1. M (new arrangement)
2. Momentum
3. appears + outro
4. Itsuka No Merry Christmas
5. Shiroi Koibito Tachi
6. Close to you

Aaahhhh close to you <3 loving the setlist!

Shiroi Koibitotachi to Close to you feels like she's hit her stride, love it!!

OMG Close to you!!!!

Oh god the concert is being very beautiful. I'm enjoying it a lot.

Her voice has been better but it isn't dreadful. I imagine there were some last minute rehearsals and late nights to make this work.

She looks beautiful and when there have been new arrangements, they have been really good. The choir backing is lovely too.

This section is amazing!! Yes Ayu!

Is it me, or is she really nailing Close to you? <3

Setlist and stage are nice, but her voice isn't. :/
Watched a-nation live and she sounded so good there in comparison.
But a nice gesture to make it available for free today.

Close to you is one of my absolute favorites...
Hearing her sing it now makes me sad that she never sang it in concert before

I thought she did! :yes

1. M (new arrangement)
2. Momentum
3. appears + outro
4. Itsuka No Merry Christmas
5. Shiroi Koibito Tachi
6. Close to you
7. Christmas carols interlude (sung by choir)
8. Evolution

There's a Christmas Carol medley interlude with the choir including Little Drummer Boy and Carol of the Bells.

I think so but it might be because she's with child and the rehearsal for this and CDL must be taxing for her.

I was really satisfied with her voice back in a-nation and Final Trouble Tour, but this one I sorta understand.

1. M (new arrangement)
2. Momentum
3. appears + outro
4. Itsuka No Merry Christmas
5. Shiroi Koibito Tachi
6. Close to you
7. Christmas carols interlude (sung by choir)
8. Evolution
9. UNITE!

I'm a bit sad that the choir sounds better than her. xD
She looks beautiful and really happy tho, that's the most important
<3

Another costume change for evolution and unite

Now with that clothes we can see she is pregnant. And she looks amazing! She is singing much better now.

UNITE! actually sounds better than I expected (not great but her voice isn't constantly breaking like during TROUBLE CDL)

She's on full cutesy voice mode for this section, and it's working!

She is so good, for real. Her voice has moments of absolute beauty <3 There are few off moments but they are not disturbing at all. She nails so much more here. I'm extremely happy and touched :)

1. ℳ (new arrangement)
2. Momentum
3. appears + outro

4. Itsuka No Merry Christmas
5. Shiroi Koibito Tachi
6. Close to you
7. Christmas carols interlude (sung by choir)

8. Evolution
9. UNITE!
10. Happening Here

Omg that was adorable

I love the way she got it wrong and laughed it away

Ohhh, Yongae and another choir member are rapping Timmy's part.

No encore? :(

Oh, it's already over

It's over

Just under an hour, so short!

Remember that she maybe cut out a lot of MC and that she planned 2 shows on that day.
2x 2 hour long shows on one day is maybe a bit enough while being pregnant

AHS is back! too many people trying to access! Power of Ayu lol

This was a beautiful Christmas gift from ayu and I am so grateful for it :love

This is the final setlist!

I'm so happy! Totally in love with the first two sections! :heart The 3rd one was fun, too, of course!

I loved it so much :weep

Also I miss Yo-chan

Of course! There are so many more ballads she could've sung though. Maybe she's saving some for the CDL :D

A CHURCH was everything!!!!!

Thank you for the sweet gift, Ayu! I really enjoyed getting to watch her live like this. :heart She was so adorable and glowing!

I posted my rip on JPS, I believe soon someone will upload on GD and other servers and post here. I can't upload on them because my upload keeps breaking, so a torrent is the way to go.

The concert was pretty fun, nothing groundbreaking but a nice gift for the fans for sure. The vocals started strong but by the third section it was not great, specially Evolution and UNITE, and since I dislike Happening Here I didn't care that much. I loved the outfit for the second part, it's a pity that the color of the stream were so washed out and didn't showcase the outfit that well.

Such a great show! Can't wait for CDL :yes

so happy I got to see this from the beginning until the end! it's definitely the closest I'll ever get to seeing her live, and it's free. so so happy.

anyways, overall she's a bit struggling vocally, but I think it's fine. she's definitely done much worse, and the strain could have been due to her being pregnant. which explains why at least some parts of M were very noticeably lip-synched. I am not complaining in this regard.

her costumes are great too—though I'm not really getting her final one; the pink dress–leather jacket combo was ...A Choice. in spite of this, she looked absolutely gorgeous.

I hope she's getting enough rest before CDL, where I hope her vocal quality will have improved significantly to the levels of 夏のトラブル and a-nation.

Whenever we do get another album, this would be a great addition to the TA edition.

