Hamasaki's Image and Voice
 

http://i25.tinypic.com/2a6o777.png

Today I watched the second performance of Mirrocle World and hearing her voice in the live performance was a disappointment for me. I have expected her voice to be like and her way of singing even before I see it. I'm not bashing HA, I'm just expressing my opinion.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-315...orld-Live.html

Lately, I think that HA can't sing most of the songs live the way she did. I know that her voice became deeper but there are times when she gets off note and doesn't sing well. She tends to scream instead of singing. I don't know if her left ear problem has anything to do with it, but I'm not liking her singing in the latest live performances.

I hope that no one takes this too personally, and I repeat again I'm not trying to bash her because I'm still her fan :).

I wish that she could sing the way she did couple of years ago :(.

Like in this performance for example:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-217...XX-Live-2.html

The second thing that I want to point out at is her image. I think that she's taking care of her image even more than her voice. It's true that I don't know whether she takes care of her voice or not, but from what I'm seeing I'm saying this. Her clothes are really good ( not all of them :P ) but she needs to take care of her voice. I wish that this year she would do her activities in Japan and takes care of herself instead of doing another Asia Tour :(. She's been too busy lately.

Anyway, that's the way things are :). I can't possibly change anything but it's because I've been wanting to say these few words for a while now and I've been a chicken not to do so :P.

Credit goes to CHAS_AYU@AHS Forum for the Magazine Scan :).

I agree, I've been disappointed also. It hurts me to see that she seems to be struggling with her voice and I'm almost 100% sure it's because of her ear problem. Her singing was pretty bad during the CDL07-08 also. And you can't really know from the latest DVD, since it's probably been tweeked and fixed here and there.

When you've been using both your ears for so long, to guide yourself into singing the perfect notes, each one of them, and then you lose on those ears, I can online imagine how big of a change it can be.

I think, that even if we, the fans, think her singing has gotten bad, we should support her, because she's still doing this for us. She could have stopped dead and announce she stopped her career there when she went deaf on the left side. Support Ayu no matter what! <3

I'm not a huge fan of Mirrorcle World myself. I think she sounds better if she sings higher. She can sing higher still, like on MY ALL or Glitter, so it's not about the ear.

about her image; I actually feel it's the opposite. she has toned it down, she's not in the forefront of all sorts of crazy trends like the foxtails back in the day. and her nails have been normal for some time now.
I don't think lots of people realize that the "casual" outfits of the past were probably even more calculated than what she wears today.

i guess her deaf is somewhat the reason why her vocals are like dat. i mean.. cumon jus face the fact. singing voice's gotta do with her hearing.. i wun blame ayu. she is already trying her best.

but seeing her put no earplug on her left ear reminded me of the sad fact that she doesnt need one anymore.. :(

She toned it down because she hasn't been wearing things that are so much 'out of the ordinary' anymore. But it doesn't mean she hasn't been taking care of her image as much as she used to. I think she's prettier, she looks more mature and I find that more appealing. Personally, of course :3

yeah I know where you're coming from Kiseki & it's unfortunate that due to her ear condition , her live singing performance has been affected .

But I must admit I appluade ayumi for her professionalism . She could have used the chance/opportunity to retire from the industry but she choose to continue on singing despite her condition . It's something admirable & for that respects to her

completely agree, i probably can't express better myself xD. she can quit anyday but she choose to sing for everyone i admire her very much for that :cry although live is not as good as years before, but look on the bright side. studio records are still awesome as always:D.

I think the problem with the voice is that with time it actually does go worse and that's why you must be careful with your voice and especially with the throat for the voice to remain clear
I think that may be due to her busy shedule she just can't treat her throat well? I dunno, of course it's obvious for the artists to check up their voice & throat as much as the ears a few times a year, so...

