoyama, Yousei Teikoku

Less than 0.1% of the votes cast : Ami Suzuki, Ayaka Hirahara, Cherryblossom, Guardians 4, Head Phones President, HIMEKA, Lecca, Lil'B, Mai Fukui, May'n, S/mileage, Tainaka Sachi, Tommy february6, Yui Horie, 80kidz, Angela, Aoyama Thelma, becca, BONNIE PINK, BRIGHT, B'z, four degrees celsius, Fuyumi Abe, GARNET CROW, Hiromi, Jack or Jive, Jinn, Juliet, Kanon, Kelly, Kitaguchi Kazusa, Kiyoharu, Kou Shibasaki, Maximum the Hormone, Miki Fujimoto, MISAKO UNO, Momoiro Clover, Moon Kana, Nakajima Megumi, Nana Tanimura, Noon, Onmyo-za, Rumi, Miwa Sasagawa, Scars Borough, Shion, Shojo S, Sweet Vacation, The Noodles, Tsuji Shion, Wakeshima Kanon, Yuka Kagiyama, Yumi Shizukusa, AI, Ai Takahashi, aiko, Akimoto Junko, Aya Hirano, Aya Matsuura, Big Bang, Bonnie Pink, Byakura, Coppu, FictionJunction, Hatuki Yura, Idoling, Immi, Jelly Beans, LM.C, Mai Kuraki, Mao Denda, May's, mell, Misono, Mizca, Nakagawa Shoko, no sleeves, Reina Tanaka, Rie Fu, Rokugen Alice, Rurutia, Satomi Takasugi, SAWA, Scarborough, Shikata Akiko, Shion Tsuji, so'fly, Sowelu, Tiara, Tommy heavenly6, Trill Dan, UA, Vanilla Beans, winnie, Yôsei Teikoku, Younha, Yuu Yamada, Bennie K, Cocco, DecoLa Hopping, DOUBLE, Erika Sawajiri, Frenesi, gallows, Kanojo, Kisaki, LAZYGUNSBRISKY, lela, Lena Park, Maeda Yuki, Maki Goto, Mayumi Gojô, Mihimaru GT, Ougi Aina, Saori@Destiny, Sayuri Sugawara, SHIGI, Shonen Knife, SKE48, THC!, TRILL-DAN, tsukiko hamano, Yo Hitoto, Yui Makino, Yukari Tamura, YUKI

avex got the full podium in this category! The top rank went without surprise to Ayumi Hamasaki thanks to the constant efforts of her French-speaking fans. Namie Amuro ranked 2nd thanks to a strong enough male support while Kumi Koda beat Hello! Project for the 3rd place although the idols confirmed their popularity among the french fans. Disappointing results for Hikaru Utada (who hasn't been very busy in Japan in 2009) and KOKIA (despite her excellent rank in the albums category). A special thumbs up for Uplift Spice, whose popularity keeps growing recently thanks to a strong promotion on Nolife TV channel!

Best male artist or band with male lead vocals of the year 2009

© J-Storm

01- Arashi (7,92%) 02- KAT-TUN (7,22%) 03- Tohoshinki (6,53%) 04- NEWS (5,87%) 05- The GazettE (3,99%) 06- BIGBANG (3,63%) 07- VAMPS (3,35%) 08- Kanjani8 (2,37%) 09- Dir en grey (2,28%) 10- L'Arc~en~Ciel (2,24%) 11- abingdon boys school (2,09%) 12- Gackt (2,09%) 13- MUCC (1,88%) 14- Tomohisa Yamashita (1,86%) 15- GReeeeN (1,81%) 16- miyavi. (1,79%) 17- B'z (1,73%) 18- D'espairsRay (1,32%) 19- LM.C (1,20%) 20- EXILE (1,07%) 21- Versailles (1,02%) 22- ONE OK ROCK (0,98%) 23- Girugamesh (0,96%) 24- HITT (0,96%) 25- UVERworld (0,96%)...

From 0.5% to 0.8% of the votes cast : An Cafe, alice nine., MONORAL, Acid Black Cherry, Daichi Miura, HYDE, Remioromen, Ken, SID , Tegomasu, the HIATUS , Glay, Buck-Tick , Mr.Children

From 0.25% to 0.5% of the votes cast : Aqua Timez, Ken Hirai, NICO Touches The Walls, Merry, Orange Range, Vistlip, Maximum The Hormone, D, m-flo, The Back Horn, NIGHTMARE, Sadie, JAY'ED, Kiyoharu, KOBUKURO, LANDS, vistlip, Jin Akanishi, nobodyknows+, Teriyaki Boyz, Yuya Matsushita, Tomohisa Yamashita, w-inds.

