Thoughts on CDL 09-10?

[yamogi]

I actually wonder if the contract requires her to have tour and album every year.

[foxhana]

oh nearing the end of CDL 0910 now.

Now I see everyone who watched loved this CDL, but then complains. O-o

Has anyone realized that her voice changes amazingly to a better level at encore? LOL

She is saving her voice for encores I believe. Encores are mostly lives.

I'll leaev this thread now.. I used to love ayu muuuuuuuuuuuch (still as much), but seeing all these... distractions. They made me realized not everyone is a true fan.. or, thye don't like enjoying this and pick on things. We should all be Japanese and believe in our idols, and be reasonable at the same time.

Bye now.

I'll probably come to AHS fo dls only.. tired of seeinghow the people in the world complains, and yet the one who should be most complained about is the one who complains the most. *sigh*

[jiarongisme]

I've watched some parts of the CDL.

Performances that I've watched are:
I am.../Moments
About You
momentum
Little bit of Pride

I am.../Moments, I'd have to say, was really good. Be it vocals, performance concept and outfit. The drums segment was a tad too long and the tissued dance... Yawn.

About You was okay. Nothing special.

momentum was totally destroyed by the inconsistant sound quality. The performance became really underwhelming at some point. And this was the performance I was looking forward to the most. Sigh. Tissue dance AGAIN.

Pride's vocals was so horrendous that I stopped halfway lol. And I think I'm one of the few who loves the outfit.

In general, the concert seems pretty okay so far. The set list saved the concert for me though. I can't say much because I've not watched everything but that's how I feel about the concert so far. The recording/directing takes part of the blame though. Their inconsistancy made the concert really underwhelming. At times, the instrumentals were really loud, at times, both the instrumentals and Ayu's voice became really soft etc.

[yamogi]

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

^ It started happening at least a year before CDL07-08 and vocally I would say this is definitely worse than that. The only really horrible one in CDL07-08 I thought was Surreal.

are u sure? The vocal of CDL07-08 was much worse in terms of off-key. All most every song was off. This year's CDL is better, at least she was able to keep the right key in some songs.

Edit: Just seen BoY...WOW..That's awful...completely off in bridge and chorus. That's not her voice cant hit high note, but that's the problem of her ear definitely. Such situation only occurs when one cant hear oneself clearly. Those notes seems random to me...

[Neko★munication]

Originally Posted by foxhana

oh nearing the end of CDL 0910 now.

Now I see everyone who watched loved this CDL, but then complains. O-o

Has anyone realized that her voice changes amazingly to a better level at encore? LOL

She is saving her voice for encores I believe. Encores are mostly lives.

I'll leaev this thread now.. I used to love ayu muuuuuuuuuuuch (still as much), but seeing all these... distractions. They made me realized not everyone is a true fan.. or, thye don't like enjoying this and pick on things. We should all be Japanese and believe in our idols, and be reasonable at the same time.

Bye now.

I'll probably come to AHS fo dls only.. tired of seeinghow the people in the world complains, and yet the one who should be most complained about is the one who complains the most. *sigh*

I agree that her vocals in the Encore were really great Teddy bear + RED LINE were awesome.

I disagree though that people aren't true fans or don't believe in their idols just because they complain. *sigh* No one is any less of a fan just because they criticize something or don't enjoy every single thing their idol has done.

Originally Posted by emiko

Can I just ask people one thing?

I think it's really ridiculous to call everyone who is saying her vocals are bad "haters", or other things. Can we refrain from that?

Her vocals WERE bad, if you can't hear it, you're probably tone deaf, which is not meant to be an insult, since there are a lot of people who actually can't tell the difference, say, between a note that's flat and one that isn't. She made a lot of mistakes, more than I've ever seen from her and it was...honestly really bad. She wouldn't have passed those performances on American Idol.

Agree 100%. This isn't hating on Ayu or bashing, which is what some overly defensive Ayu fans automatically assume, it seems.

[AyUmIXx]

we're not being defensive here, but we're here to appreciate her works..even if it's so bad.. at least, she didn't sound so bad in other songs.. she still could bring great hype on the concert.. she is not like sounded so bad in every of her performances..

[Batera]

Wow, it was amazing to see Ayu with all that energy during the concert!
She seemed to be very happy!

