Uta Doki! - Pop Classics Vol.4

Of the five Uta Doki! Pop Classics volumes I own, Vol. 4 is easily the best. It has the greatest variety of singers (27 in total), a stunning array of song styles (26 numbers) and notable male performers from earlier eras of Japanese music. Included are six numbers taped outside the studio at a special Morning Musume "Secret Festa" concert where we get to see eleven H!P performers not seen in the rest of the volume performing in different combinations. This section of the DVD includes solos by Ai Takahashi covering Yumi Arai and Miki Fujimoto covering Momoe Yamaguchi, both of which just happen to be the only songs on this volume that I'd heard before. Other highlights: Maki Goto sings 3 songs, including a stirring duet with singer/guitarist Sugita Jirou; Yuko Nakazawa performs a great solo of "Momoiro Toiki"; at Secret Festa, the remaining three members of 4th Gen, Yossi, Rika and Nono, perform a number together; plus Nono gets a solo of her own. Also, Melon Kinenbi and Country Musume are seen in two numbers each and they seem to be having a ball. Also represented: Aya Matsuura, Kei Yasuda, Mari Yaguchi, Yuki Maeda, Kaori Iida, and Natsumi Abe, among others.