CDL 07-08 | Was it THAT bad?
 

So many fans said that this CDL was the worst ever...
but to be honest..
i really like it this time..
the older ones were like "okay i will sing" and this one was like "yep i'm doing my best"..
i hope you know what i mean..

so many people say ayu was totally off key..
but in my ears she was off key only at 2 or 3 parts..
the ones who were off key were peco and princess..
during surreal, specially at the end..
you can hear ayu singing a super cool note,
while peco and princess try to overtune this with their fraky voices..
okay...while untitled ~for her~ and MY ALL ayu was singing a bit off key , but she cried..

what do you people think?

I love the CDL 07-08! Ayu is so pretty!

I agree with you, all of her performances wasn't bad. I love when she sang Together When... Is so beautiful!

yeap agree with you..
this CDL07-08 is the only CDL that i've seen it again and again..
i really love this one..

and yes not all songs were sung badly..just couple of songs~

I love CDL 07-08 too. Her vocals may not be as good as her other concerts but i love this one the most. And peco + princess ruined most of the songs.

I like it, even I didn't watch the whole concert, but it's good.
I like decision performance, eventhough the vocal is not good, but I like it. and untitled ~for her~ is AMAZING!! make me love that song more and more!

Personally I have poor hearing so I can't say I noticed it when she didn't sing so well. Anyway her CDL concerts rarely have polished vocals. Usually the focus is more on getting people to sing and dance along.

It was an okay concert when considering this is on a more modest budget than her Arena Tours. I think saying it's the worst is a bit melodramatic. It's definitely better than some older CDL. Personally I felt it was better than CDL06-07 but that might just be me.

I love CDL 07-08 :)

It's true that her singing might have been more off than usual (we all know why). I've watched almost all concert TV versions too so I can compare. But that doesn't make the concert bad, I really enjoyed watching it and can't wait for the DVD.
It's the back-up singers that usually ruin stuff the most actually.

LOl..and everyone posting here enjoyed it haha..
I personally think that, it could have been better on the vocal side but it was not bad...and yea, Peco and Princess were realllllly bad in it...

i think they caused Ayu to go off probably...i mean, if they were louder than AYu, then it could have caused ayu to sing wrongly too rite?

I get what you mean. They tend to overpower her sometimes and their vocals are not very pleasant to the ear. She seriously should think of choosing two who complement with her vocals more smoothly.

the only thing i didn't like about 07-08 was that school girl costume thing she had on for Ladies Night. >_<

Yep that'S what i think too..
perhaps we get to know some new people in 2008??

I really liked it actually... I've watched it over and over and though her vocals weren't SPECTACULAR, they were alright.

I really felt the energy of this concert and that was amazing! =]

It was good.

I thought SURREAL was horribly done. Like flat out horrible. The off-pitchness of it all shocked me. Worst performance of SURREAL till date.

I HATED how she was swarmed by her dancers during MY ALL. I couldn't see her, the cameras had difficulties capturing her. You know what, all her dancers should just GET LOST. It SERIOUSLY annoyed me. Singing-wise, it was a rather bad performance as well.

But other than those, the rest were ok! I liked the CDL, but not that much. I thought the stage design was still lacking, because it was way too geometric and lacked the UMPH factor that was present in her previous stage designs. I guess it's the lack of layering. I didn't like the fact that the stage bore similarities to CDL 2004-2005 with the two levels.

IMO, I find myself like it a bit

The costumes were plain...when I saw it with my sisters we were all comment the same "not surprising"--> but that's the way CDL costumes usually

The stage wasn't pleasing. If she tend to use it for her AT 2008 she should give it more transformation and modifications

Some of the choreography was average I think

Maybe that's all I love the way she sang some songs....

i like it and dislike it.

i like it is because there are new performances. Although the STEP you/Ladies Night part was copied and modified.

i dislike it is because the costumes are so boring (although i noe its a CDL). but CDL 0506 was budget and had better costumes. and also i dislike the stage set up. I prefered the steps stage. where different parts of the stage can be raised for different effects.