I dont think that's because of the ear-loss...because of the ear-loss she's off key, but what about the way her voice not gets the notes, but the way it sound in particular? it sound harsh & sick now for me, in the new MW performances!

maybe because of the many releases & performances live & rehersals the voice got worse, it can be explained with the busy shedule as well
secondly, I guess she loves the vibrato more? I dunno again, but she tries to use it very often and sometimes she tries to sing too deep to sound more rock-ish
but I like the way she sang Mirror more than Mirrorcle World because it's more pleasant for ears
but look: Mirror & Mirrorcle World have different atmospheres (for me) because they were arranged differently & sang differently

for 'cute' songs she always sing normal
but there was time she sang like that in rock, like..ugh, About You???

no,no, I don't always like her sining these years (2006-now)...the 1 point I liked GUILTY cuz it was sung not with vibrato, but more with softness
that's the way I want her to sing...of course I mean GUILTY song for exmpl

her voice was perfect for me in 2005 ;)

~~~

the image is another topic...to be honest, I can say I do dislike her image since...(m)u I guess? personally, for me, it's too classic-elegant-romantic-femine
I mean, I understand she's almoust 30, but so what?
without doubt I love the recent photoshoots, but again they are too classic for my taste
I want smth more fashionable, I think she looked very nice in 2005 (of course I love 2001-2003 the most :D), she looked more or less stylish
but then it all was so sudden! now she's mostly in dresses, so big, beaut & expensive....
on the one hand I like & understand it, on the other...
why she can't wear clothes like during I am era for exmpl?

I think she definately needs to change the stylist! yes, yes, yes!
I think the image always pay good ~
no, I think now Ayu doesn't look after her mage that much. it can even be judged by the photoshoots, which are getting rather simplier & simplier!
and the past ones? were so cool...=/

I understand that now when she's mature she doesn't care about the image...but sometimes I feel so bored when sometimes she just looks all the way the same...

she can look like...umm, Ladies Night? STEP you? these were sooooo good :)

oh, ye-a, now I sounded rather offensive, sorry, Ayu, I luv ya anyway :)

that's right . She can just drop everything now & just go to some island for a retreat especially since this year's her 10th year anniversary but she's still continue on & trying to give the best in whichever way she can to her fans

yeah seriously ayu need to have a rest for her throat ( i mean for her OWN HEALTH ! ) and esp her ear.
image? i think is quite fine since ayu have been walking on classy-elegant fashion style for quite sometime ( but i hope she can wear something that is normal like what normally girls wear those type.. to show her ownself :D rare chance huh? )
anyway, Ayu please continue to ganbatte and please takecare of urself ! ^_^
we all love Ayu, wuahahah ~

I think her first mirrorcle world performance was better. But all in all I think both were good. I don't think she screams and she is mostly right on tone when singing this song. Her ballads are usually far worse when she performed them on first time lives TV shows (Moments comes to mind).

Her image is fine, her pace is fine, it's too late to rest her bad ear now anyways...

i guess that what we all can do is always support Ayu no matter what decisions she've made ~ and if i could wish for one thing, i really wanted her to rest for maybe a year, but the fact is Ayu won't.

though, i feel so pity of her when watching her Mirrorcle World live at the recent HEY3X! but, she did quite better during CDTV and she sang a full version, so i guess, that's not a real big problem, we all know that she has lost her ear so probably, we should try to understand that, and i'm sure that Ayu'll do her best on her upcoming ASIA TOUR 08.. and she must have trained so hard to cope with the music as well..

about her image, i think she's different now, she's more to simple yet elegant style already, because it's going to be real funny to see her in her early 20s images, where she ever was a ganguro..and etc..and i'm glad that her image is more matured already..
i love her all the way she shows until today..and she's more appealing with her casual outfit..

It's without a doubt something that I admire about HA. She always tries and gives her best in her music and there are lots of releases for her this year since it's her anniversary. But I wish that she'll be able to sing better in the upcoming performances :).

I know but it's gonna be a difficult task ahead for her but I'm sure as long as she put in her best effort , it's more than enough

Yes, her hearing has affected her live performances, but I think there's one other thing that could play a part in the less good lives.

Many artists today have trained their voices for many years and years. Ayu didn't.
She trained for about three months, and that is not enough to get full control over your voice and to really get to know it.
I don't think she ever got to learn how to get the full control over her own voice so the hearing problem could have hit her harder than it really should if she actually had the full controll over her voice.
