All I can say is that I hope to high heaven that if she does decide to enter the U.S. market, her lyrics don't suddenly become hormonally charged, like Utada's and BoA's. I know it reflects badly on mainstream American taste when people feel like they have to ***** themselves to get popularity but ... sex is so old and it would be even worse in Engrish.

Oh sure?? I'm kinda doubtful abt this..

I hope to see Ayu stay in the Asian market. Going to the West may or may not be succesful. Seeing her studying English wld be good but hope she won't focus all her time there.
Now I'm not sure if I shld be happy or not. hahaz.

I'm getting all confused..

What this article is implying is highly unlikely but still, this is my favorite part of the article.

Well, Utada's venture into this territory is worse than Boa's will ever be but that's another story for another thread. Ayumi appeals to me because she doesn't need to constantly sing about sex and partying. If Ayumi does indeed take the same route, in any language, then its the end of the world as we know it.

At the end of the day, I would love to see Ayumi do her signature style of music and show in Japanese in North America without giving up entirely on her career in Japan. She has devoted fans that love her as she is. I think (hope) she knows that.

:yes

I doubt if ayu will have a success in US.
Well.as we know that hikki and BoA failed right.
But.let's hope for the best.
^^

^BoA and Utada are each in the process of releasing new singles to promote their English albums. BoA seems to have a good chance. She's been working hard and getting decent exposure (Huge SF Pride perf. anyone?). Utada....yeah she's been sleeping. Oh well. anyone one of her songs cept AutomaticII and Poppin' could make a good single. Its not over till the fat lady sings as they say (waiting on misono to sing......jk)

If she goes internationally that would be risky. But we really don't know. Maybe she should learn her English first..:)

Thanks for the article.

I think one point to consider is that, there really isn't any Asian artists in America right now or in the last 10 years, even Asian American. Coco Lee had a semi hit with the Crouching Tiger theme but easily forgotten. Thats really...it!
Like I said, theres no doubt shes got her underground fanbase like all the Asian artists who have *recently* come to America have, like BoA, Utada, WonderGirls (who are getting alot of attention through the Jonas Brothers tour!), etc.

Another point, Ayu could be more succesful is she had better promoters than the godawful ones for Utada and BoA. Wondergirls are making the best of what they can do, they've moved to America, and are touring with the Jonas Brothers as an opening act.

here is Friday's official website by the way: http://friday.kodansha.ne.jp/free/pc/index.cgi?r=569
However, I don't see this story listed on the current edition, at least not anywhere I can find on the cover.

Yeah, speaking of which.. just where did this article come from?

-shifty eyes-

It's a tabloid published by Kodansha?! =(

Honestly I'm getting suspicious now too. I had trusted it on face value but I just checked out Ayu's 2ch thread and don't see this being talked about. If this really was published in Friday magazine they would definitely be talking about it.

Although its a tabloid, usually Friday is fairly accurate about the things it publishes. Now, though its hard to say whether Friday actually said this or not, or if it was completely made up.

ayu.no keeps lowering its approval rating, yo. -sigh-

No. :( I never would have expected that to be my knee-jerk reaction, but I guess some selfish part of me doesn't want to share her with mainstream America. I guess I actually really like adoring her from afar. I would never want Ayu to get involved in...well, essentially in the American music industry. There isn't a lot to like in its structure, and what happens to people involved in it. :(
I'm surprised that I'm saying this, though, because I would love to see Ayu live, and plan to one day. I just want to have to fly to Asia to do it. I guess it is really selfish of me, but considering that just about everyone I know (at least, my friends who aren't from Asian countries) has never heard of Ayumi Hamasaki, I want to keep her to myself, my own sort of "secret" love. :P

EDIT: Also, Ayu singing all in English = no.
EDIT 2: It's looking like this is fake, so until there's an official proclamation, I'm going to cover my ears and say, "LALALALALALA!" chock it up to tabloid fantasy.

Yeah I wouldn't think Kodansha would publish something about Ayu without all the facts! And since there's no trace of this on Friday either, it must be fake! I sure hope to God it is!

I still think there is a chance this is true, especially given Ayu's recent blog post. But we need clarification if this actually came from Friday or from a Chinese magazine that supposedly interviewed someone at Friday.

What does AMF stand for? (the place this was supposedly gotten from)

Well if it is fake the only proof we have is the AHS members report of what Stan and Max Matsuura hinted (hinted being the key word) at and Ayu's blog.

I think it stands for Ayumifans.net [the Chinese Ayu forum]..

FYI, that proof came from the same person here who posted this article.. Maxker..

^Didn't even know that! Then yeah that should be taken with a grain of salt.