PREMIUM SHOWCASE ~Feel the love~ information thread [II]

[HilaryDuffFanboy]

Just got to the airport and settled into the lounge waiting for my flight. Can finally write a review instead of random thoughts now and again. :p


The concert lights dim and there is rain on the centre stage. It starts off with a guy in a silver outfit that's covering his entire body except his eyes. You find out soon that he is like the mascot/comic relief/interlude-time-waster of the show, much like the clowns she used to have. I found the rain pointless at this point in time but I realise why she used it mich later. The silvered man dances and flails away for a few minutes, and then he disappears and the intro to Feel the love starts as the curtains go up! It is the same intro as the one in CDL13-14. As the curtains go up, the main stage is covered in lots of smoke (like AT10) and her dancers are dressed up in robot/futurist like outfits (again, like AT10, I bet they are recycled) and they start dancing to the intro music. It was amazing!!! I was six rows from the stage and I LOVE this intro to FTL.

Just near the end of the intro when you would expect FTL to start playing, the 'slide' opens up (the bottom of the slide has a screen now, unsure if there was in CDL13-14) Ayu pops up from the centre stage in a gold dress, takes four big steps forward as her dancers take the same amount of steps back, and BOOM she starts singing the first few lines of WHATEVER.

01. WHATEVER
It was a decent performance, not as good as CDL04-05, and Ayu stands around for most of it. She does like 30 seconds of very simple choreography before the last chorus. Vocally she sounded decent, I was expecting her to be shouty but not so. This song was definitely sang live, given she didn't have much choreography, and you could hear her imperfections. I love WHATEVER and have never heard it sang live, but the performance didn't blow me away, it felt like a little dampening after the awesome intro with the FTL intro. What let it down also was the light show wasn't that spectacular, it was better in the next song. You've all seen the outfits, and another reason was I didn't feel her outfit was that great, which was the case with most of the show, it felt like it was halfway between CDL and an AT in terms of the wardrobe. After seeing her dancers in the AT10 opening outfits, I wanted it to be something as grand as her Microphone dress.

02. Last angel
As Ayu sings the last few words of WHATEVER 'omou kara...', the music to Last Angel starts. As the music builds up to the first chorus, Ayu shouts out "IKUZE YOYOGIIIII" as the audience erupts and is ready to continue the high. This song was definitely sang live again, and Ayu spends most of it shaking her body and moving her feet to beat at the front of the catwalk. She has some choreography when the playback is playing for the parts of the verses she isn't singing, again, simple slow hand movements. Her vocal performance on this one was pretty good, much better than when I saw Ayu perform this song live at CDL10-11.

As ayu finishes, the main stage lights dim and the house lights are turned on. People are confused but very soon it becomes apparent that Enrique, Timmy. Princess and Yo-chan walk through the arena from the side and "perform" while they slooowwwlly walk to the stage. When they get on the stage, Timmy and Princess start harmonising melodies to Yo-chan's guitar and you know rock Ayu is about to come on.

03. decision
The piano intro starts and three half naked male dancers pop up and while I am excited to see decision performed, this is one of the many cases where dancers are not needed! The dancers outfits look recycled but I can't recall which AT.

Ayu pops up wearing a knee length dress with silver chains/jewels covering it. For the first verse and chorus, she also has a silver mask on that covers everything below her eyes. The mask was fierce and I was disappointed she took it off because without the mask it looked like a CDL outfit.

The screen behind Ayu is just a view of Ayu performing, but with flames added as if Ayu is burning.

Ayu performs this song quite well, again, it was live, she could have shouted, but she only did it a couple of times. During the bridge, she walks down the catwalk, the first time in the show she leaves the main stage, and the people in the A-blocks go nuts as their idol walks past them. Yo-chan, Enrique, Timmy and Princess (let's call them YETP from now on) join Ayu on the centre stage as it's raised while Ayu belts out the final chorus of decision.

04. NEVER EVER
As Ayu finishes her last "YEEEAHHH" if decision, the lights dim for a few moments before the intro music to NEVER EVER starts and I go nuts. I love this song, and Ayu always gives it her all in the choruses.

This is the one of only two songs in the entire show that does NOT have dancers. I'm glad! She sings it on the centre stage with YETP, and even has YETP do some VERY simple choreography with her in the second verse, they walk in unison. A bit lame if you ask me.... but whatever, I still really enjoyed the performance. Vocally again she sounds good, was definitely live and she really put her heart into it, we could feel the energy.

05. Because of You
The intro to Because of you starts and three female dancers with recycled outfits from GAME/my name's WOMAN from AT05 appear and of them hands Ayu half a microphone stand (what good is that?). Ugh, dancers, not again!

But once again I also love this song and the energy was amazing coming from Ayu. I just ignored the dancers and focused on Ayu. Throughout the song, Ayu slowly makes her way back to the centre stage. At the end during the outro of the song, Ayu has some simple choreopgraphy where her and her dancers are strutting back to the centre stage, and look back and serve up some attitude every few steps, Ayu looked fierce as!

