COUNTDOWN LIVE 2016-2017 thoughts
 

http://i.imgur.com/B0DFStF.png

31 Dec broadcast version


SETLIST
01. kanariya
02. Last angel
03. Fly high
04. UNITE!
05. poker face
06. ANGEL'S SONG
07. Depend on you
08. Beautiful Fighters
09. STEP you
XX. Dearest ~ JEWEL ~ CAROLS ~ momentum piano interlude
10. M
11. appears
12. No way to say
13. Because of You
14. NEVER EVER
15. talkin' 2 myself
16. Mirrorcle World
17. We are the QUEENS (only 29th)
18. Voyage
encore
19. The Show Must Go On ~ Feel the love ~ You & Me ~ HONEY ~ everywhere nowhere ~ WE WISH ~ independent ~ Trauma ~ + ~ Humming 7/4 ~ evolution ~ SURREAL
20. Boys & Girls
21. Who...

Her voice during kanariya is pretty good in the re-edit.

and thanks god they fixed last angel

Does her voice still sound so underwater walkie-talkie-like? The last verse for sure but the rest?

The voice effect is but less. It sounded like the fancam someone uploaded.

^Oh, that's very good!

I liked new cut in "re-edit" version. They fixed lyrics mistakes in Last Angel's 1st verse.
"Samishii" toki niwa was replaced with proper "kanashii" toki niwa in Unite's 1st verse.
Maybe there's more, I only picked up those.
Too bad they can't fix ayu's hair malfunction which started in "Because of you".

Thought I'm the only one who noticed her hair... it drove me crazy tbh.

Surprised this thread took so long.

I haven't heard the reedit yet, but in the live broadcast her voice was really bad. Worse than 07/08, which had been the barometer before for her worst vocal performance at a concert. It was so bad that even I didn't want to watch the concernt midway through despite the great setlist, because it was just painful. Really unfortunate because I loved the stage and setlist.

Doing an arena tour, a-nation, TA tour, and CDL is way too much and she needs to cut at least one (preferably two) of those things out this year. The quality of the performance needs to start taking precedence over the quantity.

Oh, c'mon, it's not fair. 07-08 remains the worst one to this date. In the latest one she wasn't THAT off-key. I think it's closer to Made in Tokyo since she seems to be having similar throat problems: her voice is husky and cracks.

I don't like her outfits.
The only great outfit is the encore.

She had enough problems other than being off key (and she was off key a number of times this CDL as well) that everything all together made for a worse vocal performance.

Her voice clearly needs a break and has needed one for a very long time. I also feel that there is no need for her to be singing in rehearsals. She knows these songs like the back of her hand and all that does is put more stress on her vocal chords. Sing during soundcheck and that's it.

Countdown 07-08 had some amazing vocals. Don't know why the 2007/2008 years are considered the worst ever for so many people. When I first saw that performance of fated, I was in love.
What does "re-edit" mean? Is this the version that will appear on the official release or something?:think

Have you tried watching UNEDITED TV version of 07-08? It's a nightmare!
I think you only watched DVD version with fixed vocals.
Re-edit has fixed sound and vocals, new angles. DVD release will have different cut with more close-ups as always.

Back then I really didn't know how to watch the TV version of Ayu concerts. I would wait to get my hands on the DVD. So I have only seen that version.
After watching some of the re-edit for this Countdown, it sounds like they improved the mixing of the audio and added some clarity. Especially to the vocals.

Her voice is only good for kanariya I guess?
And the outfit is just bland, but it's a CDL, before CDL become a pre intro to AT, it used to have bland outfit mostly so I wouldn't comment on that.

It's just her voice, it's either she's sick or it's already that bad :(

I wonder. If ayu going to transform this CDL into Arena Tour, will she keep kanariya? Feels like that will be CDL special.

Also, where are all her costume designers? Ayu wear same kind of outfits again and again and again. Something transparent with black bra underneath. She need to do it because of LaPerla contract or she overaddicted?

Overall, concert was good.

^Is overaddicted a word? But I know what you mean haha.

