Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - Vivi January 2006 Article Translation

I hope nobody posted b4...credits to AYUNITE!

Vivi Exclusive! NY special report!

AYU LOVES NEW YORK
We?ve got the exclusive on Ayu?s private side in the break between recording and shooting her PV. Watch as she walks around the town holding a pretzel in one hand, and visits a shop out of her favorite tv show, ?Sex and the City??We?ve got the full report on this freedom that Ayu could never have in Japan.

?There are some cities I visit for comfort, but NY is the opposite...I?ve got so much to do in such a short period of time?the recording and filming the PV?that I?m actually exhausted. (laughter) But when I come to this town, it really gives me a boost, makes me feel like I can?t loose. And I think that?s really the right choice here.?
Led by a police escort, Ayu stands fearlessly on the back of a truck, singing and dancing as it makes its way from Harlem to the center of Manhattan?

When Ayu went to NY to film the video for her new song, ?Bold & Delicious?, backed by the various scenery of NY, the Vivi crew came along for the shoot. And the Ayu we saw there gave off an aura that was more powerful than ever before.
?Dangerous? I actually was worried until the truck started moving, wondering if it would be really bumpy, but it actually went a lot smoother than we expected. Only, it was really cold! And embaressing! (laughter)?

The lyrics feel really good, scolding men who won?t make up their minds. And the gospel chorus makes any woman want to raise her fist and sing along. Ayu?s strength is perfect for this song. And in that PV, in NY, you can also see Ayu?s private side.
?Yeah, the staff said that they wanted to film my private side in this PV. So then I deiced that, since there?s no point in pretending to be natural, it might be difficult unless I had someone with me who I could always be myself with. And the first person that I thought of was John. So I had her do the creative direction for this PV. Movie cameras, steel cameras?the whole time we were here, I felt like I had a different kind of camera filming me.? The woman that Ayu calls ?John? is Mika Noguchi, the president of Peach John who often appears in Ayu?s ?Digi Digi Diary? column.

?Both of us will admit that she?s a stage mother. (laugher)? As you can tell from Digi Digi, the two are really close. And they?re both extremely powerful!
?I think I?m drawn to strong people. And I want to be strong myself. But I don?t want to only be strong. Because it?s your own weakness and pitiful side and uncool side that lets you understand other people?s pain. You can understand other people?s feelings because you can say, ?What if that was me?? and put yourself in their place. So what I wanted to show with ?Bold & Delicious? was the outer, visable strength, and with ?Pride?, it was that hidden, inner strength that exists along side human weakness.?
And this is Ayu?s charm! That charm is also in full force in ?Pride?, the double A side on ?Bold & Delicious?. Even though she should be someone so far above us, she always keeps the same viewpoint as a normal person. It is this, along with her warmth, that have won Ayu such long term support.

In NY, Ayu had not only the PV shoot and the recording, but a photo shoot with Vivi! And she seemed to glitter ever brighter, as if spurred on by the power of this city?
?But the thing that got to me during the shoot for Vivi was the pretzel I ate on 5th Ave. I was so hungry that I gobbled it up, but who knew pretzels stick to your teeth so badly? At first I just tried to get it off nonchalantly with my tongue as I was being photographed, but it was no use, so I tried a toothpick. But that didn?t help either, so I ended up having to really go at it with a bobby pin! I?m never eating a pretzel again! (laughter)?
Who would have thought that she?d have so much trouble with the pretzel Vivi prepared for her?
Well, let?s end this on a better note?this is the January issue, so let?s have a message to the readers.
?It?s a wonderful thing to always keep your antenna up and add new things. But I feel like if you only do that, nothing will be left? So even if it?s something that?s not cool, or something that criticize you for, keep believing in it if it?s important to you!?
Yes, Ayu is truly our leader. Let?s follow Ayu?s lead in 2006, and be strong and womanly!

AYU in MAGNOLIA CAFÉ
The day of the shoot. Ayu loves ?Sex and the City? so much that she tells us, ?I had it playing in my DVD play all morning today. When I saw these cupcakes in it, I just had to have one. It?s a really small store, but they sell like hot cakes! I was just staring at the case of cupcakes, deciding that I wanted a pink want, but I was lost in the huge crowd, and I couldn?t really get to the case. And I was getting worried, because the pink ones were the first to go. (laughter) How does it taste? Well?different than I thought. I guess you could say it tasted very American. (laughter)?

AYU in NOLITA
?It?s on a street that I always pass when I come to NY, a view I always see, but something finally caught my eye. That?s right, it?s the apartment I lived in before I made my debut? Today I saw the building from inside a beautiful limosine, my hair and makeup done professionally. Back then, I didn?t even have the money for a taxi, and I was always dashing to the studio in sweats, a huge bag slung over my shoulder? It really brings back memories, and it makes me realize again how important it is not to forget about it. My life, and my work now is put together by so many people. I can?t forget that I really have so many people I have to be thankful for.?

AYU at 5th Ave
?This time I really learned about gem stones in NY. I?ve always loved diamonds, but I?d never thought about the power or the meaning of gems. And then, when we were filming the PV?John, who?d been supporting me in all kinds of ways, lost set of big diamond earrings. But she didn?t seem depressed by it at all! I think they must have fallen off during the shoot, when she was taking off her headphones and putting them back on again and again, and when she was dancing. (laughter) But John said that it was thanks to those lost diamonds that the shoot when so well. That they had protected us! And that?s what got me thinking about the power and the meaning of gems. Because gems show you a clouded reflection of yourself. For the first time I bought a pair of big diamonds earrings with a purpose: not to become clouded.?

AYU at Bleecker St.
This street, close to the edgy, fashionable Manhattan, is the setting of ?Sex and the City?. ?The character I like the most in ?Sex and the City? is Samantha. Carrie feels pretty close to me, like if I wanted to, I could be like her. But not Samantha. Her strong character really intrigues me!?
?The people in NY always seem so put together. So before I came, I bought a whole bunch of dresses, and when I went out, I really went out in style. So most of the clothes in this photo shoot for Vivi are my own! And even now that I?m home from NY, I still feel like dressing up. I don?t wear casual clothes at all anymore. Even though it?s kind of like, ?Oh, where are you off too??, lately I?ve been only wearing dresses. Because it?s just so much fun, it makes you really feel like a woman!?