Really? I was really pleased when the dvd came out xD

OUCH. but i dont get the 'her voice dont come out' part. what do they mean by that?

i thought her performance on kouhaku is pretty good...
did she sing that bad? i think she sing RULE very well...
i can't imagine other singer sing that song on the same level as ayu...
her technique is not on the top position, but her emotion on singing is the one that i'm looking for from her...
her voice at CDL is sucks...i know it...not on all part, but its not good, i agree ...especially during rockish part, she struggle a lot..i think the sound system problem at CDL is really sucks too, we hardly hear her voice, they set her mike volume so low....

well...i will continue to support her no matter what...i believe ayu will do something...i thought her December 2009 performance is pretty well done, except best artist performance...

her voice really wasn't that good in the past

I hope she will take it serious and takes vocal lessions or stop to smoke if she does...

I want to hear her with better vocals in the future

I do have to agree with the articles that her voice got worse and her figure isn't as fit as it used to be. (sorry ayu) Her voice is definitely a concern. Although there were a few songs on cdl that she sang great imo (especially teddy bear) but its really obvious she had to concentrate a lot when singing during certain songs (closing her eyes). I also think the rule performance at kouhaku was well done. I really hope she will go train her voice properly if she isn't doing so already. That staff she said knows her vocals inside and out...I really wonder if he's helping or not. The sad thing she's been taking care of her voice last year and its the year that I felt her voice has gone further down. Hopefully her vocals will get better and adopt a better singing style/technique.

I just saw the comparison videos of every little thing. Its sad to see her vocals now...it really reminds me of ayu.

Basically, she's trying to sing, but in some performances it sounds like she's out of breath and can't fully sing the line she's trying to get out. It happened a lot during the Sunrise TV promotion. Also, they could be talking about her "voice" not coming out since she doesn't really sound like she did 5 years ago.

I feel like age might've had to do with that, haha. She's running a lot and exercising so she's probably as fit as she can be at her age. It must've taken her for a loop when she suddenly gained a bunch of weight in late 2006...

i think there are many reasons or factors (whichever you called it) that caused the situation Ayu is facing now. her vocal cords/ voice box is being tired out! she has been working too hard! and if I'm not wrong Ayu tends to fall sick almost every year around christmas time. you can't expect a professional to sing energetically for a few hours, running here and there when they are not feeling well, right?

I'm not trying to defend or what. What I was trying to say is that, many people tend to forget the fact that Ayu is a human. She fall sick, and will need time to recover.
I personally think what Ayu need is a real rest for her voice; have more physical training to improve her stamina or her overall health, and those staff around Ayu who fall sick or got flu to stay away from her for a while.

And, she don't have to stop singing totally, she can cut down on the number of lives she is going to do, or she can just host variety shows weekly and release a mini-album or singles once in a while. Though I know I really love Ayu when she is singing, but it still hurts me (as a fan) to see that she is losing her voice gradually due to lack of ample rest.

I remembered many years ago, there was this great Taiwanese singer called, A-Mei, Zhang Hui Mei. I'm sure many asians know what happen to her voice. She was really a great singer with a great voice. However, due to the fact that she had held too many concert lives, she gradually lost her voice. Now her voice is still very hoarse, despite after taking a long long break. I think that's a real tragedy to any singers. and I really don't wish that to happen to Ayu. =[

thankies truehappiness ^^

this must be truly heartbreaking to ayu.....
and as i was reading these articles, i heartbroken too

well her metabolism plays a factor but also her eating habits...I'm happy she's eating regularly and not starving herself but she should cut back on stuff like bubble tea for example.

Whoawhoawhoa, WAIT.~ Yes, Ayu's voice has not been as good for a while now, but....... A lot of people are mainly critical because of the fact that it's deeper..? Because it's not that screechy, high-pitched sound it used to be?? ._. Ugh...

I just want to say this: her actual singing is WAY better the past few years than what it was in the beginning. WAY. Better.
For those of you who think she's shouting now, that's not necessarily the case. (I mean, there are times where she definitely is shouting now, but that's obviously because her voice is completely worn out. I think that if she didn't scream sometimes, pretty much nothing would come out. So she does it because she literally has to, because of what she's done to her voice...) She shouted more years back, and the first few years of her career she wasn't singing right at all. (You don't have to know anything about singing to realise this --Go watch a live of Depend on you, and then tell me if that's singing, lol...) Also, she doesn't miss as many notes as she did back then, either.
So, the main problem with her voice now is BREATH SUPPORT. She is singing wrong in terms of how she's using the breath. Which, on the good side, technically means she is actually SINGING, not just speaking different pitches. It'll also give her a few notes more of range, at least without becoming nasal, and probably more control, which makes up for lack of volume she'll have.... Too bad that using your breath wrong can severely damage your voice, and can completely mess up how you sing in general.


I realise that many of you may not know how to sing --How to ACTUALLY sing correctly, not just adjusting your voice to fit a tune. So I'll try to explain a little bit, the difference between her singing then and now, and what's wrong.