Can someone add the setlist to the first post please?

I would say the ayu's voice quality was below average. I have heard worse, I have heard better. Enough of all the "she shld rest and all..."

I like the fact that she performed some songs that was last heard many years ago. Like Kanariya (i almost forgot about this song), talkin' 2 myself, ANGEL'S SONG.. But it is also apparent that she plucked M, No way to say, Voyage out of A BEST LIVE 2013.

Costume wise, there are only 6 costumes in total, including the encore costume, so i am not that excited about it. I love the wedding dress though.

No MC section, but she did spam a whole medley of songs with poor vocals. Overall, I still feel that CDL1617 fared worse than CDL1516 in terms of vocals, songs selection, costumes etc..

Ayu is deaf in one ear and that can really effect pitch. So her vocals don't really bother me. The repetitive set list is what's driving me crazy. Jesus chirst aren't there other songs? :rolleyes:rolleyes

So here's the video of We are the QUEENS performance for you, guys. Please use it for your personal enjoyment only, don't upload anywhere.
The beginning is out of focus.
https://mega.nz/#!xk9AGbZK!8Pfy-ZvzJ...dqXYKldgHZd4w4

Thank you!

Thank you!

Can someone pls upload a video of kanariya only? I'd like to have the re-edited version of this year's CDL! I'd be very thankful if someone would do it, since I can't watch the re-edit of the CDL and I really want to see Kanariya with the new angles, better sound etc..

I really like this CDL! The stage is really awesome (that extra two side runway is something that we never saw before, right?!), love the setlist and aero performances, the vocals are not perfect (and it'll never be and I'm fine with it), she sang kanariya (!!!), the costumes are terrible tho, but I really liked it!

I really loved that re-edit version of kanariya! Can't wait for the full edit on DVD!

@Chris85 OMG!!! Thank u

We had a stage like this during AT10 ~7Days~ but the side runaway's could be lowered, so sometimes it looked like a normal stage and it didn't have an "A" as the center stage. Also, during AT03-04 we had side runaways and they also went the stage again, you know? Like, three runaways coming from the main stage and then such side runaways like during this CDL. Btw, CDL16-17 is my favourite stage... Looks so grand and I love the A!

The costumes for CDL 16-17 were okay..but j-netizens were comparing her hairdo, costumes and thigh high boot choices to namie amuro :irked

I personally think CDL 10-11 had the worst costumes and hairdos/wig choices :no

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...917_003102.jpg

Tbh her kanariya hair reminded me of Namie Amuro... I just thought "don't start a discussion"...

I can try today, or tomorrow at max, will let you know ;)

Thank you very much! I really appreciate that!

Here, password: ahs
http://www.mediafire.com/file/299ab8...l4q/kan-re.zip

I've also added this link to my download thread of the first version of Kanariya ;)

Thank you!

EDIT: mediafire downloads don't work on my phone *cries* well, thank you anyway! Or could you put the link on MEGA, as well (if that's not too much work of course)? I hope I don't annoy :(

You would have thought they would fix the audio sync error during kanariya when she throws the crown on the ground for the re-edit, but I guess not?

It just looks kind of awkward when the crowd hits the ground and breaks, but the sound plays late :P

The last part was like this on every night, it's not a fault...

I guess we can excuse this with sound coming later than the picture and it's also in a big arena so... *hides* :P

PMed you ;)

Thank you very much! :)

thank you!

Thank you so much!! Ps:ayu sounds better than the recording.

I couldn't really watch the whole thing. I found the performance of kanariya very anticlimactic, especially since we've been waiting for her to sing that for... ever. The breaking-the-crown thing was a little tacky in my opinion, too. I like when things are said in a subtle way, but that wasn't the case. :no

In general, I didn't really like her outfits or the setlist either, so I guess I'm just going to pass this CDL. The last one I really enjoyed, from beginning to end, was the Cirque de Minuit.

Ive got mixed feelings about that too. don't want to start anything but the way it was done... I'm ok with warning, but this was too much.

I like her outfits a lot, they look cool, sexy and do her body justice. No outfit that I would consider embarrassing or bad.