When i was in school by myself lonely and listened Itsuka No Merry Christmas, I cried. All the time. For me, it is my lonely christmas song.

Ayu looks a bit tired from the performance. She has kids and consistently working hard. :-/

oh you're right this would be perfect. it was literally conceived of as a TA special!

EDIT:
anyway, remember when she said the camera and audio quality wouldn't be as good for this one? to me everything seemed on par with 夏のトラブル and a-nation. anyone noticed a significant decline in quality in these respects?

I also felt M was lip-synched.
The rendition was perfect. I'm very happy whenever they do alternative arrangements for live shows even this particular one was not my cup of tea. After that she was really struggling and vocally-wise it was her worst performance of the year. Hope she'll have time to recover before CDL.
Aside from that particular point it was a lovely show, visually very pleasing.
She was glowing once more.
I absolutely loved the addition of the choir even if the band was still absent.

A very nice gift for all of us. And it was for free. A blessing.

You're right. They nailed it.

@Deep snow: Yea, it's a lot better than what I had expected. It's kinds dark, just like Natsu no Trouble, but other than that it was fine. Of course I'd love a proper edit but I thought this would end up with only 2 angles and much worse audio.

Vocally, this wasn't her best but it was solid enough for. I hope she chose some easier songs for the CDL but it should be fine. The fact that there's only 1 date will help a lot already.

I loved the show!

It was clear that she couldn't hear at certain parts so she struggled to get her voice out. Also she was soooooo nervous, like a child entering a room full of people for the first time. This made her more cute though.

I am happy she gave us this gift, new arrangements were amazing and the whole show screamed CHRISTMAS with every pore.

I am still processing, the fact that after all this time, after all her struggles with her hearing, after all her vocal and health issues, after this crazy year...she showed up and delivered her first Christmas Show and plans to keep going no matter what. I love that about her.

Looking forward to her next shows and any new music she plans to release someday.

I managed to watch it while working somehow, though I couldn’t hear it well so can’t tell anything about how she sounded. Love the setlist, loved her looks. Loved the atmosphere. Hated the dancers, hated the choir. This would have been perfect with a real band, as always. Hope this isn’t the direction her future concerts will take when pandemics came to an end.
I gotta add it’s so nice from her giving us this Christmas gift after all <3

I liked the choir. There were just a few moments where Princess really didn't sound that good.

I still can't believe we got to see this for free! It's sad that the event couldn't happen the way it was supposed to but I have to admit that I feel like this was a good thing for us international fans.

BEAUTIFUL
FLAWLESS
PERFECT

Here is a streaming version if needed :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNZ46xLvjvw

For a last minute change up, they did really well with this show in terms of the camera work. I'm surprised (but I suppose they're professionals anyway so I really shouldn't be lol)

camera-work isn't that hard tbqh if the setup is right. I once was the director at university for a music show that was live streamed. Basically the guy that says when the camera has to switch. really fun, but not the haaardest job.

This show was amazing. Except for Momentum and the evolution-Unite part when she got problems with her earphones, she sounded very good most of the time. Even if she was careful (not jumping like a crazy girl) you could feel all the emotion and the energy she put in this show. I cried during Close to you while it isn't a song I love. She looks flawless. I really like her pink dress+perfecto combo. The interludes were longer than usual but I suppose she can't change her outfit as quickly as while being pregnant.
This was a wonderful Christmas gift. Very short but wonderful.

After FNS people expected god-like vocals, but it's important to remember that live Ayu and pre-recorded Ayu are 2 very different vocalists. That's why I'd like her to stick to pre-recorded lives as much as possible.

I've listened to some bits again. This show was really that good and set the Christmas just right. She sounded so lovely. I'm really proud of her :)

that was a lovely show. really happy and grateful about all of this!

merry xmas to everyone who celebrates it! thanks for everything. ♥

That stage would have been so amazing to be there live, really up close to everyone and Ayu.

It was an amazing christmas gift. I loved everything, that christmas segment with Close to You was more than I could've ever wanted. It's kinda funny that for some people here she sounded like fergie singing the US national anthem LOL

Merry Christmas to everyone <3

The show was really nice, and the quality looks like it was really good but kind of dark. I was ready for the quality to suck after all the staff posts. Loved the first half, didn't particularly care for the second half, but still a good show overall. I thought for sure she'd end the show with Winter diary, or at least sing it at some point since it's got all the Christmas-y vibes. I wonder what the original setlist was... Excited for the countdown live, hopefully she'll take the week to rest so we can have better vocals.