1. Ayu, before, relied on a type of false singing. She wasn't putting any real support in her voice, so this resulted in one step above speak-singing, if that. The only positive things about speak-singing is that it gives you a very clear, regular speech sounding tone, and that you can get much volume out of it. (Which is why you should only use it if you need mainly volume and emphasis control, like for musical or rock genres, and not range or actual good singing. BUT, even then, there's a correct way to "scream", so that you don't risk causing severe damage to your voice.) Many pop and rock singers sing like this, but when it all comes down to it, it's not "real" singing.
Sure, you can produce the notes, but it often sounds like you're screaming, and your range ends up suffering terribly. If you even try to hit the higher notes, you get an extremely nasal sound (which just happens to be a signature of Ayumi's singing style, right?), because you are actually singing through your nose (which, that is certainly a huge no-no in "real" singing).
If, for whatever reason, you don't believe me when I say that Ayu didn't originally sing at ALL correctly, remember the first year...she had no vibrato, and she was....well, screechy. That's because she wasn't singing. THAT, not now, was screaming...
2. Ayu's problem now is that she's putting too MUCH support into her voice, resulting in the overly-breathy, forced tone you've been hearing recently.
Now, her voice has obviously been wearing down for a while now... And even when it wasn't, the fact that she was singing wrong could easily tell anybody that there's a good chance her voice would become at least a little damaged in the near future... Anyhow, because of the damage, even though Ayu knows how to sing at least somewhat now, it seems she must FORCE it out, because of the damage that has taken place (which, it was mostly from singing incorrectly, but, from what we've seen, could also be from unhealthy foods, smoking, drinking, etc.)... Which is why she's overdoing the "power", and putting much more than what's needed into her singing.... Which, oh no--it's an endless chain, because this will result in even MORE damage. D:
For anybody who doesn't understand how putting too much power or breath into singing can be so terrible, besides the fact that you may sound like you're screaming... Using too much breath means both breathing and using your muscles incorrectly. And obviously, those are the worst things to do when singing. Because, even if you start out with a good range and a nice tone and all that, singing wrong in this way tightens up the muscles, wears them down, and gets you used to singing in ways opposite of what you want. This can very quickly result in you having to literally force the sound out of you (if the damage is severe enough, like Ayu's), because your throat muscles are sore and damaged (which, no matter what, results in air not coming out as fluidly or correctly as needed to sing well - which can affect your range, heavily, too) and because you are developing bad breathing habits (by forcing out the sound--never should you need to force the sound out >_<).


Ayumi's problem is, she doesn't really know how to fall into a nice medium of singing (which, that's actually most "singers" problems, though she takes it to an extreme), probably because she learned to sing wrong, continued to sing wrong, and by then damage had already taken place. So even though she's gotten SO much better in singing, it seems she has never known how to sing 100% correctly, to keep from harming her voice. For a few years (around 2004-2006) she was nearly there, but breath support problems were still evident. (For example, in her 2005 tour [and others, as well, but this is just an example], she often directly cut herself off, or didn't hold her notes. Which may not seem so bad, but this is a horrible habit to get in to, because it screws up your breath support and throat muscles if you don't know exactly what your doing....which, Ayu didn't [and, it seems, still doesn't].)
So, at the core, this has always been a major problem for her, just that now it's taking a huge toll on her voice. :\


And she's only ever sang Boys & Girls HERSELF a few times. >_< Dunno why that, or the fact that Ayumi Hamasaki sings incorrectly, was just brought up NOW. >_____>


Oh, and I would also like to point out:
Everybody is going to need to give Ayumi AT LEAST a few months of hard work and practice before any great improvement will be made, but probably much longer (especially seeing how, to this day, she still doesn't sing correctly). Even then, it will be longer, still, before her voice is fully healed (or, at least healed as much as it can be--if she keeps going like this much longer, I can guarantee permanent damage, if that hasn't already happened).


OH, and why are some of you acting like she's ever been fat???? She hasn't gained significant weight this year, and there's never ever been a time where I looked at her and went, "ew, she gained weight..." There were even times where she looked too skinny! Even for a little Japanese girl... I think it's sad that some people even bring this up. :(

Hmm.. I don't notice any weight gain. She definitely looks a lot smaller than she was in 2008..watching that ASFXX live from a-nation 08 made me realize how much smaller she is now. Her weight does fluctuate a lot though.

Secret era, she really did gain weight. I mean, that was the first, and only imo, time it was really noticeable...I think they're being a little too critical about her weight.

Besides...I think her gaining that weight in 2006 contributed to the size of her breasts seeming to grow :innocent lol

Well this isn't anything new to us, it's a good thing (in a way) that this got published and I am hoping that it will reach her in some way, as she does need vocal training.

I TOTALLY AGREE with you!!!! :yes:yes:yes:yes:yes
She needs REST!!! Give her a break for her voice at least!! :grumpy

and I don't think she is fat too! or gained weight. I think it is more of the clothes she wore that made people to look it as if she had gained weight. I guess everyone should go and look at her in person then you will know why :mischief

It's not so much that she looks fat/like she gained a TON of weight or anything... just that her frame back in 2005 was a little different. It was very petite compared to her frame now. Her face got a bit rounder when JEWEL's promotion came around, and then by the time CDL06-07 started, she'd been exercising and lost the weight that she'd put on during that time. However, since then, I don't think her frame has been as stick skinny as she was in 2005 (and before) since then. Not that I have a problem with her body, since she's fit and fine the way she is now, just that there is a noticeable difference between her body then and her body now. It's mostly around the sides of the chest area (not the actual chest/breasts) and her waist.

In AT08, she wore a sort of schoolgirl outfit and a bit of her waist poking out of the outfit for the first few shows, looking like it was kind of squeezing out. She changed the outfit so that the area would be covered with a shirt before removing it again for the Asian stops when she was noticeably thinner. I'm sure she noticed a bit of a change as well.

She should retire, she is wearing herself out. She'll be a shadow of her self by the end of the year if she continues like this.

Yeah, I don't think that will ever be an option.

If it ever gets so bad (like... REALLY bad) that she has to retire, she will probably do it, but at this point in time I don't think things are so bad that she needs to consider that.

I don't really care about her body but since she's a singer the voice should be superb. Usually a singer should have mainly proper performances with the occasional miss, but with Ayu it has become the other way around (imo). When I listen to other singer I am sometimes surprised by how consistently good they sing just because I am so used to Ayu's on and off voice.

It's so sad since we know singing is her everything, but currently she's no good at it. I know she tries, but going on another long tour isn't going to help.

i don't think she will retire either. she will NEVER.

What's this deal going about now? Is this now becoming a debate?

You wish.

@Bigtop - nah the person who suggested she should retire is well known for comments like that...

Can we please stop throwing the "Ayu was never a good singer" excuse around?