[Diego-kun]

Okay guys I've watched the first half of the show and I agree with most of you. It's on the same level as CDL 07-08

I am.../Moments: her vocals were good during these two songs but the audio was awful... I couldn't even hear her voice in the second verse of I am and in Moments the chorus girl's voice was louder than Ayu's

STEP you/EnergizE: vocals weren't that bad but I didn't like the clown theme because I found it too silly. Imo STEP you shouldn't be performed as a cute song like HONEY or ANGEL'S SONG because it's not that cute.

About You: one of the best performances of the show although her voice was not the best and the audio was bad again

momentum/You Were...: boringgggg!!! I'm tired of the 'male dancer chasing a female dancer while Ayu sings in a white dress' thing. In addition, she shout a lot in both songs >_<

Pride: no comment. I watched AT06 performance after and there's no comparision.

INSPIRE/Because of You: awful vocals and too many shouts

PCDL 08-09 wasn't her best concert but it was very nice and I enjoyed a lot watching it but this year's concert is definetly one of the worst in Ayu's career.

[amorphose]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^imo she should take 1 year without album and touring (but anation and cdl), but obviously 1 or 2 singles, and after that, a really huge tour and a concept album...

even if i really like Next Level, imo Secret and Guilty could be a lot better...

YES. This is exactly what a friend and I were saying on the phone last night.

I'd rather her take a long a hiatus and come back strong and great than keep going as is and just kill her career for herself. I especially feel awful when I remember some of the things she said on that CNN interview about how singing is her life and without it she would die. That makes me really not want her to ruin her voice permanently! Take a break, please!

It's not like people would forget about her either if she went on hiatus-- Do As Infinity did it. Utada did it (twice.) Namie Amuro did it too before, right? And those are all still really popular acts.

[GRACE]

Originally Posted by Diego-kun

momentum/You Were...: boringgggg!!! I'm tired of the 'male dancer chasing a female dancer while Ayu sings in a white dress' thing. In addition, she shout a lot in both songs >_<

She only did it once at AT09... ._. I think you're bored of it cause KUU does it a lot.

[Neko★munication]

^ She's done it more than once, but yeah I found it refreshing that she used Maro/Midoring to be honest. Better than seeing her swoon over Shuya again x_x

[Bad Wolf]

Originally Posted by amorphose

YES. This is exactly what a friend and I were saying on the phone last night.

I'd rather her take a long a hiatus and come back strong and great than keep going as is and just kill her career for herself. I especially feel awful when I remember some of the things she said on that CNN interview about how singing is her life and without it she would die. That makes me really not want her to ruin her voice permanently! Take a break, please!

It's not like people would forget about her either if she went on hiatus-- Do As Infinity did it. Utada did it (twice.) Namie Amuro did it too before, right? And those are all still really popular acts.

Exactly. There IS such a thing as over-saturation. Unfortunately I think avex wants to milk the #1 streak as long as they can from Ayu for bragging rights, when really they should be focusing their attentions on their other powerhouse acts (let Namie have the pressure for a while, k? And not because I think she deserves it :lol She's just the only one who can really manage it in Ayu's absence, though I think she's a far cry from Ayu).

So, yeah. Ayu should get at least a 6 month vacation to recharge herself, to focus more on her work WITHOUT needing to rush out a single or an album or a tour, etc. I'm getting a little tired of making excuses to myself for her work, which has been pretty lackluster since 07 (for me).

But that's a side tangent! Sorry guys ^^

[Andrenekoi]

^Twice... but the other time was at Stadium Tour xD

[emi♡]

didn't she do the hanabi type dance at AT09?

I call it the hanabi dance lol but it's just the guy and the girl dramatically dancing all over the place...

I guess she doesn't do it that often...but it seems like she does.

Maybe I'm getting it mixed up with the Shuya in the white coat, because I thought she did it at the CDL 08-09 and AT08 too...but I don't remember if there was a girl there.

[pchan1986]