I don't know both cover songs, so wasn't really excited to hear them. Also not a fan of Close to you, but it was expected she'll sing it
I would like CDL to be something similar, mostly calm live without many dancers

Ayu made me christian and believe in xmas spirit again!!!! PERFECTION

Loved the new rendition of Itsuka no merry xmas. Wish she would use her real deep voice in other songs as well lol

She cleared the skin and made me believe in God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I stayed up super late to watch this and the performance of Close to you made it all worth it. I used to listen to that song so much and always thought of it as an underrated gem, but completely forgot about it over the years. She reignited my love for the song with an absolutely flawless performance!

“Happening Here” without Timmy is kinda weird.

Both Ayu and Timmy are way better rappers than the people that were there

agreed. rapping is difficult enough as it is, especially if you have to do it in a language that isn't native to you. they were struggling during Timmy's part.

Also I don’t understand why she likes that song as much as she does lol

I like it too to be honest xD

Damn i was so late and only watched happening here. Come to ahs for the watch the whole show, but still not find the download link.

It´s in the download section o.o

I loved this concert so much, she was glowing, the choir added a lot to the songs! It was a simple but magical show, a beautiful christmas gift.

Oh, and I love Happening Here xD but my favorite moments were M and the two covers/close to you section <3

I like Happening here without Timmy more. Sorry Timmy

I miss Timmy in this song because is rap part was funny. Nobody can do this kind of voice in her current choir.

Didn't Timmy wrote the rap part?

I wish she would replace Happening Here with another TK staple like Wanna Be A Dreammaker or Faces Places.

Same here, I personally don't get the appeal of this song, although I know she's a TRF fan, I guess it might be nostalgic/meaningful to her... I mean, the girl already performed it TWICE on the CDL 11-12, which is insane!

I really love Happening Here during CDL19-20 (my favourite) and AT12 but it didn't feel as awesome during the Xmas show. Probably because it wasn't the big opener. Even though I prefer Timmy's version of the rap, I still really enjoyed the song during the Xmas live. :)

She initially started her singing career as a R&B / rap singer. I always forget it.

Same here! Justice for Close to you :love

gosh it was as if this song were written for her. fits so well, especially with her 2011–2012 vocals. when they announced the globe tribute cover back in 2015, I so hoped ayu would cover this song.

(that said, I really love the trf version of this song in the album.)

Wonderful photos.

Loved the show overall, but unite/evo/happening here just felt so out of place - ruined an otherwise perfect setlist. So happy and surprised though that she did two covers that she did on TV way back when.

Really? A bit surprising considering how long you've been a fan. She's done tv performances of both songs before - they were nice little easter eggs in this concert for fans that remember those old TV lives.

I lowkey expected Gackt during Itsuka no merry christmas

The segment from unite felt out of place for me too. The change was very abrupt.

And SAME about gackt appearing for itsuka no merry christmas :laugh

I think Happening Here / teens was a huge single for her which is why she's also kind of taken them as her own.

I imagine she stuck those upbeat tracks in as like a post-TA corner thing to get people pumped up and ready for CDL? Though now....

I really loved the show. The vocals were decent, and I loved the dresses. She brought back the Together When... dress which is one of my all time favorites.:xmas
The setlist was amazing except towards the end. I felt they were out of place and didn't belong in an xmas concert.
I also wanted Gackt to come walking out so bad for itsuka no merry christmas.:love

◆Today at 19:00, "ayumi hamasaki Special SHOWCASE 〜Xmas Eve 2020〜" will be on YouTube Premieres!

Songs excerpted from the online live "ayumi hamasaki Special SHOWCASE 〜Xmas Eve 2020〜", which was broadcast live on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2020, will be on YouTube Premieres!

01. Opening Bells
02. M
03. momentum
04. appears
05. Close to you

https://youtu.be/bjyQk4zxaKs

They dubbed the intro of M. In the show they originally used a newly recorded version but now it's the original track for that part.

Over 5k tuned in to watch the rerun, that was cool :)

Why do they make bad decisions

^Maybe I should have specified that I was talking about vocals for the "'MARIA' 愛すべき人がいて キズを負った全ての者達…" part in the beginning. The rest should be the same.

Oh, I noticed. The original had a bigger impact for me...

maybe it was to make it look less awkward—in the original broadcast, she wasn't holding her microphone to her hand during the intro, so she wasn't syncing with the thing she was supposed to lip-synch :laugh

^Probably!

Just realized she says "tawari" instead on "mawari" in the first verse of M lol

I really wish she would just post the full stream of it instead of excerpts. She probably doesn’t think it’s perfect, but fans do. I suspect that she might also be self conscious of her body in regards to the public, thus why we have excepts from the first and second set. I absolutely LOVED the pink dress (with the black leather jacket) she wore for the third set/encore. Perhaps she was moreso afraid of the public judging her appearance with being so far along. I wouldn’t worry if I were her, she should embrace her pregnancy body :)