Cos while I agree with that, it's not like she sucked in singing in her 11 years as a singer. 2003-2006 was easily her golden era in singing, where it had the right combination of breath support and diaphragm usage, coupled with a good tone quality.

Granted she has her good moments since talkin' 2 myself (Rule @ Kouhaku '09 for example), but really, she's a singer? I mean "Ayu was never a good singer" imo is just an excuse to defend her from what she's SUPPOSED to do - sing. God forbid Ayu thinks that way cos we'll never see a change if that's so.

And I thought it was a fact that her voice has gone for the worse over the years. Debut - 2000 basically much wasn't that good as well since she was using her nasal voice, but please don't put down her good quality vocals from 2003-2006, and please don't close an eye to her falling vocals now.

I believe she can sing, because I have heard it from my own ears. And if she can do it back then in 2003-2006, why can't she do it now (besides the fact that her left ear has lost its function)? It's all about receiving the right vocal training for her case, and kicking away the old and bad habits that MAY have contributed to her falling vocals, for example eating spicy food, drinking and smoking.

I'm not requesting for her to be pitch perfect like Ken Hirai, but she's a singer after all. I mean even Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki who are regarded as good vocalists have their bad moments too, what more from Ayu?

I just find it tiring that people are using the "she was never a good singer" thing as an excuse. Cos it's not gonna work. Ayu's vocals have fallen in quality over the past few years. Get. Over. It.

-Sorry if I'm coming across as being rude, I didn't mean that.-

lol I could see ayu touring at like 70 years old :roflmao
I know everyone thinks she needs a break, but I highly doubt she will take one. She just keeps going and going and going. Workaholics anonymous?

@Crystal_Ageha: i love your post :D
Indeed, she's been using nose-voice and now screaming..
and i'm sure her throat muscles are damaged..

I don't get this gaining weight thing. Even she gains 2-3 kg, she's not fat..

I pretty much agree, I don't think Ayu is a bad singer, sure her voice did get worse over the last few years, but prior to that I loved the way she sang (I still do xD). And no you weren't rude ^^

They have fallen in quality over the last few years, yes, but she's not a "natural" at singing like many/most acts are. Her best years were great for her, but it's not an excuse to say that she was never an above average singer, because that's pretty much the truth. The fact that she isn't an amazing singer though isn't the reason why her vocals are shaky now. Something else did that and made things worse. I guess most people are just trying to point out that her vocals were never superb, but over the years after debuting, they got better (for Ayu), and then at some point they dipped again before getting better for a short while and then dropping sharply in quality again. And here we are now.

yes, Ayu has to figure a way somehow, techniques or methods which will help her in the long run

the reason she was first wasn't just because they "put" her there. and the fact that exile was second makes their statement unimportant. exile, who are bigger than ayu currently, were still in a rather undesirable time slot. i mean, even amuro turns down kouhaku, it's obviously not as important as it used to be.

she has other obligations. i understand that she's gone last other times and still gone to do her countdown live, but obviously she needed to/wanted to prepare more with more time than she might have usually had.

her voice has always gone in and out. for example, 2002 is my least favorite time for ayu's voice. i think almost all of her lives are horrid, vocally. while 2004-2006 are my favorite times.

i also find it rather unfair that the article is comparing her voice from 1999 (release of B&G) to her current voice. while i was also shocked at her bad performance, comparing a decade old song's recording voice to the current one isn't fair.

i'm not saying her voice great right now, i have ears. and i'm also in agreement that it was shocking that she'd forget the lyrics. but people have been making fun of her voice since her debut. people have always known she has a rather..."not that amazing" voice, especially with the amount of fame that she has.

Yeah, so did EXILE. They had to host an all night CDTV SPECIAL, I think.

Yeah I understand that... like I've mentioned, 1998-2000 wasn't very good; she improved along the way and changed her singing style, but slid really badly recently. And yeah I suppose it's due to many factors, like fatigue, drinking and other daily habits.

And I really don't think she was a bad singer to start with... I love the tone of her voice... it's really warm and soothing. Like I'm listening to HEAVEN now and I really love the tone of her voice. ^^

Singing isn't always about hitting the right notes or being able to hold a note for 16 counts, it sometimes is about the tone, and the emotions. Ayu has a nice tone (well at least she used to, even now though it's not as good it's still nice) and always hits the bull's eyes when it comes to emotions, so now it's the technicalities... she had a certain mastery of it back then, I guess it's finding them back now again~ :)

I'm not even gonna bother defending or attacking ayu.

She was placed first to perform on Kouhaku because she was going to her COUNTDOWN LIVE right after. Come on, its plainly obvious. They aren't going to put her on at 11pm peak time when she's supposed to be in the middle of a concert.

As for her Japan noticing her 'voice is bad these days' look at some older lives. God-awful. ayu is like anyone else: she has good days, she has bad days. She's not a machine, she won't be 100% every time. Also its 2 articles written by God knows who. And as for the little comments they've included, I don't see any source. Who's to say that these people aren't just major ayu haters and aren't just bashing for instead of someone else? Also, ayu just released a single. This is prime time for all the haters to jump right in with all the little comments because she's outsold someone else they like.

To be honest I'm not that worried. From past deputes it seems like ayu has more sense than to buy into what the press are saying. She isn't singing for haters and we've all seen that she isn't singing for fame. She sings for her fans and for herself. As she has said she wants to find a place where she belongs and now she has. A few silly articles (who where probably written by anti-fans and published around the time of a release shock horror) isn't going to change that

Her live voice is kinda embarrassing. I'd love to show friends some Ayu lives but her voice is just horrible sometimes tbh.

Since everyone else is....

I too preferred her "newer" more mature voice. However, with the exception of Rule at Kouhaku, she's been awful these last few months. During Sunrise/Sunset she was atleast able to get through the songs and sing louder than the backing-track. It's evident in most, if not all, the TV-lives of You were... that she's having real difficulty in being able to do so anymore.