but i bet all of u must agree that something's wrong with ayu's vocal this time round. Hope that the DVD edits all the flaws out. :)

I loved it.

i like it..its really simple show..i think she sings well too, off key in some part but its normal..especially we all know that her left ear is deaf...so she really did a spectacular job

I think it was okay, not bad at all but not the best. t2m was great. :yes And I love i.e. decision and untitled ~for her~ but Ladies Night and Rainbow weren't so great
And about this Peco&Princess problem, they've been her backup singers for years now so I think Ayu should already know how's their singing, but yes it sounds at times like their mics are set louder than Ayu's and that's when Ayu can't really sing well over their voices.. >__>

i guess that CDL is just a concert which is supposed to be like a big count down party together with fans so it doesn't need to be so serious in everything..
yea though there were some old CDLs which were done better than this one, but the most important thing is the enjoyment with Ayu to celebrate the new year, isn't it??

it's different from ARENA TOURs where Ayu needs more serious works because they need ARENA TOURs to promote the new album/new single, so yea... i think CDL has plain theme is no problem at all.

and about peco also princess, i don't think they sang off tune, but Ayu was off tune herself (and we know why is that~)
listened to decision, Ayu's voice was so off at the end, the "Yeahh"(s) part..where sounded not compatible with Peco and Princess' voices~

really I think this Countdown live is really good, I love the tracklist^^ However I should say that her vocals on decision and Bold & Delicious are not so good, but we can't say that she's not doing her job. She's really in when she sings that songs

I liked the clips that I saw. I think the costumes could've been better, but it only means that the costumes for the ASIA TOUR will be OUT of this WORLD. Her vocals weren't all that great, but would yours be after so many things were on your mind and heart?

Ayu's got ballz, cuz I think I wouldn't have made it through CDL this year. Too much stuff happened to her last year.

It wasn't the best, but at least it was better that CDL 06-07.

From the clips I've seen, it's pretty awesome. She's actually dancing, and well! But the best CDL ever is 04-05

It's definitely her best CDL, but the execution leaves a little to be desired, what with the songs relating to a dead friend and her ear problem getting in the way of singing well :/

I have a feeling that people are just trying to be idiots when they say it sucked, because as a matter of fact, it didn't. A lot more effort was put into this CDL than other CDLs [CDL06-07 is an exception, as that was an AT dedication] what with the staging and costumes... usually CDLs are held with the stage as a mere skeleton of what it should be with like, wireframe towers all over the place holding the screen up :\

I hope the DVD will be released soon..
and i think they will correct her singign..
like they did before too..
and then this CDL will be like "oh my god, it's freakin awesome"

Yeah. When I heard people didn't like the CDL, it was like: "OMG. MY. SHOCK." or something.

It's kinda dumb, really. She does average concerts for the countdown live that other artists would do usually for a while, and then pulls out some amazing stuff [2004 - 2006] and then she outdoes even that with an ARENA TOUR-like setting with a huge crane lifting her up and a ribbon dancer and a whole bunch of things we usually don't get at a CDL :O

in fact I love the CDL like a show was really good..
the only "problem" is SURREAL... but, is OK too...

I don't know if Ayu actually intended on SURREAL being all... odd. D=

You could even see it in her face that she was like "Hoooooolllllllyly ****, better keep smiling or else they'll think something's wrong D:"~

I don't think she dislikes this song now..
it's the same with evolution or UNITE!......these songs
are the most beloved one @ concerts..
i think she just "heard" that she sung it now 100% clear this time..
perhaps...
dunno...but i really don't think she puts on a fake-smile..
she is not the type of star for this ^^

No no. I never said she disliked it.

I said, she probably noticed that her voice was going all over the place, but had to smile regardless of that. As a performer, you cannot let your weaknesses show D:

Don't you think this is a bit egoistic??
______________________________________________

Well...
i watched a few parts of the concert now...
and..
i am really touched..
but i dunno why..

something keeps telling me that i have to see her..
i really don't know..it's like the voice within..

