Thoughts on CDL 09-10?

[SunshineSlayer]

Now that I've been able to really digest everything, here is my full review:

Setlist: A+

Costumes: C. The only ones I really liked were the first one and the white dress. The rest were either OK or what the heck was she thinking type of things.

How I'd rate the vocals:

GOOD - You Were, Pride, and Teddy Bear (I was actually pleasantly surprised by Pride because judging by most comments I though it would be awful but it wasn't that bad actually)

OK (as in at least passable) - I Am, Moments, Startin', Boys and Girls (barely), Red Line, Sunrise, Step You, Energize (just barely)

BAD - Because of You, About You, Momentum, Evolution, Humming 7/4, Inspire

Not rating 1Love or Until that Day because I can't tell if they are actually live or not.

Overall, it's a C at the very most for the vocals.

The encore was great. She looked cute (that hair definitely looks better up). She had lots of energy and it was fun. The other parts of the concert I felt really could and should have been great, but often times the vocals were just too bad to ignore. Even the ones I put in the good category, I still wouldn't rate them as high as her past performances of the same songs. Of all of the tv versions of the cdls I have seen (I think maybe all of them), I would rate this as her worst vocally except for 02-03 (but she was clearly very sick at that time) At the same time I'm glad that this concert really had minimal lipsyncing. Now if only I could get minimal lip synching AND good vocals.

After the vocals, I thought the worst part was all of the interludes. It really felt like tooooo many and the only non-boring ones for me were the ones with the band.

I really felt like Because of You could have been epic. Even though it is essentially the same setup, I liked the rising platform and her half mic stand; its the vocals that kept it from being epic. Startin however was lots of fun and About You too, I really liked her energy.

She really needs to have someone in her camp saying to her "Ayu, you are crazy if you think going on a long tour next year is going to help anything" but apparently there is no one like that and the people at Avex don't give a damn about her voice or her ears, just about getting as much money out of her while they still can.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

About her voice being overpowered by the band: If nobody that went to the concert complained about her voice and every year people around here complain about it when the TV version of CDL is broadcasted, IMO it`s obvious that the problem is on the TV recording ~~

Often times you are so excited just to be there that you overlook things like that. Often times too, the sound is so loud and echoey that you actually get a better feel for the song when you watch it later on tv than when you are actually there.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

Often times you are so excited just to be there that you overlook things like that. Often times too, the sound is so loud and echoey that you actually get a better feel for the song when you watch it later on tv than when you are actually there.

U saw her live urself... have u ever had problems like that? Cuz people complains about her voice being too low every year when they get tv version of CDL...

If it's TV people, and not Ayu staff, doing the recording, it's easy to know what is going wrong with tv versions...

[SunshineSlayer]

^Actually a vocal coach CAN help that. There are coaches who specialize in teaching singers who have lost partial or even all of their hearing. It's possible to improve, but you basically have to retrain yourself in how to sing from the ground up and trust when the coach tells you something doesn't sound good even if you and your faulty ears think that it does.

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

U saw her live urself... have u ever had problems like that? Cuz people complains about her voice being too low every year when they get tv version of CDL...

Oh yeah for sure. I noticed it a lot at A-Nation 07 and Arena Tour 08 but usually you are wrapped up in the fun of the live, so you don't really pay attention to it as much. She went from sounding too low one second to bursting your ear drums with her shouts or iiii the next. Interestingly though, although its been a long time now, at AT 05 and AT06 I do not really remember moments like that - I mainly just remember her voice being really strong and clear.

Although her voice may sound lower in many cdl tv lives; I don't remember it ever being this bad. Actually I thought CDL 04/05 and 05/06 were incredibly strong even in the tv broadcast. And if you've ever seen the tv broadcast of A Museum (which was filmed on a different day from the dvd release) her vocals were so strong they could have easily used that as the DVD without even editing it.