While I'm not saying retire etc, I really, really hope it improves, because it's quite sad that it seems to be deteriorating as bad as it is.

She sounded great at Kouhaku. Towards the middle and end of CDL she sounded bad but the beginning was fine. It's true that her live performances in 2009 were poorer than before but it seems that the media likes to single Ayu out for a lot of crap recently. I can think of a number of other top earners in Jpop who either had crappy performances of late or lip-synched their way through. Must be trendy to dig up dirt on Ayu these days.

THIS! (you got what's on my mind after reading the criticism)

I know that she's a hard working woman for her fans but she really NEEDS break.

And I felt the changes of her vocals during early 2008-2009, especially the failed evolution performance and the middle part of her recent CDL.

Too bad for her but she needs to consider things like this.

woww.. finally Japanese medias talk about Ayu's vocal!
and what i wonder if they're deaf or not?
i mean they said Ayu's vocal at Kouhaku is bad? omg..
i thought that her vocal was so amazing there! *am i deaf?*

anyway, the only reason that i could think of that Ayu's vocal getting worse because of her half-deaf condition that she's been struggling right now and the reason of why she sounded like she was shouting because she couldn't hear her own voice that well, that's why she thought that her voice is in such low volume where in fact, it's so loud to us.. maybe Ayu has not still used to with that situation since she's always been working for the last 2 years since her deafness occured to her. she is lacked of vocal training, that is what she really needs right now~

but for me, Ayu still can sing pretty well though and she sounds the way much much better from her first debut, i just can't stand her early day's vocal, it's just too high, too pitchy, it's like no ascending and descending..(if that makes sense LOL), she could just went the way upppp and downnn without putting the emotions on the songs... well, as of now, i also can't consider her as the best singer though since for me, best singer should be able to improvise her vocal more and put out the emotions more, not just to sing exactly like the CD during the Live, even though Ayu has been singing extra chorus with Peco and Princess in some songs during the tour, but still for me it's not enough... but, what i like and love about Ayu? it's because of her spirit, her stage performance, her hard working, her lyrics and her fashion, her vocal is just a plus and i'm kind of envy her for being able to sing like this (with vibrato and etc) since she was a tone-deaf before, ..so i still envy her hardwork more than anything even though she sounds so bad lately..i'm not going to complain since she has another talent to back her up..

oh yea, sometimes, i just don't understand the standards to be called as a good singer in Japan, not that i want to bash , but really, some artists can still sell very well even though their live vocals are not that great or even bad... since Ayu is also not considered a best singer (if compared to Hikki, Koda Kumi, Ayaka, and etc), why they even bother to dig about her bad vocal out and saying that it's the end of Ayu's career where there are still some other Japanese artists who sound not so good as well, but still many ppl love them.. i'm so confused sometimes..and also, it's weird enough, artists with the real talents are not that recognized by their talents because some certain factors~

now i want to ask those medias back, do they really know the reason of why Ayu sounds so bad lately?I'm very sure that the medias know so well about Ayu's half-deafness news which has been spreaded all over the news last 2 years, and they should relate that with her vocal being bad, rather than accusing her for having bad vocal without reason~

but that's just my two cents, all in all, i hope that she can be better this year and she can take a rest her vocal (if she really can and willing to realize about it), if she still do overwork herself, nothing i can do accept to keep on supporting her no matter what..

oh this has finally come...yeah she is just pushing through each year, i know singing is her life but if she really don't take some time off and get some vocal lessons, it would be worse if no one wants to listen to her sing ...
GANBATTE AYU!! we are rooting for u no matter what

ayu ganbatte ne~~~~~~~

i prefer her recent voice....
her voice when she was on peak was terrible imo....
tooo pitchy n high-pitched....

but i'm agree that ayu needs a break....

MY God, I'm obliged to agree. It's too clear, too apparent to ignore.

I totally agree with you!!
I prefer her voice nowadays,too.

And I am really impressed by her voice in the You were... performances lately!!!

Don't know if she really needs a break...

people always complained about Ayu's voice, right? but she became the best no matter what. a performer is not only about the voice... Ayu's lyrics, smile and energy have always been her assets

anyway, i don't care if her live voice isn't so good anymore, as long as her recording voice keeps getting better

scary media bashing, stay strong Ayu ♥

oh,at first i dun want to make any comment,but...

it seems that medias like to talk something bad about Ayu lately,specially the drug scandal,damn it

i know i cant disagree this,but at least can they say something more inspritional rather than directly bashing Ayu?? i agree with AyUmIXx.

dont they remember that Ayu is also help the industry,well at least when people know her they know more about japan too (at least me),she also has her lil' contribution to the japan's economy when we had the world economy crysis.she's an icon, i cant deny it.

they should feel proud of her even she's deaf in one ear now she still make an effort to perform for her fans.not just saying this is just the end of her career,hello guys,do you forget about her best masterpiece with all her lyrics that really inspire the people out there??

nobody knows what is deep in her heart though,but i believe that Ayu is also sad and dissappointed about her deafness and it's really hard for her to forget her ex-lover,and this is the result of what had happen last year when she injured her hand (she's making herself really busy just to foget the probs)

quite shock when they say that kouhaku's performance is bad,oh this is too much i think, or maybe they want another artist to sing A Song For XX like in anation 08??can they find someone that can put such emotion into a song?

i really love her recent voice too.always can feel the feeling when i listen to You were...

really sad nowadays when people know Ayu through all this bad news :( when things shouldnt be like that,

so,Ayu,i hope you can improve your voice,maybe take a lil rest (which i doubt i cant wait or not) and get a vocal coach or whatever,just listen to us this time,otherwise i'll continue to support you cos you're such an inspiration!

I think she needs to go and have vocal training like others have said.

I really hope she notices this issue and does something to help her vocals.

sorry i think u got my point wrong... my point is voice always change once stress comes on... and then common illness comes along... i am not saying the flu cause the bad voice lolz

lets just ignore the bashers lolz no point listening to them... we can just enjoy Ayu's songs ourselves :)

It just feel just soo much different when I listen to CAROLS, MOMENT, DEAREST, VOYAGE now. How much i would really want the old ayu to be back.