To be honest..
I have to say..
i am really afraid of the future...
i wanted her to stay "by my side" so long as possible..
but the fact that her hearing will probably get worse now..
makes me cry to myself..
i don't know how to explain that to you ^^

it wasnt the best. she was off tune most of the time.. :( but despite the flaws, i still find myself watching CDL 07-08 over and over again!! :D sometimes princess and peco were the ones contributing to the off tune singing. ayu might have sung nicely but they spoiled it. =x another factor contributing to her off tune singing.. i thk we all know why~~ i lyked the parts where she got emotional.. it kinda connected me to her.. esp untitled for her. i teared along with her. =X

it wasnt the best. she was off tune most of the time. :( but despite the flaws i find myself watching this CDL over and over again :D sometimes peco and princess are the ones resulting to her singing off tune!! ant the other reason.. i thk we all know why~~ =X i lyked the parts when she got emotional. esp untitled for her. it kinda connected me to her. =D in fact most of her emotional parts in every performance! it truly shows tht she sings from the bottom of her heart. =D

I know from personal experience that when other people try to sing along with me and they're singing even in a slightly different pitch, it completely throws me off and I end up going off-key. This might have been the case in "decision" for example, where Peco and Princess are trying to complement Ayu, but coupled with Ayu's hearing problems, it's completely throwing her key off. When P & P's voices are less noticeable, Ayu sounds pretty decent like in "Together When...".

Otherwise, this is a problem they'll just need to work on and I'm sure they'll persevere.

I know, people call this cdl simple.. if this is simple, what would you call concerts like UTADA UNITED? Ayu has a very high standard when it comes to her concerts and I don't think she went under that standard with this countdown live, even though her vocals suffered in some songs.

-

Personally, I think this was her worst vocal performance at a CDL. 06-07 wasn't that great at times, but I found SURREAL at this year's CDL so painful that I honestly can't watch it. That being said, I did enjoy the show quite a bit. Last year, once the set list hit AHS I had about a 75% complete idea of what the show was going to be like (I think I've seen all her concerts) so other than the costume alterations that they made, the few new songs, and the set transitions CDL 06-07 wasn't that much of a surprise. Still a good show, but I didn't feel like I was waiting to see what happened next.

This year I had no idea what to expect. I was thrilled to hear Ayu bring out old songs like RAINBOW (which has always been one of my favourite songs) and that cover song off of A Ballads (don't remember the name...). It was a great mix of new and old songs, which I sort of missed the previous year (since everything was essentially a remake of something I'd already seen). My only criticisms were her voice, which I'm not blaming her for, it just took away some of the WOW factor of the show, as well as the set and costumes being a little ... off to me.

My teeny tiny issue with the set/costumes this year was that 90% of everything was either red, white, or silver, or a combination of the three (I'm a costumer by trade, so these are the things that catch my attention ... it's sad really ...). There were some great costumes, and the set looked great, but with everything being the same colours eventually it just got a little boring. I'm used to Ayu using a lot of colour and a lot of rhinestones, but the show felt ever so slightly flat to me by having everything the same colours, even the set.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. Essentially, loved the show, but something about it felt off to me. A little bit was the vocals, and a little bit was the set/costumes. Loved the set list though. ^_^

lol u seem to have a big problem with people who is against u right? lol. u hate it when people say ayu's performance sucks.

^ Not really, the criticism is pretty uncalled for. Yes, the vocals weren't the best, but to criticize the show is weird if you compare it to past countdown lives (excluding 0607, since that was practically an arena tour set up).