Well, if ayu isn't something on stage is subtle xD
Not amuzed by the kanariya performance either, I would even call it broxante :P

Lip synced this time:
1) kanariya
2) Fly high (choruses only)
3) UNITE! (choruses only)
4) M
5) appears
6) Because of You (the only live part is "yeaaaaaah" she sings right after the song ends)

It becomes more apparent If you listen attentively: you'll hear that despite having throat problems on 31/12, her voice suddenly sounds surprisingly crystal clear and not sick at all.
Do some of you guys still think she's singing too much and needs rest? :-P
I think it's interesting that Ayu herself knows what kind of vocals are expected from her, so she uses pre-recorded vocals with many flaws so that they would sound realistic.
For the 31/12 they lowered the key for poker face comparing to 29/12.

I'm sorry but Because of You was defintely live, the un-edited version was very bad and the longer she sang it the worse it went.

It wasn't VERY bad, we've heard worse. Also I mentioned she uses not so good vocals to trick people.
The are 2 ways to tell if she's singing live:
1) fans who have arena seats very close to the stage are able to tell if they watch her lips - if they match the lyrics perfectly. We had such reports before, which were true.
2) comparing recordings of the show from different dates - if the vocals are identical - it's lipped, if they are different -it's live. That's exactly what I do.
So you see, it works: she uses bad vocals and you don't suspect her.
In general we are used that when artists are lip syncing they use vocal tracks with good vocals, but it's still a stereotype, because they can use any vocal tracks - good or bad, it all depends on impressions they want to make. Some even don't record special "live" versions, they just use studio vocals from albums, maybe because they are lazy and don't care much :-)

Wonder when she records tracks for lip syncing and how many. Maybe at the band rehearsal time. Does she know from the beginning what songs she's not gonna sing, or records all of them?

I noticed this too. I think I'm getting better at spotting which ones of her performances are lip-sync, despite her intentionally using off-pitch recording to trick the viewer :laugh

I think her voice in the 12/31 broadcast (unedited) was unfortunate, much like the preceding year's broadcast of M(A)DE IN TOKYO. It just sounds like she's been singing too much that day, I don't know how to describe it exactly; it was husky and she evidently looks struggling when having to reach higher notes.

Also, I think her hair in the whole thing was rather unflattering, but this is my personal preference. I'm never a fan of this kind of 'do. Luckily it's obscured by a cap during the encore.

Apart from that, this CDL was interesting. The set-list was good and, at some point, full of surprises (kanariya? Holy fuck. That extended intro to Last angel? Colour me fucked.); the stage was different from last year's as well. I can't wait to see the Blu-ray version of this - hope we don't have to wait as long as we did for M(A)DE IN TOKYO.

Edit:

Thank you for this! She sounded OK here! And it doesn't look like a too-exhausting performance. I wonder why she cut it from the final day.

I'm sorry but since when. Ayu always sings the same old songs with 2 or 3 different tracks, here and there.

I already suspected of M, but I'm glad No way to say is not lip-synched. She killed that performance!:love

Such a nice idea, right? It was one of my favourite things about the show, so epic!!:love

In kanariya, there is a sentence which isn't included in the official lyrics. That is the one before she hold the crown ( after right the aerial dance ). Can someone write down that sentence ?

What do you mean?
Everything is in old lyrics:
http://ayumi.primenova.com/lyrics/kanariya.htm

I just watched the performance and compared it to the lyrics in my CD single, and I didn't hear anything out of place.

This romaji matches the CD single lyrics:
http://www.kiwi-musume.com/lyrics/ay.../kanariya.html

Oh sorry, I just checked with the lyrics from misachanjpop and there isn't "Nakanai you ni to", perhaps she got the deficience.
Anyway, thank you

I literally wrote what I meant immediately after the part where you quoted me ;)

I'm happy with these unexpected changes (albeit slight, to some) from her usual performances. If you're expecting her to sing all new songs in each of her live performances, I don't think that's ever going to happen. Of course she's going to sing the "same old songs", here and there.