Ayu as an Idol
 

This is somewhat similar to the Ayu as a Sex Symbol thread :) Sorry if it sound like it's been asked so many times already.

So I just wanted to know what you guys think: do you think that Ayu is an idol who relies on her "looks" and not on musical talent? Does Ayu have musical talent?






My opinion: yes, Ayu does rely on image but she relies on her musical talent just as much. That, for me, is what made her so big in the first place.

I believe that her lyrical compositions are what made it so that she stuck in people's heads.

While her image was a big part, I remember watching the English documentary and many of the fans were like "She sings so well!" and "Her lyrics are so.. what I'm going through."

I believe that at first, she really didn't rely on image with A Song for XX and let the lyrics do the talking.. but LOVEppears' singles and onward it seemed that way..

whee~

Her lyrics are fantastic (My personal favourite is Moments). I think she has some looks but I don't think she relyed on them. I think she mostly relyed on her amazing musical and lyrical talent.

I don't think ayu would've become as big if she diden't very outstanding. And if she was ugly, she woulden't even have gotten a job in the idol industry at all. I think when ASFXX came out, allthough she was tomboyish and diden't really rely on looks, what she is and was most famous for (eyes) takes up almost 1/3 of the cover. =P I think what made her THAT big was the she had looks, very good taste (how she became a fashion icon and what made her pick the wonderul compositions) and talent (in writing). Remember that her voice wasen't amazing at first.

She utilizes every single asset she has to be the best of the best, from her beauty to her amazing musical talent it all goes towards it. she is also probably very business savvy, intelligent and strategic, maybe cunning as well but in a good way.

Before, I think she relied on her music. (Even though her voice wasn't good.) She wore that hoodie all the time and wasn't exactly very stylish. (a song for xx era)
Now it's both but I think more on the image side.

Edit: *Petit*'s response is similar to mine.

70% image + publicity, 30% talent is what I say.

I think there's a strong possibility there's a lot of talent under the hood that we don't see. Taking control of everything like that...you can't really be jack of all trades. From my perspective, she's just the closest thing you get to the total package, man...that's why I've been able to listen to Ayu practically straight since we started out in what was it, March? Both depth and breadth...and that goes beyond music obviously. Add to all that skill the fundamental things unique to her: wonderful personality and a voice that you just fall in love with after it's made its impression on you.

Sometimes I too have wondered whether nowadays, I enjoy her presence less because of her music and more because of her image and fashion and what not (seeing as how I got all uppity too when all those nice mags came out). I remember listening to her songs earlier this year and really feeling my emotional state flowing with her. Well, tonight I went for a walk and I decided to put Independent+ on my mp3 player. OMG such an awesome time. Just walking along and jamming to Independent+. I really love all her music...to me, she's got something for every occasion. So, even though I think sometimes we focus on the image a lot, we always come back to the fundamentals. But damn she's shizzing HOT how can you not look at her? :P

Oh oh quick rant, I remember seeing what she looked like for the first few times; it was soooo uncanny. She had such an exotic flavor about her. It had the strangest allure to it...at the time I liked the natural look of girls more. But now I'm so used to our dear Ayu haha. I remember the first live I saw; it was Never Ever on MS I think? Pretty interesting, but it didn't totally grab me, but again there was that strange subtle allure...and at the end she went "a-ri-ga-TOU!" or something in her old cute speaking voice and I was whaaaaaaaaaaa THAT's what she actually sounds like??? lol :P I love Ayu.

Thank you for the great replies so far, guys! I've always been interested in how fans relate to the objects of their affection :D

For me, I would say 25% image, 25% marketing/publicity, 25% talent, 25% that special something (the X-factor, you might say) :) Isn't creating and maintaining a successful image in a way a talent?

Of course, I personally rely on her talent 90% of the time. I try to avoid nearly all of her publicity material, including PVs.

I do believe most non-asian fans don't care that much of image, at least there had to be something to her music, because that's what they usually get first from an artist. I was stuck with all these mp3s of unknown artists, and ayu's definetly caught my attentions the most.

That's good to know :) My personal experience was that I didn't know who she was at all when I heard my first Ayu song (Vogue) and I immediately noticed her music. I did a little research (these were the days before wikipedia and easy access to information, back in 2000) and I found out that she was "popular in Japan". I didn't fully realize what that meant because I had no concept of the J-pop scene. It was only in 2001 that I understood how big she was (discovering the Oricon chart in time for the A Best/Distance era, the TIME magazine interview, etc.) and I had admired Ayu for her music way, way before I was exposed to her "image" and the publicity that surrounds her.

I like seeing her perform and I enjoy seeing her as a celebrity/cultural icon, but in the end the only thing that matters to me is Ayu's music. That's the way it's always been :D

Well, I rely a whole lot on publicity. Probably one of the reasons I like BLUE BIRD (or made myself to like it in the first place) was the cover. I think I need 40% publicity/promotion, 50% talent and 10% looks to like an artist. Without publicity material, I feel less inclined to like an artist. Unless their stuff is "ZOMG AMAZING OMFG WTF" which Ayu isn't to me.

Shame on me.
(-__-)

Both, ayu has the looks and the talent :yes most of the songs she composed became hits and the lyrics stuck in the mind of most japanese. Not forgeting that she took control of her release :D

So you pass on smaller artists for lack of publicity? That's a shame...

Personally, Ayu is one of the few artists whose stuff I think is "ZOMG AMAZING OMFG WTF" (this sounds like someone having a seizure). I used the percentages for interpreting her success. When it comes to personal taste, it's 100% her music for me.

Yeah, I kinda sometimes do that too with new Ayu releases. :B

My heart starts pounding and I'm like pumped up and stuff. LOL

Yeah. Until they can release a proper album or EP, I won't really be bothered. No MySpace/Underground/Indie stuff for me.

Personally, I think of Ayu as "Oh, this is really good stuff! Have to buy!" and Mika Nakashima/Natalie Imbruglia/Gwen Stefani as "ZOMG AMAZING OMFG WTF".

But everyone has a different taste, so maybe I'm the odd one out in this forum. :D Ayu is undeniably talented though, unlike Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

Why is it a shame?

Different stuff is important to everyone, we all have different reasons to like the music we listen to, and no reason is "better" than any other. Again some people rely heavily on lyrics and thus can't appreciate much foreign music, unless there's a lot of english in it. Personally I coulden't care less as long as I get some emotion from the music, but that doesen't mean that those people appreciate music on a "lesser" level than me.

Well, just a shame for smaller artists in that they need support too, but they have a lot less exposure to get recognized by most everyone.

I never meant that Mad Cactuar appreciates music on a "lesser level". Does "shame" have that strong a negative meaning? I certainly didn't intend that. I meant it as neutral a statement as possible, especially since where I live in it's equivalent to saying "that's too bad". Basically what I was saying was "what a shame, too bad for the smaller artists" and NOT "shame on you".

That's the same with me too. I guess Petit (miss)understood. (These puns are getting old D: )

Punny! :dead2