Namie Amuro -- Don't Wanna Cry

Although I remember watching the commercial (as above) for Namie Amuro's (安室奈美恵) 5th single, I think my first view of "Don't Wanna Cry" was through an ad for a drink by the name of Mistio.

Released in March 1996, "Don't Wanna Cry" was one of the few songs for Amuro that hadn't been completely by Svengali Tetsuya Komuro （小室哲哉）. The former TM Network keyboardist was responsible for the lyrics along with Takahiro Maeda（前田たかひろ）and Komuro took care of the melody. The same combination was also responsible for a previous Amuro hit, "Chase The Chance". At the time, Amuro was beginning her ascent to the top of the J-Pop world, and probably most of us knew her for her dance-pop stuff with The Super Monkeys (now known as MAX) up to that point, but "Don't Wanna Cry" was the first time I'd heard and seen her try an R&B groove, as light as it was. Sometimes, I thought she was going to break her vocal cords on some of the high notes in the song, but I couldn't deny it was a catchy song. Out came my yen.

"Don't Wanna Cry" was another chart-topper for Amuro, and it ended up becoming the 9th-ranked single for 1996. It was her 2nd consecutive No. 1 hit and her 3rd million-seller (1.5 million copies sold). The single won a prize at the Japan Record Awards that year which was the first for Amuro, and the fact that the singer was only 19 at the time meant that she was (and apparently still is) the youngest winner ever to receive such an award. If I'm not mistaken, the above video is from that awards show, and ironically, she didn't mind crying for that. 

By the way, the song is also on her 2nd album, "Sweet 19 Blues" which was also a No. 1 hit and the 2nd-biggest album of 1996. Just to add onto the accolades, Amuro made her 2nd consecutive appearance on NHK's Kohaku Utagassen for "Don't Wanna Cry" as the top batter.