I miss that kind of voice. Soft and tender.

I feel really sorry for her for this being so harsh, but like others I hope that she will open her eyes and realize that she has take care of herself or she can't sing many years anymore if she keeps straining her vocals. I really wish the best for her and hopefully everything will sort out and she'll improve her vocals. I honestly think she has a gorgeous voice when she uses it right.

I also love Ayu's current vocal, it's much more emotional and deep, just that she lost her half hearing, so that's the main problem for her worse vocal that she has right now and i wish Ayu could learn to adapt to her new situation by taking a break for a year or so....

Ayu needs to spend more time learning how to control. She can do it, I mean, she did it with some You were... lives and Rule at Kouhaku. She just needs some time.
And this upcoming tour isnt gonna allow that :(

Rule at Kouhaku belongs to the best vocally she has done in quite a time o.0 While I partly agree, the mention of that performance makes the articles wrong for me...they probably want to sell by writing bad stuff about Ayu.

there's so much wrong with this thread.

instead of making up another dozen of lame excuses why she can't sing properly, could we prz actually discuss her voice?

I'm not so bothered about her lives anymore although that was also quite a bit to swallow, but her studio vocals have gone gradually downhill too. that's the really big issue I see.

I think the last ballad she could sing really well in the studio was CAROLS. HEAVEN already sounded kinda out of breath during the verses and JEWEL was in the same kind of quality. you didn't really notice in her upbeat songs, she sounded very fine in them back then. Startin' probably has some of her finest studio vocals ever.
then GUILTY came along and the overall quality of her voice began to change (actually I think Secret is the first song to partly show it). the gentleness slowly started to fade away and was replaced by some much hoarser thing. !! that's not the same thing as singing in a lower register or changing the vocal style, I'm talking about a complete change in the quality of her voice.

with You were... / BALLAD we've reached a new all time recording low. I mean, people praise her for her singing, but either they don't listen closely or just have very low standards. it's a single full of slow songs and stripped back arrangements and her voice is just lacking so much. she's belting through the songs with more hoarseness than ever. the verses sound awkwardly out-of-breath. I don't find it enjoyable.

if I wasn't a long time fan how could I ever possibly like it? how is anyone supposed to like it? she'd be a nobody without her past. any newcomer with that voice -may the songs be as good as they are- would not sell a single copy.

^yea and its the first time, when she's about to release something, bad press always comes before it.

hmm i don't want to point out any Japanese singers' names, but there are some of the singers who have such vocal (vocally not that good during live), but they still can sell well though~ even better than Ayu's sales..
and that really confuses me sometimes, in which standard of a singer could be called a great singer by Japanese listeners?

hmm i don't know if i'm in such a low standard listener or not, i still think she sounds ok in the CD, i can't really compare to her previous vocals and many other fans don't really care about her vocal because that's just not what they like about her..

and to be honest, who wouldn't like her for her beauty then 2nd is about her singing? famous artists these days gather fans who sadly but true not really care about the actual talent~ but at least, Ayu still can sing pretty well, not the worse yet.. at least, she has never sounded so worst before (except CDL0708), just this year~ and Ayu is an entertainer, not 100% a singer.., it's just my opinion ok~

this is the most ridiculous part for me :irked what happen to them? sometimes i really didnt understand what they want as a singer to perform *sigh* maybe ayu also will dissappointed when she read this,poor ayu

i hope that TA member will say something to Ayu about this because they are the closest to Ayu,give her some words and advice so that she can continue doing what she loves to do the most (obviously music) and i dont want to lose her in the industry...

^
i think i remember someone saying that TA Staff is kind of filtering what the members are about to say to Ayu?
inappropriate messages (according to TA Staff) will be deleted so Ayu will nvr get to read it..

Why's ayu's voice horrible?

Is it because she's shouting when she sings songs like Rule and Mirrorcle World? Well, these are rock-ish songs, aren't they? The lyrics and tune are very strong, it's natural for her to put more energy into singing them. She's singing about conviction, determination, never giving up, surely you won't expect her to use a soft and lovely voice to sing that? As a result, she sounds like she's shouting, and everyone just assumes it's because her voice is bad and she can't get the sounds out.

And true, she has been sounding rather out-of-breath in lives nowadays. But does anyone notice that she's actually making an effort to dance? To actually perform herself, instead of just standing there and singing, something which she used to do in those early days when her voice was apparently "still good". She only started to do this from 2007 onwards, the time period that some people say is the time when her vocals started going bad. Yeah, it takes lots of training to dance and sing well at the same time, and I admit ayu isn't amazing at that, I feel that that's why she sounds breathless half the time.

So when people just say things like "her voice sucks" and "go away and take lessons" without trying to think of why and what may have caused the change, don't you think it's a little harsh?

^
nope...she started getting more active on stage around 2001/2002 (the same time she started using playback) and her voice was for a big time worse than in 2003 and 2005 where she did around the same on stage she does now

hmm that one of the reasons as well of why she sounded out of breath~

lol that's true, but for me, the real dancing period started in 2007, with Arena Tour's evolution and 1 LOVE-until that Day... sequence, right at the time of the big hoo-ha about Eason Chan (however you spell his name) accusing her of lip-syncing because she was able to dance and sing at the same time.

well actually...the first half of AT07 is VERY suspicious(except the ballady beginning of evolution) only from after appears on she definitely sang live, it's not unlikely for his accusions to be true

lol I hate to be mean, but the media seems to be really late.

In regards to her "evolution" performance, true, that was a bit embarrassing, but it's not like she hasn't forgotten lyrics before. In fact, she forgot the lyrics to "evolution" at AT08 as well (the TV version, anyway).

And we know her voice hasn't been the best for the past few years either. She strains out her voice quite a bit, plus she's deaf in her left ear, and it's very hard to hear and keep yourself in tune when that happens.

