Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku, is preparing to perform to a sold-out crowd in Brisbane on Monday night — but there’s a big catch. The popular singer, who has played to crowds across the world, including the Coachella music festival and a 17-city tour through North America, and who is now embarking on the Australian and New Zealand leg of her tour, does not actually exist. The virtual vocaloid singer is the mascot for and was built using vocal samples with voice synthesizer software developed by Crypton Future Media in the early 2000s.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Despite her lack of any real-world presence, she has still managed to collaborate with singer Pharrell Williams, opened for Lady Gaga’s world tour, and even appeared on the David Letterman show. The voice synthesizer software used to create Miku was modelled on Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita and was sold to the public to allow “anyone to make their computer sing by entering lyrics and melodies”, which are then sung by Miku. Her “live” performances are of songs chosen from those created using the software.
“As a massive number of users created music using the software and posted their works on the Internet, Hatsune Miku quickly evolved into a cultural phenomenon,” the virtual pop star’s website said. “Since then, Hatsune Miku has gained much attention as a character, involved in many fields such as merchandising and live performance as a virtual singer—now her popularit.