From 0.1% to 0.25% of the votes cast : BUMP OF CHICKEN, FLOW, Motohiro Hata, NYC Boys, TOKIO, Yuzu, Hey! Say! JUMP, ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Radwimps, SuG, UVERworld, Yuusuke, DELUHI, GARI, Nakayama Yuma w./ B.I.Shadow, Plastic Tree, Shimizu Shota, T.M.Revolution, Tegoshi Yuya, Art Cube, Imitation Pops Uchuu Sentai NOIZ, JERO, The Pillows, URATA NAOYA, Angelo, Aoi, Hideaki Takizawa, Ling toshite shigure, Megaromania, Mix Speaker's, Inc., Porno Graffitti, Rip Slyme, satsuki, Takanori Nishikawa, the telephones, ViViD, BREAKERZ, d=out, DaizyStripper, Dio distraught overlord, Tsuyoshi Doumoto, G-Dragon, Kinki Kids, Kra, KREVA, MATENROU OPERA, Ryo Nishikido, SINCREA, SuG, V6

Less than 0,1% of the votes cast : Ayabie, Deathgaze, heidi., Kenichi Asai, Lycaon, Moi Dix Mois, mongol800, Nothing's Carved In Stone, ON/OFF, Ra:IN, SMAP, Tetra-Fang, THE CRO MAGNONS, UnsraW, Vidoll, 10-Feet, AAA, ACIDMAN, Ak-69, And, chemical pictures , Cocklobin, Dustz, Fukuyama Masaharu, Hana Shounen Baddies, Hanaregumi, hide, HOME MADE KAZOKU, iLL, Koshi Inaba, Kegawa no Maries, Keisuke Kuwata, Laughlife, Leo Imai, LuLu, Masayoshi Yamazaki, Masuda Takahisa, MM3, Yuichi Nakamaru, Ohashi Trio, -OZ-, Polysics, ravex, Romancrew, SEAMO, Spontania, Sugar, Teppei Koike, The Birthday, Toe, yuki, ZEEBRA, 9GOATS BLACK OUT, Acid Flavor, Adapter., Aicle, ack-On, Boogieman, Cinema Staff, dabo, D'ERLANGER, D'LORE, envy, FUNKY MONKEY BABYS, Galneryus, Gizmo, Inoue Joe, Jabberloop, JEJUNG&YUCHUN, Kazuya Kamenashi, Kaya, Kimeru, Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi Hikawa, Koike Teppei, Micro, Phantasmagoria, Pure Q&A, Ryo Fujimura, Sakanaction, Stance Punk, the kiddie, VanessA, Base ball bear, BIGMAMA, chariots, Chicago Poodle, DJ Kentaro, doa, DOPING PANDA, Eikichi Yazawa, Fact, forbidden days rhapsody, Hylcrhyme, INFINITY 16, J, Kagrra,, Kis-My-FT2, Megamasso, monobright, moran, Nega, Samurai Troops (SMRYTRPS), SCREW, Sex Machineguns, Soil and Pimp Session, SOPHIA, Spitz, SUNS OWL, Super Junior, Takacha, Takeshi Tsuruno, tetsuya, the studs, Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, Velbet, WaT, Zoro

Boys bands fever striked again in this category with a victory of Arashi, whose phenomenal success extended its domination from Japan to Europe. Apart from boys bands, the rest of the top10 consisted mainly in J-rock and Visual Kei acts : the Gazette, Dir en grey, VAMPS and Laruku. As expected solo male artists were barely represented and Gackt remained the one doing best. Also ONE OK ROCK, who still is the subject of great expectations in France, managed to get a honorable rank, as did UVERworld despite the odds.