But she is indeed a very good singer despite her very short training.

And I think everyone should remember that she isn't a professionally trained singer, and that she has a very serious hearing problem. But she is not giving up! How many singers and performers would have kept going? I don't think they would dare to risk their reputation, and Ayu is really putting all of herself into this know. It's all or nothing, and luckily she is still going strong! :D

And to her image, I think that she was experimenting a lot at the beginning of her career. And I think she has found who she really is, and I'm not seeing anything bad about it.
And she is famous for changing her image so it's maybe just a loong phase that she is going through and I wouldn't be surprised if she changed her image after the summer :P

Yea, her singing has definitely been affected. It's already quite hard to hear yourself in that loud music and everything, and now, with one ear gone, she really needs her other ear a lot to help her find the right pitch and hear herself. I hope she doesn't strain it.
On the bright side, her vocals have become stronger. :)
(actually MW is tough to sing...and i tried the yea yea yea and woah woahs...its hard to have it perfectly like how the CD has it especially when her voice is bold and strong)

Her fashion is really good for me HAHA. Every single is a new style so thats really good. Not called Ayu for nothing.

Hmm. She has her on and off days? :shrug. But it's evident that the ear thing affected her in some way. It was almost unbearable watching the HEYx3 performance, but it's not like she's had bad performances in the past, before the ear. CDTV was better, though not "top-notch".

Who knows, we might see a spectacular performance in the immediate future...

"I don't know if her left ear problem has anything to do with it"

I think that has A LOT to do with it, if not the entire reason she struggles these days.... :( She's trying to adjust to not being able to hear herself like she used to.

I don't think it's the ear either, she sang talkin' 2 myself pretty badly too. That was a song that required her dark voice like Mirrorcle World, it just doesn't work that well live. She could've started to lose her hearing around that time tho.

on a much lighter note, has anyone else also noticed how hot she looked in that performance?? that was enough to distract my attention from her voice!

I'm positive that Ayu is SOOOO stressed during these days because of her ear problem and her tour coming up and everything. I would be so happy if she could just take a months break and relax and everything. It makes me so sad to hear her voice in the latest lives but I'll always be her fan no matter how bad her voice sounds and everything. I'm positive she'll improve, she just needs a big break!

Well.. I also think, her voice sounds more bad, when she sings with her deeper voice. I think, it has not to much to do with her ear-Problem. Sure.. it is a problem for a Singer, to be deaf on one ear.
But.. that deafness don't came from one day to the next.
I also prefer her singing, when she sings a little bit higher.
And well.... I care more about her voice on CD. And.. thats always good.

I'm not so sure it only has to do with her hearing...

For being deaf in one ear, I think she hits the notes pretty well. It's the condition of her voice that's the main problem. Maybe she's just out of shape. It seems as if she gets out of breath really quickly, and starts to sing 'lazily' like not holding certain notes the length that she's supposed to and being very careless with when to use the vibrato.

Well, Ayu ever singed really bad in TV performances. It's not a fault caused by her earing lose. I don't know if you guys remember but she loose 80% of her earing in 2001, in that bad incident. I don't know why you guys justify her horrid lives because of those incidents.

Ayu's lives have been fine earlier though. The decrease of quality in TV performances happened at end of 2006 in my opinion. But I'm extremely grateful she still does a lot of live performances, so it's all good. She is a very strong person. ^^

^ I agree. I don't really mind the bad voice, I think she's just stressed! Alot happens to your body when you get stressed but she keeps on singing and going on with her career. She is such a strong person.

Ayu has a lot going on. She's been busy for like 10 years! She needs to slow down and breathe!

i personally like her lower voice better.
cause her songs before were really high pitched and nasally (if your refering to that far back, lol).
now, when she sings, you don't hear that nasal and high pitched sound. she has really good voice control.

i feel so bad about her ear..it definitley affects her singing...

Okay, image wise I can't complain. I think her image has gone to the more classy, more mature rather than the stylish for teens, which is fine for someone her age. I like her elegance nowadays.

