Has ayu lost her touch?

[AyUmIXx]

^
because that's the only way to do if it's to make all the international fans happy.. and not complain anymore..
why don't we ask someone who has the access to login to Team Ayu to write the message to her? someone in AHS has Team Ayu account right?

then what should we do to make Ayu improve herself, other than complaining?
i want to know from the people who always complain about her stuff, what you guys want to do to make her better?

[AyuHamasaki01]

I wish she would do another concert like AT05. Not in ways of recycling AT05 but AT05 was so refreshing to me It was really original, it's still my favorite concert.

[Mai82Go]

The last thing you should do when you're famous is going online and read what people think of you. I think you'd be scarred for life. I hope Ayu doesn't do it. (AHS is a pretty friendly place, still)

[njanjayrp]

Originally Posted by AyUmIXx

^
because that's the only way to do if it's to make all the international fans happy.. and not complain anymore..
why don't we ask someone who has the access to login to Team Ayu to write the message to her? someone in AHS has Team Ayu account right?

then what should we do to make Ayu improve herself, other than complaining?
i want to know from the people who always complain about her stuff, what you guys want to do to make her better?

As much as I agree with you, the people closest to Ayu are most likely aware of everything, her band rehearses with her prior to the concerts, if they aren't able to influence her, no one most likely will.

[love in music]

Originally Posted by AyUmIXx

then what should we do to make Ayu improve herself, other than complaining?
i want to know from the people who always complain about her stuff, what you guys want to do to make her better?

People who "always complain" can't do anything to make her better, because they can't control her or what she does.

[Amrai-chan]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

No. She just can't sing live...

People do expect a lot from Ayu because her early career was brilliant in every aspect. I'm sure it's a lot of pressure being held to such high standards, and it's her own fault for being so damn brilliant, but I mean.. at this point she's gonna continue to sing because it's what she enjoys doing. I do feel like she isn't trying as hard as she used to, I do feel that she's rather burned out after 11 years of consecutive singing and songwriting, but creativity does not come easy. We all think we can come up with the perfect show. It's easier said than done.

Concerns with creativity and "recycling" costumes/performances are imo really insignificant and superficial at the moment. We got a bigger problem: She can't sing live. She's a singer. I don't know about y'all, but I fell in love with Ayu the "musician", anything related to image is just secondary for me.

This.

I try and cut her somee slack because of her ear and that will throw any singer off. Plus she hasn't really beeen known for her voice anyway.
Around GUILTY is the time her voice live started going off key a lot (maybe even before that).

I watched some of Countdown Live but her voice was so off that I stopped at About You. When her voice wasn't too off the instuments sounded too loud. (I say this but I'll probably try to watch the rest)

Either she needs to stop and take a break not just for her voice and music but for herself or get a vocal coach.

I still care about Ayu and I care for her for more than just her music but it would be nice if her music was better.

But idk, a nice simple live WOULD certainly be nice for a change.

That would be great.

Originally Posted by GRACE

If you want my opinion on what's the biggest problem in her career it's not that she can't sing live, it's that her lyrics have gone from being personal tales, to being contrived to touch someone. I don't feel like she's trying to express herself anymore, but she's trying to write something she thinks someone will relate to. What she needs is to write about herself again, and then everything will fall into place again.

I do think that if she starts writing more about herself again it might help some way.

[AyUmIXx]

Originally Posted by identity

People who "always complain" can't do anything to make her better, because they can't control her or what she does.

so the solutions is?
what fans can do to make her realize that she's not that great like she used to be?

Originally Posted by njanjayrp

As much as I agree with you, the people closest to Ayu are most likely aware of everything, her band rehearses with her prior to the concerts, if they aren't able to influence her, no one most likely will.

so who can influence her? it should be herself right?

--

maybe to make Ayu realize that she is not that great anymore by boycotting her stuff.. lol..

[Batera]

No, Ayu hasn't lost her touch. And I know she tries to give her better each concert she does. The point is: it's not easy to sing with a ear problem. People here complain about her voice but have you ever covered your left ear and tried to sing? It's very hard, you hear only half of the sound. Ayu is dealing with it. I'm sure she knows about her voice, and I also know that she's managing to do something to improve it. It is clearly visible on her TV performances and concerts, when she closes her eyes and try the most to concentrate on her notes.
She doesn't want to disappoint her fans, and she also doesn't want to stop singing. Ayu loves to sing, and this is her life.

