Go jump off of a cliff.

Personally, I think her singing is just fine. At times, it's OMG EW WTF?! but for the most part, I've been listening to her lives from the last two years via iPod rips and she sounds nice. I don't see what the problem really is.. sure, she isn't as consistent as she usually is, but eh.

WTF?Ugh,I hate that audience,they're like zombies.

:roflmao


Exactly. I don't think so either. I think she's slowly losing them and newer, hipper, younger artists (alan, etc) are beginning to take over. Maybe not yet but soon. Which sucks a whole bunch, but at the same time, maybe she will rethink the U.S and see BoA doing great over here (if that happens), and then BOOM she'll show up here!

Sorry, but alan and the word take over are not meant to be together. LOL.

Srsly now, the girl can sing, but "take over?" LUUUUUUUUUULZ. Ayu still has a hold on fans judging by A COMPLETE's sales imo. And from what I can see, Ayu doesn't really seem to care that a bit of her fanbase is slowly slipping away. I mean her concerts still do sell out, so she still has a presence, and she has a hell of a lot more sales than some of the artists out there who are "hipper and younger"..

Isn't that too harsh? Especially when many people think that often times she lip syncs Step You - it's not like it's a totally off base thought coming out of left field or something.

She still has her core fan base of course, just like all artists do, but I don't think she is really gaining any new fans and has lost touch with the general population. And I don't really see her getting any new fans if her vocals are going to continue this way in the tv performances. It then comes to the point that the tv performances can actually hurt the sales of your product and not help them. I can honestly say that if I was seeing Ayu for the first time in one of her tv performances this year I would probably think something like, "cool stage and cosumes, but she can't sing at all. Must be sorta Japan's version of Britney or something." It's only because I'm already a die hard fan that I've at least been able to enjoy her performances this year to some extent.

But it wasn't just Mirrorcle World - that one actually wasn't THAT bad. It was the best of the times she has performed it actually. It was Surreal that was most off - if you watch all her Surreal tv performances back to back, she struggled with this one way more than any of the other times she has sung it; it's definitely the worst tv performance she has done of it I think.

I think it depends on which kind of song she is singing. Recently she has been doing a lot of rock-songs lately and maybe she has been ''forced'' to use a different technique than what she's been used to...
If you pay atention in MW you can hear that the ''nee boku wa no''-part after the second chorus is much better than the verses and etc. She isn't strainging her voice as in the faster parts where she has to be fast with the lyrics, sing with a lot of power and hit the right notes. And like someone said earlier, MW doesn't really have a clear melody.
To sing a full on rock-song you need a really powerful voice. I'm not saying that Ayu doesn't have a powerful voice, it's just that it's not enough. That's why she's strainging it so much :(

I simply guess that her voice isnt really suited for rock-songs. I hope she'll go back to pop or ballads from her My Story- m(u)- Secret- era
I belive that was when here voice was at it's best :)

So keep it simple, Ayu :)

So she doesn't appeal to a casual listener anymore... your point? It's not like it's going to stop her from making music, we aren't the casual listeners, we're the fans. I don't really care if Japan is buying her music or not, because I am, and I'm enjoying it.

Incredibly uncalled for.

Well yeah, of course its nice to say that as a fan. But like it or not, Ayu's future career does depend on what Japan thinks of her, not what we do.

Not necessarily, she does not have to remain number one all the time to still have a career. She could disappear for quite a while and still release something(Olivia anyone?), being a musician isn't about sales or popularity, even is she hits rock bottom in popularity, I'm sure she'll continue to get her music out there some how, even if she did it herself, since singing is her life as she said in 06.

Yes, I'm sure she would. But it also means less tv performances, less magazine covers, less interviews, less budget for her albums, pvs, and tours etc etc. All things that we as fans love to see from her. Which is why I always hope that she can stay at the top for as long as possible. :) For example, I love Seiko Matsuda and Akina Nakamori - two singers from the 80s who's notoriety was the equivlent of Ayu today. Both still release things sporadically and both still tour, but you very rarely get the opportunity to see them in the media anymore. No more good pvs, big concerts etc, and a tv live once in a blue moon. I don't want that for Ayu too. I suppose it is inevitable though.

Everyone's star wanes. As long as there's still music, though, then that's enough imo. Because that's what her main purpose is in the entertainment industry. She's a musician. She's not a model, she's not an actress (anymore), even unpopular acts still release some really good music, I'm sure she'd do the same if and when she reaches that level.

Well, she's not really a musician though per se. More of an overall entertainer. People who are strictly musicians can go on making music happily indefinitely, but Ayu's not really like that. Still though, no matter what I would still follow her.

...Isn't that exactly what she wants to do?

