[Scans] Ayu featured in German Magazine "J Beat"

[lolo66]

Thanks, the old pics are no surprise, but need translation

[Qt Mashi]

Originally Posted by memories.in the snow a koo theme

Thats neat. do you think u.s.a would do something like that?

i doubt it

btw ure ure name is sooooo long

[Halla]

whoa , this article is extremely informative. it covers her entire career even up to her doing the 'shinobi' movie theme which is mentioned near the end of the article.

I could translate it too , but I don't have the time for it now. it's a lot work for my level of german

[WalkingProud]

i'm gonna start to translate it now!

[WalkingProud]

Part One is ready! hope you enjoy it!

Hamasaki Ayumi

A few years ago, viewers of MTV and VIVA were able to admire the video clips of a singer, mainly unknown to German public. The fact that this “unknown singer” is one of the most successful singers in Japan remained a secret to most of them.

Ayumi Hamasaki was born on October 2nd, 1978 in Fukuoka. Still being a little child, her father left the family and from then on Ayumi was brought up by her mother and grandmother. Only aged 7 years, Ayumi started doing modelling jobs and then moved to Tokyo by the age of 14.
However, working as a model didn’t satisfy her completely and hence she tried her luck as an actress. In 1995 the movie “Sumomomomomo” finally helped her to breakthrough in the show business. Various productions as “Idol” followed (for example “Nagisa na inbad”). Still, things weren’t going that well: she was abandoned by her talent agency and also quit school after her 10th year. After a couple of second rate movies, Ayumi finally decided to give up acting.
Obviously, this period of Ayu’s life was later left out in her official biography.

It was in a karaoke bar where Ayumi met Masato (‘Max’) Matsuura. Being a producer of the well-known Avex Trax label, Matsuura was organising a karaoke contest in order to find new stars for the “Idol”- heaven. Well, it took Matsuura quite some effort to finally convince the reluctant Ayumi to join Avex Trax. Later, Ayumi explained that her restraint was basically based on two things: first, Matsuura was a quite old man and second, she had never heard of the Avex label before (Avex didn’t promote themselves that much back then as they do nowadays). Various meetings took place, and a couple of phone calls were made until Ayumi had enough confidence to sign her contract with Avex. Fortunately she did because now she is one of the most successful Japanese singers in the pop business.

Nevertheless, her way to success was a hard one. Ayumi was, is and always will be a rebel. Whenever she’s confronted with rules or conventions she only wants to do one thing: break them. And so did she when Max Matsuura ordered her to take singing lessons, she simply boycotted them. The 17 years-old was then send to New York, and like Hikki, she felt freer there and also attended the singing lessons. Back in her home country Japan, Ayu released her first single “Poker Face”.

Even though the single didn’t do that badly, the expected success didn’t set it and as-well the follow-up singles only reached the Top 20. The first real success took place in 1999 when “Love ~ Destiny” was released. It reached #1 in the charts and formed the starting point of Ayu’s constantly growing career. She released five albums which each reached the number 1 spot, four of them even were in the Top 10 simultaneously. Twelve singles reached as-well #1, and four of them even passed sales over one million.

gonna translate the rest asap!

[~Devil Ayu~]

SOURCE: http://www.ayunite.net/forum

ACRTUALLY I'VE scanned and posted this scans to Ayunite-I think it's bad that you havn't add my name there. Cause it was WORK for me!

[baby_cinnamon]

Cool.
Miyavi is on the cover.

[WalkingProud]

Originally Posted by ~Devil Ayu~

ACRTUALLY I'VE scanned and posted this scans to Ayunite-I think it's bad that you havn't add my name there. Cause it was WORK for me!

i understand that you are angry but i'm sure asongforXX didn't do it un purpose.

thank you for the scans then!

[tinyppl]

Thanks for the translation. I wonder what the mag mentioned about other artists.

[WalkingProud]

Originally Posted by tinyppl

Thanks for the translation. I wonder what the mag mentioned about other artists.

you're welcome!

currently working on part two!

[CT_Cool]

cool thanks for the infor.

[WalkingProud]

translation is completed. will read through it again tomorrow and put the finishing touches to it. will post it then!

[paper_doll]

Miyavi, Yomi, Mana, Aya... and Ayu <3
Thanks for the pic!

[[AHS]MortalSex]

coool! she´s starting to reach europe now XD thanks for sharing the news! *kiss*

[WalkingProud]

here comes the second and final part of the translation. unfortunately i had to leave some small parts out because i couldnt read them probably because of the scan.

hope you enjoy it nevertheless!!!!