The most important thing is her efforts.
I think one of the most beautiful things I saw in my life was Ayu doing two concerts of 3 hours and a half with a broken hand last year. If you watched the PCDL making-of, you probably saw the pain she felt during all band and dance rehearsals for these concerts. Even on December 31st, she was in pain before the concert starts. But did you see any pain expression on her face during the concert? NO! Why? Because she did her best! She gave her better for her fans! Ayu, you're great! I don't know if other artist would be able to do this! The respect she has with her fans is amazing.

Other than that, have you seen the rush she lived into 2009?
Rule/Sparkle single, Next Level album, Arena Tour, Sunrise/Sunset single, a-nation '09, Arena Tour again, You were.../BALLAD single, several TV performances and Countdown Live. All in one year!
I also think she needs a rest, but after all, I'm happy for the great job she's been doing lately! Ok, her voice is not good, but we all know she's doing her best and her voice will improve gradually according she does more albuns and lives.

I'd like to congratulate AyUmIXx for the efforts to make people stop complaining and support Ayu overall! I like you, AyUmIXx, you're great! And I love you blog too, you do a real good job! ^^

[AyUmIXx]

^
oh don't say that..i'm nothing.. AHS helps me alot too..
it's just so sad to see ppl complaining about Ayu's stuff for all these recent years, yet we can't stop them to do that... hmmm~~

i also think that Ayu must have known about her vocal ability that's getting worse.. and her staff must have warned her as well, like once the doctor told her to take a rest for a year during 2001 but she refused it because she didn't want to disappoint her fans.. so she's doing the same thing now.. we can't stop her since she knows herself that she still can do it, and Japanese fans still love her...

[slavomiros]

Originally Posted by nanakopy87

i feel like she's lost.especially CDL09-10.i don't know why i have such feeling.i just feel she's like singing just to satisfy the fans.she's not singing because she wants to sing.

well, to be honest...i have the same feeling. In the CNN interview back in 2006, she said somethink like "...my songs come from my deep inside...if i don't sing, i'm ~nothing~...i die". Watching her latest performances makes me think, she's like without a soul. There is not so much drive and passion like during CDL 04-05 (INSPIRE perf. for ex.) or AT 06.

The fact she's repeating her outfits and stage settings...well...sure is a pain for the audience...have to agree with that. The reason why she does these things with rush and no propper preparation or inventiveness...hmm...maybe some "gap" in her private life?...who knows

[miroro]

she's not loosing it
sh's trying hard to keep singing, even if she's hurt or sick. Even if she's deaf she wants to keep singing for her own sake, but for us, her fans, too.

i'm proud of ayu.
and all this drama is getting annoying. her voice it's like 10000times better than during 08 (remember that mirrorcle world lives?)

she just gave us some GREAT perfomances (rule at kouhaku, for example) but as always, people always see the dark part x_x

she's chaning, and her music and voice will do too. So, if you don't like the new ayu, go ahed and only listen to her early works. But here, there's people who still love her new works and find that Sunrise is a pretty damn good song

[Batera]

Originally Posted by MirrocleHeaven*

she just gave us some GREAT perfomances (rule at kouhaku, for example) but as always, people always see the dark part x_x

I agree with you...

Originally Posted by MirrocleHeaven*

But here, there's people who still love her new works and find that Sunrise is a pretty damn good song

Yeaaaah! Me too!

[foxhana]

we dont MAKE her improve herself. why do you even want to force yourself in TA? O_o WHy force this and force that? O_o

we wait.

[FuNsTyLe]

Well it's not illegal to complain, and this thread was about if Ayu has lost her touch. I see absolutely no problem with that, it's a free country and we can discuss it right?
And besides, we (I can only speak for myself, but I know most of us do) purchase her music and spend money on concerts, albums, merchandise and so on, and I think we have the right to bring up such matters like this one.
People are not complaining, simply having a discussion, exchanging thoughts about the topic...


Do you all want a world where no one stands up and talks about the big elephant in the room?

[waterballoon]

To answer the thread - nope, I don't think she has lost her touch.

You know, the perception of what's good and what's bad varies so much among people, that it's almost stupid to say "I think Ayu sucks now" and expect a whole forum to agree with you lol.

I think her voice has definitely gotten worse through the years, and it has reached a stage where she has her "whoa" moments, as rare as those are... and mainly it's just her yelling her way through, which I don't exactly appreciate, unfortunately.

About the stage and costumes... I don't know. Sometimes I feel like we are not giving her enough time to come up with something new. She has already done that with the songs she's singing; take PCDL and this Future Classics for example, many old songs were sung.