And lol @ these people saying "the era of Ayu is over". Whut? That ended a long time ago. I think her era ended in '03/'04. But, hey, even with these problems, she's still continuing with sold out concerts. She may not be AS popular as she was many years ago, but she still is enough to the point where she can still have #1 singles and albums and still have sold out concerts.

^
yeap, i agree to what you've said..
and in fact that Ayu still charts and she often ranks in some pollings by oricon rankings or tv shows rankings, that means ppl still love her.. still demand of her~

Finally thread about her voice is a big thing in Japan... Maybe she'll change her mind finally. Everybody wants her to take a break and start vocal training, I want it to... But when? Delaying the tour now would be insane. I hope for vocal lessons, but... It's a wishful thinking.

Yes, Maikaru and I are agreeing for sure on this. :) She really did have some great vocals from 02-06. Even 98-01 I would put as better than now because at least those were much more controlled. The reason Japanese press is only bringing this up now? Because it has gotten so bad that it can't be ignored anymore.

I will never understand when people say that her voice was never good so its fine that her voice is bad now because I just don't think that is true at all. Take any non-sick performance from 02-early 06 and put it up against any performance from late 06-09 and I just don't see how someone could say in good faith that no matter what period her voice was always bad.

Honestly, those performances are only "good" because we view them through the "current Ayu standard" filter. To any regular person viewing those, they are average at best. And most of the Japanese comments I've seen about Kohaku this year have thought that her voice was awful. And I love ya, but I think you are crazy for including any Sunrise performance. :)

Oh dear, finally an article pops up in Japan about her voice. :no I was wondering when they would do something like this, not that I like it. Poor ayu, it's obvious her vocals are really bad nowadays, but some of those comments are just....mean. This could really hurt her career.

I can't agree more... I don't understand people who think that she's not a good singer... Of course her vocals abilities are not perfect but she could put awesome performances in the past, her lives could be amazing. She was not an average pop star trying to sing, she could sing!

it's very sad reading all this, but I supposed, and probably, honestly wished it appeared

I don't think her voice was bad during 1998-2001. I liked it sometimes, sometimes not. I'm the fan of A BEST era Ayu, I think it must be the best time she had produced, so I quite liked the vocals during that time. although I think that with the beggining of I am.., RAINBOW voice got even more improvement & I liked it even more.

MY STORY era changed the voice again and probably it was due to music change, the music started to have a heavier sound, no? there was kinda a progression, (m)u, Secret, GUILTY - heavier & heavier sounds. I think it does affect, doesn't it? the heavier music. and we got deeper vocal and much much much vibrato, it wasn't brought in before. I don't really like her voice since 2006

whenever I heard MW performance, I couldn't but turn it off. not that I only absolutely hate the song *oh yes shoot me twice*, the live it sounded horrible for me. maybe it was due to the sound, but I guess it was due to the sound and to the voice. I think every MW performance sounded horrible. that's when I noticed the voice problems

I can say, that Best of CDL, surprisingly, I think, was very well sung :)

I don't like reading all this : AYU GO & RETIRE through obviously it's what must be made, and that's what makes the most sense. I think just probably a bit of hiatus would be okay. I think fans will understand. I think some fans will much support this

I doubt she does it. if she doesn't cancel new arena tour, it will bring up a lot of trouble & sorrow. to her & to fans, and lotsa media bashing. because seriously she doesn't have much time to improve or cure
I see no sense in this arena tour

I don't know what's happening to Ayu's soul, though. I wonder about it. because I think earlier, maybe she wasn't that opened and didn't have a personal blog on the same level as now, but she was "opened" in terms of expressing herself throughout lyrics

now she's very much reserved. I think she somehow feels really bad inside. even though she tries to show she's happier, I kinda cannot believe in it

I think she has many personal problems. now this media. how will she feel about it?

^ I also feel she's kinda putting on a front with her emotions lately....... Dunno why. Just feels that way.


Yeah, no matter how much popularity Ayumi loses, we can't look at it by the Kouhaku timeslot (or even if she appears at all). She does many other things at the end of the year, as does everybody else. We should only worry when we're not seeing her on anything.
And that's a good thing to point out... Who's this written by?? :\ Since we have no source, this could be a haters blog for all we know.. Not that I'm knocking the whole idea of everything, because I agree with most of it, but...yeah.

This is a very good point, too. :yes Sometimes, she's screaming or whatever, not even because her voice is bad or anything, but because of the over-excitement! I actually noticed this during many of the Rule performances, like the latest one coupled with You were... When you look at her face, and listen closely to her voice, you can see that she's just so thrilled! And when you're singing, sometimes you accidentally scream when you're having so much fun... I've seen Ayu do it, I've seen Kumi do it, I've seen many do it. And I don't mind this type of screaming, because it means they're enjoying themselves, hah! :P

:yes


Also, I wish people wouldn't judge her by You were... performances...... I mean, not just 'cause I think she sounded amazing in almost every one so far, but..... Seriously. Try singing that song. Especially if you have a deep voice or rely on the lower register, or if you can't sing exactly right. Just try it. It's a truly hard song, and I think she's done wonderful with it. :heart

Whatever... any article that mentions negative comments about her figure I just basically disregard. Ayu's peak was over a couple years ago. Everyone knows that you really only have about 5 years to be at the top of the industry. If anything, it's great that after 11 years she's still getting number 1 albums and singles.

She needs to take better care of her voice and prepare for her live performances more carefully. That's about it. Same for every veteran who's hit a rough patch. It's just that lately the media has been giving her a hard time. Well, better than no publicity at all.

@CrystalAgeha: I don't know if the reason she was first for Kohaku is what the article says it is, but CDL really shouldn't have anything to do with her being first. Besides the last 2 years she always performed in the second half of the show even though she had her CDL, the CDTV Super Live, and the Japan Record Awards all in the same night.

As for the source, both are from legitimate places in Japan.