Again the song was sang live, and Ayu did quite well.

06. What is forever love
Very odd place for this song, after 3 rock songs, Ayu stays in the same outfit. When was the last time Ayu performed FOUR songs in the same outfit at an AT? Girl must be poor.

As the song progresses, three dancers appear progressively, and it turns out there is a love quadrangle going on between them. (wow, how original, never done that before Ayu)

It was hard to get into the song because the spoken bits (it's playback) are distracting, as is Urata's playback, and it felt disjointed after the decision/NEVER EVER/because of you trio. Throw in some fake Ayu "aitaiiiiiiiiiiii" facial expressions and I was like "This song really doesn't do anything for me".

This song was sang live, but it was probably the weakest performance of the night for me. I suspect if Urata appear on Sunday's show it will make it a lot better.

The main stage curtains go down just as Ayu's lover is trying to make a final dash to meet Ayu but as Ayu's luck would have it, the curtains close all the way before her lover can reach Ayu.

The interlude is some aerial acrobatics with two dancers on the centre stage. Not Ayu yet. :p

07. TO BE
The music starts and the curtains raise and we are treated to one of the best visuals of the night. A sweet looking Ayu in a massive rose gown. It was massive! It was the first time I've heard TO BE live and I really enjoyed the performance. Even better, NO DANCERS. She sounded pretty good, almost a bit too polished, I wouldn't be surprised if for some of it she had the playback helping her out. Before the final chorus, the gown and Ayu starts doing a revolution and Ayu, throughout the entire song acts like a 15 year old girl with her hand motions, signifiying she is ready to love and give her heart to someone. It'd be good if it was a parody/joke but she is 35.... ah... gotta satisfy those Japanese fans with those kawaiiiiiiii gestures though!

08. Hello new me
The music to Hello new me starts and three big roses are projected onto the stage behind Ayu, as if she needs more roses! Three wild dancers appear, and then another two. WHY?! They just add nothing to the song... detract from the song really...

Anyhow, Ayu's dress moves up the stage for a meter or so while she sings, and she does another revolution while flailing her arms madly. Again vocally it sounded a bit too polished in bits, some bits were live, some bits I wouldn't be surprised if she used playback.

09. Angel
This strongly awaited performance starts! On the main stage, a big blue ribbon rises up from beneath the stage with a body inside it. As it reaches the height of the arena, the body shuffles gracefully and lets out their head and hair, and we all realise it's Ayu and everyone starts clapping to encourage our idol. At this stage it's just an extended intro to Angel where Ayu does her manoeuvres/tricks/moves in the blue ribbon. She performs spectacularly, of course she is not as good as her dancers but what she performed clearly required a lot of effort and dedication and rehearsing on her part.

As Ayu descends back down to the stage to finish her dance, the lights dim, and the intro to Angel starts. Ayu then sings Angel and sits in the ribbon like a swing for most of the song. Another two dancers appear and attach two more ribbons onto the first ribbon for aesthetic effects which look great. In the second chorus one of the dancers, while Ayu is high up on her ribbon with two other ribbons flowing behind her and looking pretty, starts dancing and doing backflips underneath her. This I really didn't get.... Ayu's perched on top of the arena, why would she feel the need to get a dancer to do some backflips below her?!

During the extended outro (the guitar sounds great in the outro), Ayu does some more manoeuvers and one of them is one of her dancers picking Ayu up with their feet and holding her while they ascend on the ribbon. That's gotta be some amazing thigh and calf strength!

As the song finishes, DJ 2YAN appears from the 'slide' opening and does a set, I was really getting into it suprisingly for an interlude.

10. Terminal
This is my favourite song from Colours and was looking forward to it so much! Dancers wearing black pants and tops with neon-light wristbands appear and dance while the music is building up to Ayu's appearance. As Ayu sings the first few lines, she pops up in the middle of the main stage on a chair. She is wearin a thigh length black shiny dress with tinsel-like stuff hanging off on her and some shoulder pads.

Ayu definitely sang this live, the echo was noticeably turned up. As a performance, it fell flat. I think this song really challenged Ayu as a performer. I love seeing Ayu performing because she has a strong stage presence, but she didn't for this song. As you know, Terminal has many bits where there are no vocals, for these bits, Ayu had no idea what to do! She just went to DJ 2YAN's booth and had sex with the booth.... it looked awkward, and she shouted "CMON" and "YEAH" and "WOOO" during the music bits which sounded annoying with the echo turned up, and distracted from the music.

The bass pumping throughout the arena was the best thing about this performance. It could have been executed better if Ayu had some choreography during the music bits instead of walking around and looking clueless like Britney Spears in her last few concert tours. Also Terminal is quite a dark song... I wish this performance had more of a dark edge to it, like Ayu wearing a black goth/angle outfit or something.

11. Connected
A big dome descends from the top of the stage with the silver man inside it, and Ayu joins him inside to perform all of Connected. The silver man is a bit pointless and distracting here.... Ayu is on her knees half the time clutching onto the silver man's thighs in the dome while singing the song...
This performance was okay, don't think it was executed well, and hard to tell if it was live because of the vocal effects.

