melody. retires
First Leah Dizon abruptly announced her pregnancy and marriage, taking an extended break from the music industry (I’m thinking she won’t be returning). Then melody. suddenly retired from music to pursue a career as a fashion designer.
I’m not too upset about Leah Dizon. Her first couple singles were genuinely and surprisingly good, but I wasn’t into everything after that, including her two albums. Over the course of her career, her singing ability actually deteriorated, leading to cringe-inducing live performances where she looked flustered and sounded completely off-key. This break would be great for her to refocus and improve her Japanese, but the way her career was spiraling downward, I doubt she’ll have a successful return (if she returns at all) after having her baby.
melody.’s retirement, however, I’m quite sad about. I love her pop songs and her soft, cute voice (my former GameDaily buddy Eugene Huang likes to say that she sounds like a SoCal sorority girl). She just came out with a “Best Of” album a week ago and quit her hosting duties at a Japanese music TV show, so I suppose we all should have seen her retirement coming. I first heard of melody. early in her career with “Miss You”, her m-flo collaboration that is still one of my favorite songs. It’s been great following her career over the years and seeing her fanbase grow. When I went to Japan last year, I was delighted to see publicity for her latest album plastered everywhere in Shibuya. She even had commercials playing on the giant Q-Front video screen! I’m going to miss seeing her.