I have to agree about the alan comment..
If you check even Avex website access... she is not even in the top 10.
=\ It was really rude the way he said it~ yeah... but truthful.
it's because alan is not japanese... I think, maybe that's a bad thing to say..
But generally people will support Ayumi more than alan because of that fact.

Anyways... even from the recording on Duty, she had problems with Surreal.
There are many places on the recording that is even "what the heck..."
and in all her lives, she can't do the low part, and the high part becomes shouting.
I think cause... she is trying to sound powerful for that song.. maybe excited too..
She doesn't control her vocals... she seems so excited and making those powerful arm swings.

I'm pretty sure she cuts off her vocals, especally in mirrorcle w because she wants to do her arm wavey things~
If you watch, she just takes the mic from her mouth, and waves her arms.
I think she's just OVER excited during these performances... like, she took off control of the voice, and just became hyper and jumping... and kicking, in mirrorcle world.

Edit:~ And just wanna add... after she is screaming the "Woooo wooo wooo wooo" in Mirrorcle w... I think her voice is really weak, and can't sing the low and soft parts~~ so sad.
Yeah, maybe something's wrong with her voice...
Oh and... if the ear has no problems with why she is singing, then why does she continue to try to close her ear?
Like when she is trying to get those high parts...
To try and hear herself properly? I think she simply can't hear herself anymore... especially in Surreal...
Like, when the explosion, the la la la~ I think simply she couldn't hear where she was anymore...
Because everything was o.k. until that part... and then loud noise... and that's it.

LOL~ whatever the case, I hope she can regain her abilities and find a new way to hear the song mix in her ear.

But she is not strictly a musician though. So much of what she does are either fashion, magazine, dance, pv, spectacle related and not just the music. So what I'm saying, is it will be difficult for her to continue doing the same kind of things that she has done through her whole career if her popularity wanes too much. Of course she can still release music, but the overall package will be gone and I think its that overall package that make up what Ayu is, more than just the music by itself. I don't know if she would be happy with anything less. Just like she said she wouldn't want to perform somewhere if she couldn't do her full stage show.

She does it in every song she performs now though and has been since Jewel. So I don't think it's just because of arm waving. It could be any number of reasons though really.

As usuall ^^ I agree with you. And I hate when people start shooting artists out of the blue and compare them to others, I mean of all the people alan XD who can't even sell more than 10 k with a single, she ain't taking over anything (at least she is far from taking over atm, plus the music she does isn't really popular, not that I have something against her). And even if someone has one hit single (Aoyama anyone) it doesn't mean s/he will remain popular for long, and there are millions of examples, and so far there are a rare few who have managed to stay "hip" as long as Ayu did. Plus the music Ayu does lately isn't meant to appeal to everyone, at least that's the way I feel.

No no..
I meant... the ones in Mirrorcle World... the really exagerrated "I am so mysterious" arm waves.
During the chorus.. "akirameta no katte~ funbatten no katte" and then~~
And I don't know.. I have to disagree... she seems much more... EXCITED...
In her arm waves and kicks during this performance of Mirrorcle World and Surreal..

Maybe she is excited this is her first tv appearance since forever~~ LOL
But, yeah obviously not to make it sweet, somethings wrong.
Whether she cant hear her voice to control it, or something other..
I guess we don't know.

I think she had trouble with the loud parts of MW and after the loud boom in Surreal..

that said..
She still sounds GREAT to me ALL things considered and I'm proud of her.

Am I the only one who think that this whole popularity anxiety is ridiculous?
The woman sell like crazy and still get #1s as far as her popularity is on the "risk".
After 10 years she's still one of the most popular japanese artists, you can't say that her sales are close to bad, she fill the audience in her tours quick and she performs in big arenas and also in HK, Taiwan and Shanghai.
Don't know what people are talking about but ayu is still very popular and it doesn't seem it will fade at a second. (Not popular as she used to of course as always need to be written but it's undeniable that she's still popular and as it seems she has no popularity thread (I mean from herself) if she still sell how she sell, get #1s and fill big arenas.
ayu also doesn't sound THAT bad that she would actually ruin to herself her career.
It's a matter of opinion but ayu still can sing decently or even extremely well.

A lot of things people here say are true but sometimes it arrives to exaggerations with all seriousness.

Fans or casual listeners, it doesn't seem like they protest against her "awful" singing and they still fill her big arenas and enjoying the shows (hence why she still fill big arenas of over 30 tour dates every year) and we also hear that artists like Namie Amuro and X Japan's bassist are starting to attend her concerts every year.
ayu's state is far from being bad careerwise (or actually in every way except for her left deaf ear).

Oh I meant, MW causes her to be so out of breath, she has nothing left for SURREAL. I don't think the only reason for her choosing MW as AT08 closer is that it's a good "closer".