Maybe next year or a couple of years later, she's gonna change up her stage or her costumes. Who knows? The future is a mystery.

But... from Concert Tour 2000 to AT 03-04, her stage has remained pretty much the same, yet she always manages to do something different for each concert pre-2005... it feels like ever since AT 05 she has felt satisfied with the stage set-up and has pretty much decided to stick to that for every concert. Maybe it's a good thing, to stick with what is safe and not screw up, than to take a risk and do something that people might dislike - I mean she isn't at the stage of her career where she can afford to experiment or else she's gonna be out of the limelight for a while.

She still surprises us from time to time; the "whoa" moments that she has in her stage set up after 2005 for me are:

alterna ball in 2006
Cross in 2007
Ship in 2008
Marionette set-up in 2008

I won't say she has lost it for thinking of something new for her stage. Maybe she isn't trying hard enough, but at least her staff are coming with something pleasant to view. (:

But what I'm really shocked about is her band... all professional musicians, you mean none of them bothers to tell Ayu "hey you're fking off tune when you sing, take a break for a year and retrain your singing before you come to destroy our ears 75% of the time when you sing"

I'm exaggerating but... I'm just shocked that none of them has told Ayu about her singing problems? Lol maybe they do, but man it looks like nothing much has changed.

And the LOL-est thing is, none of her staff whom she supposedly "trusts", is gonna tell her that touring "longer" is not helping her voice? Maybe she's secretly gonna take vocal lessons at 12am every night, but I doubt that...

Sometimes it feels like her career has reached a point where she's so satisfied with everything that she doesn't need to improve or change anything, however subtle it may be. Maybe she needs a wake-up slap? If I were there, I would gladly give her one.

Finally, I just want to say I still love Ayu very much because many of her songs, old or new, have touched me so much, and she has influenced my life to quite an extent, that she almost is an inspiration to me.

I am also really proud of her effort to continue singing despite losing her hearing in one ear, and that in spite of all of that, she still has her singing moments (You were... TV performances, Rule at MSSL and Kouhaku, Days TV performances, even teddy bear @ CDL 09-10 that so many of us love).

But really, I think she needs to concentrate on improving her vocals... that's like the most important aspect of a singer!

EDIT: Oh about the quality of her songs... I feel that whatever she puts out, there's still that 'Ayu' feel to it, so I'm not too worried. Of course liking a song is based on your personal preferences, so that's hard to judge. I love Days, Rule, Sunrise, You were... and RED LINE very much, and these are all recent songs.

[AyUmIXx]

Originally Posted by foxhana

we dont MAKE her improve herself. why do you even want to force yourself in TA? O_o WHy force this and force that? O_o

we wait.

i don't force myself into TA, it's just a suggestion so that Ayu could read and know what her fans demand about her that she needs to get better..
i guess that fans are a big part of Ayu's career, but sometimes, as a fan, i don't know what to do to make her be a better singer..but just have to wait and enjoy her works.. and why can't ppl just enjoying what she gives?

Originally Posted by FuNsTyLe

Well it's not illegal to complain, and this thread was about if Ayu has lost her touch. I see absolutely no problem with that, it's a free country and we can discuss it right?
And besides, we (I can only speak for myself, but I know most of us do) purchase her music and spend money on concerts, albums, merchandise and so on, and I think we have the right to bring up such matters like this one.
People are not complaining, simply having a discussion, exchanging thoughts about the topic...


Do you all want a world where no one stands up and talks about the big elephant in the room?

yes, complaining isn't illegal.. and ppl are free to express their feelings towards Ayu, but what ppl have done to make her be better singer? what fans can do? aren't we the biggest influence to Ayu?
see, in Japan, Ppl still coming to see Ayu's concerts even ppl know that her voice sucks.. so why we the international fans are making a big fuss about it? since Japanese ppl still love her? Japanese fans themselves don't even care about her vocal being so bad..i think that what Japanese fans see on her is her best efforts in making ppl happy..

So, rather than complaining, isn't it better to discuss how are we going to make Ayu's improve to be a better singer? is there any other way instead of just complaining over and over again?

[terra]

I guess she hasn't lost her touch,
I agree with some people here that Ayu should take a rest. She needs it, and by rest I mean she could do things she loves, experiences new things and get inspired somehow.

And I agree with most of everyone about her voice, and waterballoon about her band. She sounded so...like bad in AT09, like she's choking herself. I haven't watched CDL09-10 so I don't know but a-nation and AT09 sounds bad for me.