TV performances, well for start Mirrorcle World is not a easy song to sing. I think she's on note and that part wasn't bad. She was decent in certain part of the songs and even sounded good in the slow parts IMO, but it's the chorus that wasn't that good. I wouldn't say they're awful because I can think of worse by other artist, but I thought she sounded decent in the CDTV performances. And every artist have their off and on days. Hikki sounded not that good either on the Heyx3 performance.

I don't suppose the state of her voice now's due to smoking ? Cos some people mentioned that she does smoke & you do know how smoking affects a person's singing

There is no real proof that Ayu is smoking. The two pictures available are way too unclear to be sure of it. And as I've mentioned before, even if she did. She doesn't do it often at all because we would have tons of pictures of it otherwise.

^ she only smokes casually at parties i've heard. and even so i'm sure she's not a heavy smoker so it wouldn't affect her THAT much.

I don't condone smoking, but there are plenty of people who smokes and sings fine. Although it could be a cause, but it's one of those things that we can't say for certain because we don't know her and her habits that well.

To be honest, I thought she did fine during her A Best II promotion, did mostly well on her Glitter/Fated Singles, Talkin' 2 Myself could have used some improvement, and together when was mostly good. I actually enjoyed the CDTV Mirrorcle World, and I don't find too much problem in her Heyx3 performance (so initial disagreement with the OP, sorry :P).

yeah me too
i'm so ashamed to see my friends laughing at me when they saw MW live performance...
it was really crab! IMO...
the vibrato, the shouting, the note... omg!

ayu is so.. i mean come on, she's half deaf and you want her to sing like she was 24 when she's 30 now? :(

i know the old ayu is never coming back. but im satisfied that she keeps trying.. so ya >_>

besides, the MW perf wasnt really THAT bad?

i thought, but considering she's already half deaf, i give it an A :D

yes, that's true, but the technology allows really a lot of features to edit the voice whatever you like! :(

that's why live performances aren't perfect...
I think...the live performances show what artist can really do, it proves whether he/she is really could? could he burn up audience? and such
and I know Ayu is awesome at all that, but imho she must pay more attention, more to her sining

the one thing I say I dsilike is that I so much don't understand why avex left MW's part of the song where Ayu sounded clearly off key unedited? didn't they hear? it really ruins the impression of the song, besides, what's much more surprising is that in LIVES this part is sang very good, not at all like at the recording! weird, they should have edited/re-recorded

^ what part of the song if i may ask?

well, of course it's my opinion

Nakanai de irareru no wa
Tsuyoku natta kara
Soretomo ...

this nakanai de ira... "ira" was badly sung, she sang it diefferently in Mirror and she sings it differently in lives; I think it was sang badly in MW and it should have been re-recorded
it's so small but it sound baaad

she sounds like me now after a long karaoke marathon and i start doing those major vibratos b/c i'm gettin tired and squeezing high notes b/c i'm strained by then. i also sing like that when i'm feeling lazy and start to sing in my jazzy voice... my singing has been greatly influenced by Ayumi, so my style is like hers... or according to that article, jigoe Japanese folklore style... but i've never sounded as clear and balanced as Ayumi in her My Story era... and now, she's just starting to sound as mediocre as i've always have been (which is me at my best).
i certainly believe that the many factors, such as drinking, her death ear, and career is wearing her down.

on her image... her style is actually quiet subtle now, not as hyped up and extreme as it used to be... but yeah, that doesn't mean she has focused less on her image. i believe it's like it's always has been, just in another phase or style now... but if you were to compare it to her pre-Loveappears years, YES, she has totally changed from low-key to super diva.

Ugh.. That performance was just.. Bad. I just had to stop cuz it was so hard to listen to it. Her voice sounds strained and it almost feels like she has to put SO much work into getting it out. I felt bad for her. :(

I donno how big role the ear malfunction (deafness) has on her voice going worse, but I guess it's not all because of the deafness. Why do I think that? Because you can even hear her voice changing when listening to her albums. Recently I've been listening a lot of her new works and I was listening to my iPod with shuffle when Trauma suddenly started playing and it was like a breeze of fresh air! IMO her voice sound so much better in the albums before m(u), so free and it gives an impression that singing is like the easiest thing in the world (which it of course isn't, I can't keep a tune even if someone pulled a gun on me). IMO the biggest problem in her recent voice isn't the deafness of her left ear but the fact that she has somewhat untrained voice. And by saying that I don't mean her voice is bad, it's just that trained voice helps you when you do lots of tours and get older etc. Well, maybe I'm not the right person to say this, since I know almost nothing about music and singing in the theoretical way. :innocent