Jero + Utada = HIMEKA?

A Mostly Harmless regular pointed me to an article by Junko Hirabayashi about Catherine St-Onge, a Canadian singer who's made it big in Japan performing "anison," or animated songs, in Japanese. Sounds like Quebec's answer to Jero!

Sony Music Japan International, which signed up St-Onge after she won the singing contest, calls her the only "genuine" Western anison singer who debuted in Japan.

"I believe this is the first case a non-Japanese singer wannabe who has no Japanese background survived under the same conditions Japanese competitors did," said Sony Music's Yuichi Nakanishi.

Will she be the next Hikaru Utada? Only time will tell! Gambare, HIMEKA-san!