"the era of Hamasaki Ayumi is finally and truly over"

Oh please. She's still a top seller and her presence is everywhere in culture. So she isn't what she used to be-- almost nobody is. She's going through a rough patch and she'll pull out of it the way she always has before.

For one bad perform on Evo I think it's totally foolish ! Ayu can't be like she was but she's something new I can't believe what I read Ayu era is not over at all she is every where and Y/B was 1st it's totally stupid !

It's beginning. People are noticing her bad singing. Ah...

Are you kidding me ? We don't hear the same thing xD

Do you think Ayu will be here as a super star if she couldn't sing anymore ?

She can't be at the top every days I totally agree but she is at the top 9days on 10 ! And tour 2010 will be very good I'm sure !

She is fabulous and has a great voice ! She has really a marvelous voice !

WORDS OF TRUTH!

ALL this is crap.
And People here are SO funny. You all suggest from your point of view, your life, your house. But no one of you is AYUMI HAMASAKI. You don't know what's with her, how she is, why is this happening to her voice, etc. I'm pretty sure everything is very complicated for her. Try to think from another point of view...

We have to consider the fact that Avex might be "pushing" Ayu to not take a break. After all she is their "flagship", and she contributes to quite a bit of their income, so it might not be so popular if Ayu wants to have abreak for a year... For Avex, that means one year with ALOT less income. As brutal as it may seem, it is probably a factor for why she always has ten projects in the air at all times.
We don't know what goes on on those top secret meetings... For all we know, they might threaten to use alot less money on promoting her if she wants to have a year off and then start again. I dunno... I don't think it's all glittery and happy smiley times in the Avex business. Money comes first. It's a stock holder company after all. All about the dough...

^ Of course avex is pushing her to do as much as possible... But I still think that Ayumi doesn't completely mind.

Really...? If you really think that, okay... But I can guarantee you, most of the world doesn't and hasn't felt that way about Ayumi Hamasaki. :\

But some of you seem so surprised, that somebody with a "terrible" voice can be so huge... Um, it isn't just like this in Japan, guys. D: In the States, look at Lady GaGa right now - an awfully mediocre voice, but she has a gimmick, so she's popular. Britney Spears is an awful singer, but she's an icon, so it doesn't matter. And I've heard plenty of European Eurobeat singers who shouldn't be given a microphone ever, yet they've made it on several albums. Also, boybands from EVERYWHERE also have such average voices - and some of them flat out suck - but their catchy songs and sex appeal gets them major fame...
Being a famous singer, or celebrity in general, is usually never about how much talent you have, no matter where we're talking about. Ayumi isn't and didn't become famous because of her voice. She's famous because she was incredibly likable and had a ton of charisma, and then we also found out she's an amazing lyricist and has great fashion. Afterall, if all we did to choose who became famous was base it all on who could sing four octaves, or whatever, it would probably be a boring industry...

^ Erm...have you heard Gaga sing one of her piano versions? She belongs to the best vocalists that got succesful in the last years. Just most songs of hers are really easy to sing.

I'm not saying she's bad, just that she's average (it's not bad to be an average singer, especially since the majority of people are far~ below average), and she doesn't even have a unique voice to make up for it (not to me, at least--I could easily confuse her with several other artists :\). Yes, she's one of the best singers of the past few years (from the Western world), but........is that really saying much? XD

When you hear a song evrybody has a different opinion okay no problems but don't say that Ayu doesn't have talent ! It's totally wrong !! She has more talent than every body here ! If she was just charisma she did 2/3 years like an idol but not 11 ^^

Do you find AT 2009 was bad sung ? It was great ! She was tired these times but you can't say she has not talent it's totally stupid for me.

And millions peoples think like me all around the world

that's ok, being crazy is part of my charm :P
Really, the Together When performance was one of her best ones ever IMO, and the Rule one was almost flawless... The Sunrise one is far from being amazing, but she is singing in the way it's expected for the song

If japanese people love ayu Dearest performances from 2001 and find Rule at kouhaku bad, I will agree with Namie... They don't think hard ^^

I Totally agree !

==> I found rule at kohaku pretty good, the voice was good and the perform was amazing.

This article won't change the fact that Ayu is an amazing singer who is everywhere in the japanese music cultur and perhaps no body will do what she did and she does, she is already with the legends ^^ like Xjapan for visual kei =)

Well honestly...the American industry is a little more complex I think to debunk when it comes to singers.

Sometimes we have just, the absolute amazing singer, and then other times we have people like Taylor Swift. Gaga for me is above average, but even I confused her voice for another singer back when she was still starting.
---

In Ayu's case, with Japanese standards being what they are, I think they're being a little too hard on her considering the people they have in their industry...but I think theyre being quite influenced by Western Standards...which shouldnt really be applied since vocalists in Japan and America are really really different.

I mean, we could probably find like 20 people out there who could sound like, say Beyonce, but we probably couldn't find 2 people in Japan that sound like Beyonce.

While we could find 20 people in Japan that sound like Ayu...we couldnt find them here lol I don't know if they've thought about that though.

It's kind of a touchy subject, isn't it lol But certainly interesting.

I definitely think she needs a loooong break, and after that break, some vocal lessons... But I think that the articles were very depressing... I mean, even though her voice isn't as good as it used to be, and it sounds very strained, it's not really as bad as a lot of people think it is, imo... I mean, she's still a singer, and she still has a much better voice than a lot of people I know! XD But still...Ayu, it's break time, I think...

^ I agree with those saying that her voice was the best from 2002-2006

Since when ayu can't match and hold high notes ?

I think that she has problems since her left ear is deaf and it could be that her right ear isn't working 100% anymore....
She could have tinitus in her right ear or maybe her right ear is damaged by the concerts.
So maybe she can't really hear herself well enough to realize how off key she is singing from time to time.
And if she smokes hard her voice would be damaged and that is why she is out of breath, too.
I really hope that ayu hasn't damaged her voice irrepairable, that would be horrible.