This countdown live had a bigger budget obviously, with almost twice as much stage area. People go crazy for the A MUSEUM stage, but don't like this one really. Just shows some are out to hate. (They even used a spider-cam for the dvd, you can see it zoom around in the tv-version, and they usually only use that for arena tours)

Costumes are a matter of taste, for once I liked them all. You said you like it better when the stage moves up and down, but again that's really an arena tour thing, they never use that for countdown lives (again excluding 0607)

No, the performance didn't suck because it was just fine, she performed as any professional should've performed. But I think it was out of her control at times when her voice went all WHACKO. I don't think it'll be possible to "replace" some of those vocals, since she kinda has weird facial expressions like: "UH WHAT IS GOING ON D= THE SINGING. THE HORROR!" during her ride on the crane and stuff..

Why? :<

Her singing definitely was not on par, but for performing while extremely tired and with her ear all effed up, I think she did all right. It angers me when people don't really take everything into consideration when formulating their "opinions" :< :< :< :<


About costumes: I think those colors were the "theme of the show" :/ Lots of monochromatic stuff and red. CDL05-06 IMO, had no theme at all, and was kinda like "okay, I'll wear white here, purple here, and green here.." and I know that some of those outfits were pretty, but I think it just wasn't executed well if you simply want "more color" because... I don't think anyone enjoyed Ayu wearing that purple fuzz-thing. D: [CDL06-07 was a remake of previous tours, so it should've been obvious what sections would have what, like NWTS and so on] If I recall, the opening outfit was kinda purple / blackish looking with jeweled stuff around her [the photo that Mikajohn posted at her blog shows these details] and then that went into a red and white schoolgirl ensemble, which then went into a rhinestone covered dress + poofy skirt [the usual] and then a red tightsuit for decision/SURREAL and so on] then going into RAINBOW with a sparkly silvery menswear-esque top. I dunno, these costumes seem more varied than you let on :/~ So what if she didn't wear a rainbow dress or something huge and orange? They're all pretty tame and no one really said they HATED any of the outfits like they usually do [other than the shorter version of the Kouhaku outfit with a skirt raised so she could walk]~ :\

Blah. :<

lol.. then when would you say a performance sucks? cos ayu will definitely perform as any professional shld have performed! all the time!

I don't think Ayu has ever once given a performance that wasn't "professional" :/

In order to perform badly you kinda just have to express no energy when you sing / dance, which Ayu rarely does. The end of the CDL is forgivable since you can tell she's kinda like "holy crap, I'm sad and crying. WHAT THE HELL."~ A lot of performed that don't care do this sort of thing where they act like they're better than performing... see ERIKA and her Destination Nowhere performances where she doesn't even sing in any of them :/ Even though Ayu did the CDL on the night before and also had rehearsals the next day [runthroughs for the DVD-recording live] as well as Kouhaku... she really did well. :O I imagine that many artists wouldn't be able to pull off such a schedule :/

Ayu, imo, has always been very involved in her performances, even if she has to do the same show 30 times, she always seems to bring forth enough excitement for the whole arena... especially at the end! :O

I think so too. Vocally, it was hit-and-miss, but I think her display of emotion throughout the show more than made up for any of the flaws in her singing. One thing I didn't like though was the weird......lady. thing. You know...

I see where you're coming from and I think you're making some really good points here. I thought that in some parts in 'SURREAL' she hit some of the high notes well but all the rest was really off-key.

I'm gonna be honest though, I think that in terms of vocals...yes this was her worst concert. But I still had fun watching it and I admired Ayu for her perseverence. Like you said it was like "i'm doing my best" which is what is most important.

I laughed out loud when they introduced Peco and Princess at the beginning, and they did their "whoaaa whoaaa" bit. It sounded so terrible, like deaf people screaming.

I didn't watch the whole thing, but I wasn't very impressed by what I did see. Ayu looked cute but......