Using her pseudonym “Crea” (named after one of her dogs), Ayumi writes her own lyrics in which she speaks about experiences made by herself or her friends. Her lyrics and as-well her live performances are full of emotions and it’s hard to believe that this woman, so full of energy, once was shy and reserved.

*next paragraph is about her dogs; can’t read it properly because of the scan. Basically it says how many dogs Ayu has, how they are called and that they are very important to her*

Ayumi Hamasaki is one of the most successful and most popular singers. Due to the fact that she earns about half of Avex’s annual income, the famous record label tries to keep close ties between them and the singer.

Being that popular also allows Ayu to star in countless commercials (TV, etc). Up until today, Ayu participated in *here would come a number probably; can’t read it because of the scan, sorry*

Between Ayumi Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada there’s said to be some kind competition going on: Who is most featured in TV commercials? Who has most PV’s played by the TV stations? Whose songs are better? Who has more of them placed within the Top 10? And that’s not all. Moreover, both were featured in famous games or movies. For the Japanese adaptation of “Snow-White”, Ayu provided the song “One Day My Prince Will Come”. A strictly limited number of DVDs and VHSs included a four minute long music video for this song, not available anywhere else.
Ayumi’s music videos are always full of fantasy and glamour. It’s obvious that she gives everything to make those clips look perfect which is also one of the reason why they are so popular with the viewers. She succeeds in putting a spell on her audience.
Proper presentation of her lyrics is also an important part of her music videos. They are about different issues, like human society, for example. In one of her videos Ayu presents us the life of a star caught in a golden cage, in another one she shows herself as a seductive tigress. Then again, we discover her as a some kind of “visual geisha” who seeks to teach us “the dark side of Ayumi Hamasaki”, an Ayumi who doesn’t want to become a vitreous human. A further clip, wants to teach us forgiveness and points out that the world isn’t only painted in grey. Absolutely beautiful is the scene in which she lets a child grow a wing.
I can’t wait to discover which worlds Ayu will show us in the future and which problems of human society she’ll critisize next. Keep going like this Ayu!!!
As-well as her music videos, Ayumi’s live performances are costly framed. Each of her appearances on stage is a real event, no need to comment on her concert tours ( nine sold-out mega tours, and four concerts between 2000 – 2005!). It doesn’t matter if you see them live or on DVD because Ayu is simply breathtaking. With almost every song the star changes her outfit or surprises the audience with other special feature.
*can’t read because of scan, sorry*
... she keeps surprising her fans, again and again. Her fans show their appreciation by buying each and every bit that Ayu releases. Up ‘til today, there have been 23 albums (13 of them are top-sellers), about 40 singles (25 of them are top-sellers), 14 DVDs, 13 VHSs and 13 VCDs released. Moreover, there’s obviously merchandising like posters, photo books, cowboy hats etc. sold.
Ayu’s most recent effort is supposed to be the title track to the movie “Shinobi”. The movie’s told to be similar to “Romeo & Juliet” and if we are lucky we can expect a beautiful ballad. Release is set to be this autumn. Furthermore, her tour homepage confirms that we can look forward to the summer release of the “ARENA TOUR 2005 – MY STORY” – DVD. Ayumi’s star is still shining bright above us all and so we can expect more singles, albums and music videos in the years to come. Word on the street is that she’ll also participate on some TV dramas and movies. We’ll see with what Ayu will surprise us next. Go Ayu!

[Hachimitsu]

Wow! Gackt, Ayu, Psycho le Cemu.. I'm so getting this magazine when I'm in Germany!

[urd-chan]

thanks so much for the scans, I have to buy this someday...hope I can find it in Austria^^'

[lovia]

thanx!! cool!! miyavi on the cover!! <<<3 but still hopes that ayu is on the cover lol!!

[~Devil Ayu~]

Originally Posted by WalkingProud

i understand that you are angry but i'm sure asongforXX didn't do it un purpose.

thank you for the scans then!

Now is all Ok-now I am credited^^

[ayusotsu]

ohhhh,,, I forgot ,,ya I'll buy it today ^^ but 7.90 euro O.O ... whatever ,, my mum will pay muahahaha,,, more real photos of ayu and gackt,etc.. lucky me ^^ I can take some scans of other artists-pages when my cam works again (shampoo flow in my cam >.<)
thx for reminding me XD