Here are thoughts from my boyfriend:

If we compare the drug scandal and the shrill voice, it is a bad view. It is just a possibility that the smoking mixture of Spice and cigarettes made her voice more shrill then morivana. morivana is a drug in japan but it is not impossible to get. Avex pushed her too much which has stressed her and she began to smoke to feel better. And the circle is perfect, the mixture kills her voice and she gets more frustrated and smokes....
Maybe she had problems with her voice because of her left ear.

I kinda agree with the article. Her voice's more powerful and deep now than the high-pitched voice of her early career, but in lives.. omg so disappointing :no
It doesn't mean 'now we're realized that she has not talent' lol her voice is weak.
Also deafness couldn't help. She should retire for.. a year or several months for training her voice as well. As other said 'we could live without tour, Ayu' :shrug but FuNsTyLe have a good point. Avex milking the cash-cow D: (that's so gross :laugh) they won't risk to lose Ayu.

I think if she needs a break it's to look for a boyfriend, think to herself and rest for this maybe but she would die ^^ without her fans and her job ^^ don't forget She is a workaholic, it's all she has.

It's this, she is weak but like I said it would be so hard for her to stop for months and for Avex.....n_n

I'm pretty sure that people who are buying her singles nowadays are just hardcore fans. She's still popular, but not like she used to be, and especially not because of her voice. I mean, I don't think her voice is so bad that I won't listen to her anymore (I still find her works very beautiful), I am just saying that is becoming obvious that she doesn't sing as good as she should in lives. And people are noticing. This article is an example.

Well I'd still like to attend her concert :P

The funny part is that those articles make it sounds like someday Ayumi was praised as a vocalist by japanese public, what never happened...

i will be honest, i was never attracted to her voice, actually i thought she's horrible singer, i wont say that she didnt have good days and good performances, but they were never 'amazing' to me. it was amazing because of her charisma, her energy, her emotions, but if we are talking about singing talent and technique ayu doesnt have it in my eyes.
singing right is hard, its like 1% of talent and 99% of hard work, and its hard until you got used to it cuz whole body hurts, well everyone who attended some vocal lessons know. and it doesnt come after night, it takes years and years. i think ayu should consider taking vocal lessons, at least to not damage her voice fully..if its not too late.

im just worried will articles like this (drugs included too) affect her career...

As long as Ayu has a fanbase, she'll never let herself quit. I hope the Japanese aren't too put off because of these articles; I'm certainly not, and am planning my trip to a future tour right this second! As for this being connected with the drug article, I hope people are intelligent enough to ignore that (though I realize that people who are predisposed to dislike her will take advantage of the situation).

one can only hope that her sales dump or that her tour flops big time so that she takes a rest. if not by will, then by force.

imo..japanese standarat voice is pitchy n high-pitched n they love those kind of voice..
LOL..

Well... I also think, her voice sometimes is really bad. But.. on some performances, it is quite good.
I also think, she need a break.. and some training.
And well... until I like her Songs, and the recordings sounds good, it is ok for me.

Sometimes I wonder what Ayu thinks of her performances vocally? Maybe this will reach her and prompt her to do something about it. I think lately she's had her good performances and her bad ones. But when they're bad, they are BAD! D:

[EDIT]

As I've said before, not to use this as an excuse, but I strongly believe that one of the factors in her disappointing vocals lately is her ear problem. Because I'm sure as many of you noticed, her voice was off in CDL 09-10 but when she sang Teddy Bear with only a piano (assuming she could hear herself) she sounded fine. Yes, Ayu needs to work on her voice, no question about that. But I really do think her not being able to hear (or breathe sometimes for that matter) are contributing factors as well.

i think that is one of the reason why she stopped singing for my dear at AT09, since she was yelling alot, which hurts her voice..:yes

if avex doesn't get ayu to bring in the green stuff..don't they still have other artists that can bring in tons of money like dbsk & exile, since their singles/albums/other stuff sell like bananas :D

I've just re-watched the Rule at Kouhaku performance and to be completely honest I really don't see any difference to the way she sings now as she did 4 or 5 years ago. From RAINBOW ayu's voice has started getting lower and that happens to women as they get older (a woman's voice can break to you know, just not as drastically as a man's or as sudden). Personally I believe that ayu's voice has changed because I think she has taken up smoking. That just what I think. No shame in it but maybe ayu just wants to keep it to herself

The only time that I've heard ayu's vocals sound really bad what at the CDL07-08. They were really off pitch and kinda screechy. But I think since then her vocals have been pretty normal. I think that ayu's older voice was bad. During the Concert Tour I though it was terrible vocally! Her voice was all scratchy and nasally and just really awful.

As for everyone saying that it could be related to the drug related thing, look at ayu. Does she look like she's on drugs?? You can tell when a person is jacked up on something and ayu is always so together. Sure she has her moments and stuff but seriously she's not high. If she was I doubt she'd even be able to perform at all. (and people are saying that she fell on Christmas Day last year cuz she was high? come on, it was Christmas, she was probably just drunk :yes)

I made the christmas coment, but i was joking :P
If she was high, it would affect her performance... and really, her performances are too controled to be done by someone on drugs...

Its totally untrue. During the greatest era of Ayumi Hamasaki, and well into 2003 and 2004, everyone said that she has a great voice, and a great vocalist. She had control, she had the high pitch that many people in Japan love, and she had classy fashion sense... she had it all. Her voice was once ranked on the top unique voices of the world or something.. I cant remember which chart it was...

But anyways, dont take your opinion as the opinion of Japan. She has been celebrated as the Singing Queen 歌姫 for many many years, until recently, when people started to really doubt the direction she is going.

^ So was Seiko Matsuda and she was also known for not being a strong live vocalist...

I'm not taking my opinion as Japan's opinion, I just read more than once, that she was never seen as a strong vocalist (but she was, and wouldn't be surprised if she still is, seen as a good songwriter, composer, performer and fashion icon)