Best newcomer of the year 2009

© YG Entertainment Japan

01- BIGBANG (30.75%) 02- school food punishment (17.42%) 03- JASMINE (10.35%) 04- Stereopony (8.09%) 05- Yuusuke (6.46%) 06- Mao Abe (5.22%) 07- SAWA (4.73%) 08- Tiara (3.76%) 09- Minami Kizuki (2.79%) 10- Takeshi Tsuruno (2.26%) 11- URATA NAOYA (1.53%) 12- Hilcrhyme (1.41%) 13- lego big morl (1.37%) 14- Chicago Poodle (1.22%) 15- supercell (1.13%) 16- Noanowa (0.99%) 17- Sleepy.ab (0.53%)

Landslide vote for Korean act BIGBANG with the highest score of all the survey! Still it must be said that few new artists have really distinguished themselves this year, causing many choices by default. In second place came school food punishment who managed to be quite widely known after their visit to Japan Expo. JASMINE also made it to the top3, carrying the hopes of a revival of the japanese RnB music scene. Young rock bands are mainly gathered in the lowest ranks, probably due to a real lack of informative coverage about them in the French J-music oriented media.

Best live act in France of the year 2009

© EMI Music Japan

01- miyavi. (10.78%) 02- AKB48 (10.57%) 03- An Cafe (7.1%) 04- abingdon boys school (6.86%) 05- Kanon Wakeshima (5.74%) 06- LM.C (5.68%) 07- D'espairsRay (5.5%) 08- KOKIA (5.39%) 09- MUCC (5.26%) 10- Dir en grey & Killswitch (4.39%) 11- PUFFY (3.49%) 12- HITT (2.39%) 13- school food punishment (2.28%) 14- Aoi (1.82%) 15- MONORAL (1.77%) 16- vistlip (1.69%) 17- Pinky Doodle Poodle (1.49%) 18- Ra:IN (1.45%) 19- MEG (1.32%) 20- Akino Arai (1.14%) 21- GARI (1.14%) 22- Yui Makino (1.1%) 23- D=OUT (0.96%) 24- Le Printemps de Bourges Made in Japan (VA) (0.92%) 25- Mix Speaker's,Inc. (0.83%) 26- Ryo Fujimura (0.81%) 27- YANEKA (0.77%) 28- Art Cube (0.75%) 29- TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA (0.66%) 30- 80kidz (0.63%) 31- DJ KRUSH (0.5%) 32- Ryuichi Sakamoto (0.46%) 33- SUNS OWL (0.42%) 34- Fête de la Musique : DUSTZ, Dark Schneider, Marie (0.4%) 35- MONO (0.39%) 36- MOSAIC.WAV (0.35%) 37- Keisho Ohno (0.31%) 38- L'Experience Japonaise 2009 à Nîmes (VA) (0.29%) 39- DJ Kentaro (0.28%) 40- ZAMZA N'BANSHEE (0.28%) 41- TRILL-DAN (0.26%) 42- envy (0.26%) 43- GOTHIKA (0.24%) 44- detroit7 (0.2%) 45- Kokusyoku Sumire (0.2%) 46- Shinichi Osawa (0.17%) 47- BARAKA (0.15%) 48- quasimode (0.07%) 49- Osaka Monaurail (0.07%) 50- OTOKAGE (0.02%)

The competition for this award was very tight, but eventually miyavi. took the lead! Votes in this category demonstrate more than ever the preponderance of women among the Visual Kei fans community. Indeed the ranking for male voters was completely different : AKB48 came first, followed by KOKIA and abingdon boys school and then only miyavi.. GARI ended up at a quite a disappointing place as the band still suffers from a very ambivalent situation: on the one hand the band's concerts at Japan Expo are always triumphs, and on the other they get no real interest from most of Japanese music fans apart from this Japan Expo context... But the biggest failure goes to the Printemps de Bourges: the event has certainly marked a breakthrough in the recognition given by professionals and the French media to the Japanese music scene, but its organization was completely disconnected from the regular channels of J-music development in France. As a result, only very few Japanese music fans came to attend the various concerts planned, maybe also due to the lack of a very big headliner who could have tipped the balance.

