Hellelujah

Since last week, my favorite reality TV show, "American Idol" has started here in Japan!!
I've watched it every year from season...4?probably. When I was in America, I voted for my favorite contestants. Carrie Underwood, Katharine Mcphee, Jordin Sparks...
I loved male singers too, like Chris Daughtry or Adam Lambert, but I tend to sympathize with female singers.

This year, I've already found my favorite girl! She passed the audition in Boston.
Her name is Maddy Curtis. She is only 16, but she seems...mature. Sturdy.
She said she is 8th of 9 siblings. Her little brother has down syndrome, and she's always taking care of the brother. She said, "He doesn't see people with "color."(She meant, prejudice) I think we should do like him." Amazingly, her parents feel grateful that the down-syndrome boy has given great influence to the family, so they adopted two more down-syndrome kids!! That's...a kind of "America spirit" which I sometimes felt during my stay in America.

Anyway, Maddy sang "Hallelujah" popularized by Leonard Cohen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io2B1cAxLk4
The judges said, "You are just 16 years old, but you already know the SOUL on the song!" I totally agree with them!!!

Then, today, when I watched the opening ceremony of Vancouver Olympics, I met THE SOUL" of Hallelujah, again. Even maturer one!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&feature=related
I couldn't find a good VCR of the exact stage of the opening ceremony...
But the song was same, and the singer was the same. Her name is K.D.Lang. The announcer said she was one of the most popular singers in Canada.

Is there any Japanese singer who can move people in the world so much like her??
I don't remember who was singing at the Nagano Olympics...
One of the culprits is language, I thought. Most people in the world can understand English, and "Hallelujah" is the word which makes people imagine "peace."
But, how many people can understand the meaning if we sing in Japanese?
The minority of Japanese makes hard to convey the song's message.
Should we learn English, or should we try to prevail Japanese into the world?
While I was watching the Olympics, I was wondering that...

The lyrics of Hallelujah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEvJzvAsO20