[Dustie]

I totally don't think using foreigners has much to do with her or her directors wanting to make Ayu more popular overseas. It seems that she is really only concerned with Japan.

It's almost sure for me she isn't doing it to gain international attention. How would a crowd of non-Asians help in that?...

I do not think that representing other cultures and backgrounds in her videos is spitting in the eyes of her own countrymen and women, or means that she underestimates the beauty or whatever non-Japanese people get so excited about when they think about Japan.

I don't think she is representing other cultures or backgrounds at all - becouse a crowd of non-Asians doesn't represent anything particular. Ethnic diversity? Well then she would need Asians in there as well...
I dare to think she's doing it mostly for the "coolness" of showing non-Asians, not for any extra message. Japanese or Asians must be so "daily" and "casual" to her, or even boring... it's so cool to have non-Asian faces in a video, isn't it?...

Dustie - Good points. But Ayumi gets a lot of help from the staff behind the PV and a director wouldn't be needed if she could decide/come up with everything by herself. With the casting process, more likely than not, Avex puts out the casting call (with or without specific notes from Ayumi or the director), the casting staff assembles who they think would be good, and Ayumi can greenlight and/or place the actors as she likes after most of the work is done (because of her schedule). She most definitely participates more when it comes to choosing people she'll work with on a long term basis (like dancers, as was show on Asayan).

No, a director is needed becouse it's the director who chooses how camera will be set, what angle, how's it gonna show the action taking place. However I'm sure she still pulls her own ideas trough as well, not like she decideds every single take by take, but I'm sure she does make up some takes which she wants to be exactly her way.
The casting people must have orders from those who develop the idea for the PV, becouse how else could they know who is needed?... It's already then when it's known that, for example, only non-Asian faces are needed (it would be senseless after all to cast 100 people of mixed background and then say 'well, we need only American-ish faces'). The obviously don't need her personal advice at that point becouse it's not hard to tell who looks clearly non-Asian, but I'm sure it's her (rather than director or anyone else) who puts "non-Asians" into the casting instructions/order/whatever.

A lot of times the white people that she uses in videos are Russians.

Now that's interesting ^^"