Best CD cover of the year 2009

© avex marketing / Vision Factory

01- Namie Amuro - Past < Future (5,37%) 02- the GazettE - DIM (4,44%) 03- Ayumi Hamasaki - you were.../BALLAD (3,60%) 04- Tohoshinki - The Secret Code (3,06%) 05- Ai &Ôtsuka - LOVE is BEST (3,05%) 06- OLIVIA - Sailing Free (2,69%) 07- Tomohisa Yamashita - Loveless (2,55%) 08- Arashi - All the BEST ! 1999-2009 (2,32%) 09- MUCC - Kyuutai (2,06%) 10- NEWS - Koi no ABO (2,04%) 11- Kumi Koda - TRICK (1,92%) 12- Buono! - Bravo! Bravo! (1,78%) 13- BIGBANG - Gara Gara Go !! (1,66%) 14- KAT-TUN - Break the Records -by you & for you- (1,55%) 15- Dir en grey - UROBOROS (1,40%) 16- Ayumi Hamasaki - Next Level (1,28%) 17- VAMPS - VAMPS (1,27%) 18- Morning Musume - Shouganai yume oibito (1,17%) 19- Ayumi Hamasaki - Rule/Sparkle (1,16%) 20- Kanjani8 - PUZZLE (1,16%) 21- B'z - Magic (1,03%) 22- Namie Amuro - WILD / Dr. (0,91%) 23- BoA - BEST&USA (0,90%) 24- Kumi Koda - Alive / Physical thing (0,90%) 25- Morning Musume - Nanchatte Renai (0,90%)

The audience rewarded the quite daring concept of Namie Amuro's new album cover, then voted mainly for its favorite artists. So not surprisingly we find the same artists here than in other categories. Votes in favor of a single artist have often been divided between his different CDs, resulting in low overall scores that questions the relevancy of this category.

Most anticipated artist or band for the year 2010

© avex marketing

01- Ayumi Hamasaki (5,77%) 02- KAT-TUN (4,86%) 03- NEWS (4,76%) 04- Arashi (4,71%) 05- Tohoshinki (4,64%) 06- Morning Musume (3,60%) 07- the Gazette (3,27%) 08- X Japan (2,98%) 09- BIGBANG (2,88%) 10- Namie Amuro (2,67%) 11- VAMPS (2,67%) 12- L'Arc~en~Ciel (1,93%) 13- Kumi Koda (1,84%) 14- Dir en grey (1,71%) 15- Hikaru Utada (1,59%) 16- miyavi (1,58%) 17- Buono! (1,51%) 18- Gackt (1,43%) 19- OLIVIA (1,41%) 20- Ai Ôtsuka (1,27%) 21- Berryz Koubou (1,26%) 22- Kanjani8 (1,12%) 23- BoA (1,06%) 24- LM.C (1,04%) 25- Versailles (1,02%) 26- MUCC (0,94%) 27- YUI (0,91%) 28- ONE OK ROCK (0,87%) 29- SCANDAL (0,87%) 30- °C-ute, AKB48, alice nine. (0,84%)

More than 0.5% of the votes cast : abingdon boys school, Anna Tsuchiya, D'espairsRay, An Cafe, HITT, sadie, Merry, Tomohisa Yamashita, B'z, Girugamesh, Nightmare, KOKIA, Vistlip

From 0.25% to 0.5% of the votes cast : Acid Black Cherry, Aya Kamiki, Ikimono-gakari, The Back Horn, UVERworld, Glay, Perfume, school food punishment, SuG, HANGRY&ANGRY, D, Mika Nakashima, MONORAL, Alan, Plastic Tree, SID, Stereopony, Uplift Spice, Buck-Tick, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Kiyoharu, MAXIMUM THE HORMONE, Moi Dix Mois, Hey!Say!JUMP, Shiina Ringo

From 0.1% to 0.25% of the votes cast : GReeeeN, Kanon Wakeshima, T.M.Revolution, flumpool, MATENROU OPERA, Aqua Timez, BUMP OF CHICKEN, Nana Kitade, PUFFY, AAA, HYDE, Tegomass, Buono!, DELUHI, EXILE, FLOW, Ken, -OZ-, Daichi Miura, heidi., Kaya, RIP SLYME, Akiko Shikata, Angela Aki, ayaka, Chihiro Onitsuka, Crystal Kay, HALCALI, Kagrra,, Megaromania, Orange Range, Rize, SATSUKI, ViViD, 9GOATS BLACK OUT, aicle., Aira Mitsuki, Angelo, Aya Matsuura, Ayabie, Buck Tick, D=OUT, Dio-distraught overlord, exist+trace, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, JASMINE, Kra, Miliyah Kato, Remioromen, TERIYAKI BOYZ, Uchuu Sentai NOIZ, Vidoll, Yuzu