Well, I guess I've never really been a big fan of the CDLs anyways.

hmmm... i agree with you man! CDL is never too good for me...
just like last year's CDL because there's many costume!
bout peco and princess
hahaha!!! i laughed when i saw you write like that!!
yes, you're right! they do like that!
this CDL doesnt impressed me so much...

ladies night CDL 07-08 become my personal fav performance...i watch it again and again, and i love it..she looks so cute and i love the whole theme of that performance

yea, i'm with you~ i love CDL 07-08 LN so so much!
love Ayu dancing with the dancers~

-

It's most likely that the audio will be normalized for this release, so other than MY ALL and untitled ~for her~ you probably don't have to worry too much about the vocals sounding weird. :O

Okay, maybe my ears are just weird, but when I was reading all the hate, I really expected a terrible concert. But when I watched it completely, it actually wasn't so bad. I mean, it was not her best, but I do appreciate her energy. Yes, IMO ladies night and Surreal just sounds plain horrible, but I think the others weren't so bad. My All wasn't spectacular, but it sounded more like she wasn't able to sing because it was too emotional rather than just off tune.

But I never expect a lot out of CDLs.

I liked this CDL. I will admit, however, that it was neither her best nor her worst.

The tracklisting couldn't have been more perfect! It had just enough songs from GUILTY to promote the album, but a perfect amount of her older and underrated work! I mean, come on: starting over, RAINBOW, +, and Sotsugyou Shashin! ^^

I do feel bad saying that the vocals weren't perfect. We all know it's because of her hearing loss, but I give her credit for going all out!

In my opinion, CDL 04-05 still stands as the best and CDL 0X-0X the worst. (<-- *is afraid to mention her least favorite*) Aw, hell, it's my opinion isn't it? :P CDL 05-06 as the worst.

Uhhh yeaaah... I was cringing the whole time through SURREAL. I really love that song and that was the worst performance of it I've ever heard. But Ayu realized herself it sounded bad and I really don't hold her accountable for it at all. The girl is deaf in one ear for crying out loud! She's still going her best and that's all that matters. I thought it was funny how she was trying not to laugh and stuff when she realized how wonky it all sounded. :D

Peco and Princess usually bother me... but in this case, they were SUPER TERRIBLE. They were the ones off key most of the time! Ugh. It was like a trainwreck when they opened their mouths. D: It was just BAD.

Exactly. I totally agree. But again, I don't hold her responsible for it, she's trying really hard! <3

I just finished watching it, and i love it, i enjoyed every bit of it, almost cried at the end, it was really emotional for me.

Ayu is so cool :)

personal i like this CDL because there are some new tracklist like rainbow, +, etc....

yeah me too.

more than kicks ass!

It definitely wasn't the best of all. And even though it's true that her voice was off on certain songs, Ayu did the best she could. Would you have rather her not do one at all?

I understand that people have their own opinion on things, and it's okay to dislike it, but you have to admit it was admirable of her to keep going no matter what kind of problems she had to go through during the show. As fans, at this point, we should love her and support her for who she is, not because a few songs were off. We know why she was like that, and this past year was difficult for her.

She said she was going to keep singing for her fans, I think we should all be grateful for that.

I went to the concert and it was awesome! :love Better than CDL 06-07, in my opinion.

Toss me into the "I liked it :)" category please.

I deleted CDL 07-08 because I knew I'd never watch it again, besides from the bad singing almost throughout it was also incredibly dull. I hope this is not what we should expect from future Ayu performances!

the concert was simple...i think she sing very well the ballads...the problems star with the uptempo songs.

(i don't like when she was singing the part : "ladies ni-i-i-i-ight" xD)
princess and the other woman make a terrible performance for the "desicion" Refrain

when ayu was singing boys and girls, I thought "please, ayu just leave the audience finish the song"

i love ayu..and many years ago When I saw her using that headphone, I was very surprised, here in my country, if you are using that things you are not a serious singer.

i would like that ayu stopping to use that headphone in her ear and learning to sing like a complete singer, with just a michrophone and her very good one ear

^ Um, the headset allows the singer to dance, which ayu needs sometimes. Why that makes her a less serious singer, I fail to see. The sound is just as clear through a headset as a regular microphone.