Finally after coming home from work i can watch this concert. Now im going to tell it like it is and you may be surprised of my opinion of this CDL:
I am: I love this song but i could hardly hear her voice. she sung it pretty well to my surprise. i thought it sounded better than 2002(? right date) just because i didnt hear as much vibrata as 2002. so that was good to me.
Moments: she was good vocally but again i could hardly hear her. Her outfit was pretty.
step you: her vocals was good because it was cutesy but other than that it bored me. her outfit and the dancers outfit were 'ick'
energize: this is not an energetic song so ..skipped. i wish she had sung beautiful fighters. now thats a song to energize to.
About you: she did great during the verses but once she got to the chorus, man did she sound tired or what. her outfit looked tacky in the photos but seeing it live...it wasnt bad
Momentum: I absolutely loved the intro (musically) and hey i didnt mind seeing maro as well ^-* i didnt notice this but i <3 her red nails. THis is when i began to take notice on her guitarist who is the best! anyways getting to the song. she sung it beautifully i thought. maybe because its one of my fave songs from her.*shrugs* but i liked it.
You were...: being truthful, i dont like this song as much as when i first heard it. idk why. she SOUNDED good tho. The dress was absolutely gorgeous. she was sparkly all over.
Pride: im one of those who actually loved this outfit and the wig. she did sing faster than the music in the beginning. her vocals were a bit off but thats okay. next.
Inspire: man o man this is the start of being hype for me. i loved the 'uh uh' parts at the beginning and then POW the song began. I personally thought it was awesome until she got to the bridge/chorus and then you can hear her voice was off a lot.
Because of you: now ive been waiting for this performance because i love this song so much. when people were saying that this was the worst of the concert. i was so bummed. after watching it. i concluded that i LOVED the performance. Period. She was gorgeous and her vibe was spilling over the crowd cuz i sure as heck felt it. if her vocals werent off key most of the time and if she didnt mess up on the lyric. i wouldve given it an A. but still i loved it.
1Love: same exact dance routine pretty much. not hype about it so next for me.
Until that day: same as 1love. i like this dance routine. her voice sounded better in this. her outfit for Inspire-UTD= Adore.
Humming 7/4: she was running and yelling so much, im not surprised she sounded tired and bad.
evolution: song i was nervous to listen to. it was much better than the tv live but still sounded like she was exhausted by now.
startin': it was okay. i liked the oufit but not as much as the previous one.
Teddybear: now this was a classic song. i even got emotional because her vocals sounded so similiar when i first heard her sing it live in 2000-2001 (correct me if im wrong). she may have sounded tired but i know everyone was mesmerized listening to this song.
Sunrise: i can jump and sing to this song too. good
boys & girls: she needs to retire this song because she cant sing this live..at all -__-
Red line: she sounded pretty good.
To summarize, this FC CDL does not surpass PCDL for me. i loved some parts of the concert but like the other CDLives shes done, i wont watch it as much except for PCDL of course. Out of 10 i rate this as a 6.

[Mai82Go]

@hiatus
Maybe Ayu needs a scandal ( a nice scandal...like getting pregnant or something. Nothing with drugs) that forces her into retirement. Then she can relax a little bit and return in a few years.

But I kind of understand why she doesn't take a break. She would loose loads of fans. I'm sure everybody here is like "Nooo...I will still follow her when she's coming back." But I think it's not that easy. Once gone, coming back is a miracle. If you don't loose all your fans, you'd probably loose half of them, at least. It's sad, but people move on.

[Bad Wolf]

Then they're not really fans, eh?

I mean the people who would actually ditch an artist if s/he goes on break. Those aren't fans at all.

[Mai82Go]

Originally Posted by InoriNoUta

Then they're not really fans, eh?

I mean the people who would actually ditch an artist if s/he goes on break. Those aren't fans at all.

I'm not so sure about that. You have to stay in touch with the audience. Or you take a completely different direction when you come back, to get new fans. She would have to stop TA. Not do a-nation. I think there is so much to think of, if she really would go on a break, it's hard to do. I just cannot imagine it happening. Maybe for one or two months. Longer? Hard to imagine, if she's not forced. And don't forget she's not getting younger. I hate bringing the age issue into this as I find it ridiculous to call someone old at the beginning of their 30s. But this is Japan. They like their stars young.

[amorphose]

^^Why would she have to stop TeamAyu? O_o She just simply wouldn't tour, do a-nation, CDL or release any new material for a year or two.

Of course she'd lose some of her audience, but she would not lose her actual fans. She would just lose some of her casual listeners. But I'm sure most of those would flock back as soon as she made a comeback. And if Ayu is really that concerned with pleasing her fans and constantly giving us new music-- there's a simple solution to that too that can still let her take a break.

She should just release another compilation-- maybe A BALLADS II or a remix/acoustic orchestra album-- with no promo, just let it sell itself. And maybe she could even release a mini album of older cuts that didn't make it on to previous albums. She just needs to take a break from performing and being in the studio. The toll it's taking on her seems greater and greater all the time and it's become too much.

[noidea]

^ Because TeamAyu is an expensive fanclub which benifits mostly are extras you get for releases and earlier concert tickets, both would be impossible when shes on hiatus...they would have to make teamayu free at least