Less than 0,1% of the votes cast : Acidman, Charlotte, DaizyStripper, Deathgaze, Every Little Thing, Kaela Kimura, LANDS, Maaya Sakamoto, Mao Abe, Mix speaker's inc, Mr.Children, NICO Touches The Walls, Phantasmagoria, Rin Toshite Shigure, the brilliant green, the HIATUS, Vanessa, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Ami Suzuki, Aoi, Art Cube, Boom Boom Satelites, BREAKERZ, capsule, cocklobin, Galneryus, GARI, GO!GO!7188, Hitomi Shimatani, Kinki Kids, lynch., Motohiro Hata, Mouse on the Keys, ScreW, SUGIZO, TETRA-FANG, The Pillows, Tokyo Jihen, UA, ACO, Akino Arai, Beat Crusaders, Chara, ClearVeil, FictionJunction, GARNET CROW, Hideki Kaji, Holstein, JAY'ED, jelly beans, kannivalism, Koharu Kusumi, Mano Erina, MISIA, north coast bad boyz, NYC Boys, odoro matilda, Ohashi Trio, Pinky Doodle Poodle, Radwimps, Romancrew, S.K.I.N., Saori@Destiny, Sayuri Sugawara, Shion Tsuji, Sincrea, Soulhead, Stance Punk, SUPER JUNIOR, Superfly, the telephones, TOKIO, w-inds., World's End Girlfriend, Yaneka, 10-Feet, 2PM, Acid Flavor, Adapter., Anli Pollicino, Asriel, Aya Hirano, Base Ball Bear, CN Blue, COMA-CHI, dangan shoujo, DOG in the Parallel World orchestra, DOPING PANDA, Doremidan, Envy, Epik High, Head phones president, Hirakawachi 1-chome, Immi, Ino Head Park, Janne da arc, Juka (Shaura), Kana, Ken Hirai, KOBUKURO, Koshi Inaba, KOTOKO, Kyioharu, Lycaon, m.o.v.e, Masayoshi Yamazaki, MEG, Meisa Kuroki, m-flo, misono, Momoiro clover, MOSAIC.WAV, Nana Mizuki, Naotarô Moriyama, Nega, Porno Graffitti, Ryo Fujimura, Se7en, SEAMO, Seikima II, Shoko Nakagawa, The Alfee, The Birthday, TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, UnsraW, Velbet, VII sense, WaT, Yui Horie, Yuusuke, 80kidz, 8otto, ACID, AI, Ai Takahashi, ALSDEAD, And, auncia, CASCADE, Chariots, chatmonchy, Do As Infinity, Eikichi Yazawa, F.T. Island, Frenesi, Fujimoto Miki, hitomi, HOKT, inoran, JERO, Karasu, Ketsumeishi, Kiyoshi Hikawa, Kokusyoku Sumire, L.M.C, lecca, Liv moon, LUNA SEA, lynch., Mai Fukui, Mano Erina, Mari Yaguchi, Megamasso, Miwa Sasagawa, nobodyknows+, NoGoD, Noon, Onmyo-za, Ra:IN, Rei Fu, RURUTIA, RYO NISHIKIDO, S/mileage, Sex Machineguns, SMAP, Sound Horizon, SPEED, Suns Owl, Teppei Koike, The Kiddie, three nation, Tiara, Trill-Dan, Yosei Teikoku, Yui Makino, yuki, Yuki Kajiura, Yuki Maeda, Yumi Shizukusa, Yuu Yamada...

This category is obviously the one that will get the most attention from japanese media and professionals, insofar as it demonstrates the marketing potential of artists, and first of all the existence of a market. Two types of voting behaviors can be described in this category. On the one hand, the usual fan communities who organized a massive mobilization in hopes of one day seeing their favorite artist perform in France. On the other hand this category is also an opportunity for many people to fit in the name of one or two supposedly more accessible artists, whose visit in France is deemed more realistic. As a result, the votes have been very eclectic, with over 320 different artists and groups cited.

Ayumi Hamasaki achieves to get the most anticipated artist award for the second year in a row. There are two explanations to that. First, if L'Arc~en~Ciel was acclaimed in the early editions, last year's concert met the expectations of fans. And second, Ayu's visit in France last year and her recent visit to London helped unite her fans, who have learned to organize and mobilize massively their resources to make themselves heard. Besides the usual names, there are still high expectations of OLIVIA coming back, as well as a strong support to ONE OK ROCK despite the many misleading rumors who throwed fans in disarray like previously with Gackt or X Japan. Fact is that the top of the charts consists mainly in artists who still seem very unlikely to perform in Europe in a close future. The biggest hopes rely on a VAMPS concert event in France in 2010 as part of their next world tour.