The interlude is the silver man trying to take over the guitar and bass and Enrique and Yo-chan tell him to bugger off. You will see more of this pointless time-wasting interlude when its broadcast next month.

12. STEP you
The intro to STEP you starts and I am LOSING MY SHIT. I love this song and was instantly hoping she does the FULL song and not a shortened version like at AT12.

Ayu appears on a silver podium with a strippers pole with three female dancers. They are wearing black skin-tight suits that look like sexy policewoman uniforms, her dancers even have the police hats. Ayu looked FIERCE and SEXY, and the cherry on top was definitely her bright red lipstick which made her even sexier. Best outfit of the night for me by far.

Four male dancers appear during the first chorus/second verse and they push the podium with Ayu and her dancers towards the front of the main stage.

The rest is standard STEP you choreography. Some bits of the song were live, some of it, the choruses I suspect, probably had playback helping her out.

13. XOXO
This song was 95%, if not 100% lipsynced. Ayu is looking fierce again and doing some pretty suggestive choreography with her male and female dancers! I love this song and I loved the outfit, great performance. I can look past the lipsyncing. It's not ideal, but I accept that it happens and that at least she puts on a good show.

Costume change into the encore outfit. Something something interlude.

14. Lelio
Lelio's intro starts and the 'slide' opens up and Ayu and her entourage of dancers jump out onto the stage "Jump out or stay, kimi no choice..."
I am absolutely positive, that ALL of this song except the final chorus was lipsynched. It sounded the same on both nights, and during the final chorus, the volume of her vocals/microphone doubles and you can hear it's her real voice singing, and sounds completely different to the last 2.5 minutes.

Ayu performs the same choreography as in the PV (probably that's why she is lipsyncing) and it's a good performance, although the choreography looks hilarious.

15. You & Me
Throughout Lelio, Ayu inches to the centre stage before finishing up there, and then the music to You & Me starts and Yoyogi loses its shit as the song turns into a massive singalong and the crowd's energy is taken to another high. The usual You & Me fare, this song is the new staple for sure now. Sang live.

16. Bold & Delicious
I love this song so much but I don't like the new arrangement. My favourite performance of this song was from CDL 05-06 (one of my fav Ayu performances ever) and no other B&D performance will ever come close to that. Pretty standard B&D performance, really fun as always! This was sang live.

17. NOW & 4EVA
The lights dim after B&D comes to an energetic finish for a few seconds, and then the intro to NOW & 4EVA starts. This song does not need dancers, but of course they are here! I just ignored them the entire performance.

Vocally it was pretty good, I felt Ayu's energy (despite the overacting of looking sad and depressed for the first half), a bit more shouting than required, maybe because she was tired and it is the main set's "finale".

Others have said this song seemed out place, which is true after looking at all the songs preceding it, and she does it in the same outfit too. She could have changed into something different....

What I loved about this performance, and why I reckon it's a great outro, is because of the outro. "Ooooo La La La La La........ Let me love you forever" is such a great ending to this show. Definitely loved the outro!

18. Boys & Girls
The curtains went down. I was fully preparing myself for the final song, FTL, and then the CD intro to Boys & Girls started and I was losing my shitttttt. The curtains go up and there is Ayu in the same outfit with all her dancers and she shouts out "CMON YOYOGI" before jumping into the first chorus of B&G. As usual, say what you will about B&G and it being done to death, but the fans love it, they love the singalong. Ayu and her dancers threw some balls and I was close to catching them twice being in the sixth row.

19. July 1st
Well after adding B&G to the setlist, what else was she going to do? I had every thought that the next song was evolution, but then the intro to July 1st starts and this is where I went the most nuts. I love this song (I know, I say this a lot) and have never heard it live. And it just makes so much sense because it's actually the start of July. I loved singing along to this song, Ayu was energetic as always, standard July 1st performance, and finishes off with a round of 'Arigatou gozaimashitas' before the curtains go down again.

20. Feel the love
Now I was positive the next song would be FTL! The music starts like 10 seconds after the curtains go down, and the curtains go back up almost immediately. Really fun FTL performance, started off with streamers being popped into the crowd, I picked up a few! Ayu was in the same outfit but with a gold shiny cap on. It had elements of one of the FTL remixes throughout the song. Before the final chorus, Ayu introduces her dancers at the centre stage, when she is done, she lets out another "IKUZE YOYOGI" and counts herself into the final chorus of FTL and the rain appears again! Ayu and her dancers get absolutely soaking wet in the final chorus and look like they are having so much fun together. During the outro they run back to the main stage and give another round of 'Arigatou gozaimashitas' and the curtains go down.

The end.

So overall, great show, Ayu tried some new things and did well in some bits, some others could have had better execution. I've been to CDL 07-08, 10-11 and 11-12. Vocally she sounded much better than 10-11, but of course not as good as 07-08. I loved that she had all her upbeat dance songs in a row. That, was mega fun!