Hatsune Miku, the virtual Japanese pop star whose face adorns toys, clothing and all other kinds of merchandise, will be making her American television debut tonight on none other than The Late Show With David Letterman.
(UPDATE: You can view the performance here)
Miku is a vocaloid, or a humanoid hologram whose singing voice is created by a singing synthesizer program. The synthesizer used to create her means Miku can sing virtually any song. She'll be performing via her usual hologram form in the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York tonight on Letterman's show, though no word yet on what her song of choice will be.
All-new Dave tonight with @andersoncooper, #JaneTheVirgin's Gina Rodriguez and holographic music star Hatsune Miku. pic.twitter.com/w37LHpfPu5
— Letterman (@Letterman) October 8, 2014
It will no doubt come as a shock to many of the Americans who regularly tune into Letterman's show. Miku isn't a real person, despite some of her voice samples being taken from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita. While that doesn't stop many audiences, particularly in Japan, from flocking to her concerts like they would for any other band or performer, American audiences aren't likely to understand what exactly they are seeing and hearing.
Miku, in her homeland of Japan, has been seen in the past promoting Toyota Corolla and the Japanese arm of Domino's Pizza in advertisements. Google employed her character to help market its Chrome web browser in Japan as well. For somebody who doesn't exist, Miku has very tangible star power.
Miku is making her appearance on David Letterman to coincide with the launch of an art exhibit dedicated to her called "Universal Positivity," which will be opening tomorrow in New York, featuring Hastune Miku artwork and merchandise. The exhibit will also include virtual performances from Miku and her band.
The vocaloid singer will also be appearing "live" at two special performances in the U.S. The first will be in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre on Oct. 11 and 12, followed by another performance in New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Oct. 17 and 18.
After her performances on American shores have come and gone, Miku's video games will be landing in America to stay. The first, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f2nd will be released in Nov. for Sony's PlayStation 3 and Vita consoles, while a 3DS game starring the vocaloid will be released in 2015.
