[ayumisrael]

I think that his point was that she is working her ass for that money and sometimes even adds to her hardships herself to try make things better even if it's not like that all the time.

You can like what she does or not but she still works hard on these stuff. I'm actually happy she is trying this new showcase and started working with different producers, bringing some changes to what she usually does.

I myself, felt like I sorta got distant from her, sometimes because of the music, sometimes because of her actions, but actually, I find her way more human than she was. Having a rich girl life, and the fact that she shares some of it with the public, just shows how a person can enjoy it (when he/she has it), and a lot decide to call it "diva, stupid, fake" whatever. Not that a lot of people wouldn't do things she does (which I believe) with her money or life, since, she does mistakes humans do, and like we don't want to be judged for our mistakes, she shouldn't as well". So that's how I feel when she does them, as long as it's not too serious and as long she is willing to bring some good music and shows.

Now, asking people who say that her singing deteriorated.
I mean people say it about both her voice and singing.
First of all, if you know that you don't like it anymore so why even try?
second, did it really? I mean, for me, how she sings now (ignoring some TV performances like Feel the love one) is probably her best era of how her voice sounds, and her singing, talking about A BEST TOUR 2013. Now, I'm not deaf but I think that technically she did improve a lot, and as much as I love her classical voice pre 2003, I personally think that how she sounds now is way better than then, less squeeky, more humane. So the question is like, was her singing and vocals really better back in her first years, even though that I agree that these vocals are one of the things she is known for.

There are misses here and there of course, but I never heard anyone with less faults (except for Opera singers), not in Jpop and not in General. There might be better technical singers with better voices of course, but ayu still does IT for me with these. Still.

Like a lot of us in this thread, of course I always wish she would do great music, be more relatable even having a high life style, do more promo, do cool stuff and performances, not combine private life/love with her work making it look like just a promotion, but I think that she is at a point where she does things in her own time and her own way, and it doesn't have to be translated to good or bad.
Also apart from us, the Japanese don't really care for all these stuff, besides wishing for a relatable cute singer (like how ayu used to be) that makes ballads/cute songs and being in cool places having good endorsements (like popular dramas and fashion commercials for example) and they don't really care for anything else.

I think that people that got really distant from her should give her a try from time to time, it's ok not to like a lot of things, but it's also ok to compliment when you do, or at least tell us about the things that still makes you try her stuff, and not because she is ayu and you used to adore her a long time ago.