About her PVs, I guess the last two were taking a better step. One of my (personal) problems is her costume, I guess the Woman who worked with her already out of ideas so that Ayu's costumes looked repetitive (I really love looking at her cool outfits, that's why I whine when I notice some bleh ones ) I suggest her to add another new designer and new choreographer. The dancers should be dancers at best.

Her stage style is not a problem, though what makes some of us feels her downgrading because she started with 'KABOOM' amazingness (AT05 and 06) and then slowly the theatricals feels not as exciting. And because Ayu's songs imo are theatrical by themselves.

The idea of a stripped down performance is great, an acoustic one, orchestra oi just the band BUT after she takes vocal lessons to adjust to her current situation.

I do support her, but that doesn't make me fall into her 100%. As fans I have some things that I must tell either about her good sides or bad sides. And I do hoped that her writing style would be like the 'old good days' when she writes about stories.

Go Ayu Go~! You can make yourself better and better!! *peace*

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by AyUmIXx

you really don't watch her latest 4-5 ATs and CDLs??
really? wow!

You can count me in as well. I used to download her concerts, but after Best of CDL, I stopped watching them.

I dun really know if budget is the main key for recylcing costumes and stage set up. I mean... Look at A Museum, I dun think the production budget was that high, but that concert was one of her best concerts. Her stadium tour is another example. I really prefer her focus on singing (and of course beautiful outfits) then doing dramas with Shuya and other dancers on the stages (not that I hate them). Right now her formula of AT is kinda like:

Ayu x (deja vu) glamorous outfits x big stages x dancers x band
= GLAMOROUS production

How often do we see ayu alone on stage in recent tours (except her encore part)? Almost 90% of the tour time we see a pre-film on the big screen followed by ayu + her dancers acting on the stage. Her dancers are part of Ayu, and without them ayu seems can't perform herself on stage.

Let's say in A Museum, ayu could sing and swing alone in Dearest, and she was the major focus in M (while the dancers were hidden in her white cloth). She didn't act a lot, rather she concentrated on singing. The tour was about AYU. Right now everything is the opposite. She blends with her dancers and bands. It's like she's only part of the tour. While she disappears for a few mins, the show can still carry on by the dancers acting like clowns on the stage. For about every few seconds, the camera will shift to her dancers (esp Shuya) instead of ayu. I really know she loves her team so much, but it's so unhealthy to keep on doing that. As like in order to see ayu, you must also force to see Shuya/Maro/whatever + her band + Peco & Princess.

And about the stage.... Sometimes you dun need a huge budget in order to get new creativity. I really think back then there were specialists giving more inputs on how the stages should be set (with ayu's influence). I kinda suspect the recent tours' stage set up are created by ayu heavily, as we see the set up are kinda same. Of course two years ago she added a cake, last year she added a ship, and probly next year she'll put a spaceship.

[Batera]

Originally Posted by waterballoon

But what I'm really shocked about is her band... all professional musicians, you mean none of them bothers to tell Ayu "hey you're fking off tune when you sing, take a break for a year and retrain your singing before you come to destroy our ears 75% of the time when you sing"

I don't agree with you... it is not so simple as you think.
I'm sure the band knows perfectly that Ayu's voice is getting worse, but what can they do? Just sitting beside her and tell "Ayu, get a rest and look for a vocal coach, because you're singing off-key sometimes" will not solve the problem. Actually I think they've already done this, 'cause they are all professionals, just like you said.
But behind all of it, there's a lot of other factors.
I'm pretty sure that the best the band can do is support her, and that's what they're doing.

[FuNsTyLe]

^ I agree, but nobody needs to tell her that her voice sucks in live performances. I'm sure she knows, she even apologied for it in the Evolution performance a couple of weeks ago.
Off course we all still support her, and Japanese fans most certainly do.
But I would not buy a ticket for her Arena Tour or CDL nowadays, because her voice is really bad, and I wouldn't want to be in a 2-3 hour concert listening to her singing bad and being off-key alot, using the same costumes over and over, the cage the cross, the huge dress etc... like always.
Her Japanese fans love her no matter what, but in Japan, do people really ever complain or bring up sensitive topics? Sorry if I sound judgemental, but seriously, I think her Japanese fans would probably just keep on supporting her and cheer ever so much at her concerts even if she would pull of the worst show ever, just to be polite. They wouldn't dare to confront her with the fact it would suck. Criticism is important, as long as it can be based on something, not just empty words thrown around with no muscle behind.
Like her Evolution performance in December where she even apologied for her bad performance... Still, her fans cheered for her like it was the best performance ever...