Her voice was ROUGH for most of it, MY ALL in particular. I thought it wa sbetter than last year's CDL though.

i deleted cdl 07 - 08 after watching it once. not becuz it was so bad but i needed a hardisk space. then i thought, nahh i aint gonna watch this concert again n shoosh deleted it.
well yea, i like her singing the ballads, especially together when.. untitled, rainbow.. but some others were too off keys especially SURREAL. goDD that was dreadful. but anyways her CDLs are always like that =)

What? The comments I read said this one was better than last years which was a big production. I'm gonna wait to watch until the DVD version comes out or it won't be as good.

i think it was good but CDL 06-07 is still my favorite. her voice could have been better, but also have to cut her some slack because shes still getting adapted to singing with a deaf ear. the performances were great up until it reached the encore, then it got sorta boring. i think the choice of songs in the encore were so-so and i think thas what made me less interested.

the ladies night performance was amazing, probably the one performance that really stands out from the rest. the stage was great and the dancers were awesome. the costumes were so-so imo.

Yeah, SunshineSlayer's seen this firsthand, when Ayu's alterna-ball malfunctioned at AT06 and she had to do is this LOVE? and (m)u in the ball. :O

though ayu din change much clothes for this cdl and she's quite off in surreal...but overall she still sang pretty well :yes

I have the TV version on my computer and i find that it is much more enjoyable compared to previous years.

I love alot of the vocals, especially in fated, glitter and together when. Although for some of the outfits i have to say they were a bit, off :P

I've only seen the STEP you prerformance and i thought she did really well. she sounded really good... i thought the worst CDL was 06-07. i dunno why... she wasn't at her best vocally and it was just kinda boring...

I lived the performance, and I also thought some people were going a bit overboard with how bad they thought she was singing. I thought it was beautiful, not perfect but I enjoyed it anyhow

sorry guys, you know, I respect all of you very much, becuase we love to ayu.
but I cannot stop being ironic and say; That many of you are more deaf than ayumi
that concert was 80% terrible, Shameful and Objectively "out of tune"

how someone with some good taste in music and with a young ear can say this concert was enjoyable?
is was a torture for any music Listener and for any ayu lover like me or all of us.

i think ayu need To train more than ever.
the good performence of "Step you" or "together when..." were darkened
by the rest of the night(mare)

You do know she's completely deaf in her left ear now and is still training herself to learn to sing with just one ear, right?

i know that..and how she said...that's not an excuse
i give all my heart to ayu, my night prays and love....but never mercy..as a profesional she don't deserve it...
and that public CDL show..was terrible speaking about her vocal performance

So what if her vocals were somewhat off? At CDLs, they're almost always off because she's running on like 5 hours of sleep :|

Umm hard thing to discuss. In my personal opinion if her both ears were good the whole concert would be really great. I think she just needs to practice more with her only one ear, get used to it and just start to control her voice with one ear. I'm sure that during the upcoming Arena she will sound very well :)

I don't mind if the vocals are off-key/bad because if i can see her in action then w/e lol.

Well then, I must be blind, or deaf *bleah* but I actually liked the show, well, specific performances. SHe's trying her best for her fans :/

lol. so all of us wished that CDL 0708 was better. Let's stop mentioning about her vocals in the concert cos i am pretty sure it has got something to do with her ears (which is something irreversible). The concert is a month and a half over.

Look forward 2 and a half months to her ASIA TOUR 2008! i am sure truehappiness will hunt all screencaps/pics/photos after her first concert and post them RIGHT HERE. :D

The concert was amazing considering it was her countdown concert which i think shud b somethin casual n happening not so much about outfit and stage. She might b offkey in some of her songs but i think the entire concert was very touching and ayu is so adorable. I like the fact that she performed some of her "miscellanous" songs. Not impressive overall but it is one of my favourite countdown after 01-02. She put a lot of emotions and passions in this concert as far as i concerned. Regarding the two old hag, peco and princess, i cant agree more of their suckiness. The onli thing they know is to mislead her.

i loved this concert, the fact that it had 3 of my fav ayu songs, together when, untitled for her, and my all. this performance of my all is imo the best bc of the emotion and the fact that she was crying.