[TA news] AYU will give her performance at NHK "SONGS"!

[ayumint]

evolution, M, and SEASONS are big hit but urgggg....
This is oppotunity to promote Sixxxxx after released on 05 Aug,2015 as well (also after big drop from first day as it will be aired on 08 Aug ) but urggg...she probably wants to keep promoting A BEST on recochoku instead of Sixxxxxx

i'm crying for Summer diary, sayonara and another 3 "S", it's not your turn to be known by public T^T*
by the way, i'm so happy to see her on TV performance again

[stepYOU1234]

The setlist is unfortunately not massively surprising. I think the TA live will be more for fans. As a TV live, she is trying to reach casual listeners who remember her classics. M always strikes me as wintery though. Blue Bird or Fairyland would have worked I guess.

[AyuGAME]

I did have hope that she will sing her new songs...but well..I'm happy to see her on brand new tv variety...Looking forward to the performance...

[chocopockymaster]

^ a TV performance of Sayonara without SpeXial would have been disastrous, though. No thanks

[truehappiness]

Yeah, if SpeXial isn't there, please don't do Sayonara.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

^Definitely agree. It would not work.

[Delicious n Bold]

Queen singing her hit songs!
You let the public know that those fabulous songs still sleigh even in 2015.


In all seriousness I'm OK with the setlist.

[Coelacanth]

I can't even believe people are defending this setlist, especially after there are legitimate meltdowns here when she performs the same songs on her tours (which I find a lot more understandable than this situation). For Christ's sake tho, she NEVER does TV performances. When I became a fan, this was the one thing everybody looked forward to! Her being on TV performing new songs! Not her going on TV to perform 15 year old winter ballads in the middle of summertime!

I hope everyone here knows that I fucking LOVE this woman to death and I'm always giving her the benefit of the doubt, but if this setlist is indeed true then... and it breaks my heart to say this... I think it really is a turning point in my fandom. There seems to not be a shred of spontaneity left in her. Ayumi Hamasaki is streamlined, rehearsed, navel-gazing, pandering, "kid-tested, mother-approved," overly apologetic, self-loathing, self-pitying, and gives entirely too much of a shit about what EVERYONE thinks of her.

I'd take the Colours-era Ayu that was supposedly "running away" over this shit any day.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

I can't even believe people are defending this setlist, especially after there are legitimate meltdowns here when she performs the same songs on her tours (which I find a lot more understandable than this situation). For Christ's sake tho, she NEVER does TV performances. When I became a fan, this was the one thing everybody looked forward to! Her being on TV performing new songs! Not her going on TV to perform 15 year old winter ballads in the middle of summertime!

I hope everyone here knows that I fucking LOVE this woman to death and I'm always giving her the benefit of the doubt, but if this setlist is indeed true then... and it breaks my heart to say this... I think it really is a turning point in my fandom. There seems to not be a shred of spontaneity left in her. Ayumi Hamasaki is streamlined, rehearsed, navel-gazing, pandering, "kid-tested, mother-approved," overly apologetic, self-loathing, self-pitying, and gives entirely too much of a shit about what EVERYONE thinks of her.

I'd take the Colours-era Ayu that was supposedly "running away" over this shit any day.

Ayu goes to a TV special dedicated to artists celebrating their own legacy. Ayu sings only new music, or music only people who bought her albums released after 2002 or so actually know. The random viewer that doesn't care about Ayu aside her hit songs changes channel. The promotion fails.

And this is exactly what would happen, the viewer that doesn't care about Ayu (AKA, most of japanese people right now) wouldn't bother sitting through a show staring a has been washed up grandma (to use the adjectives people apply to her) on a "desperate attempt of being cool and relevant". She is first reminding the public that she why they loved her to, after that, remind them that she still is alive.

There's a pretty clear logic Ayu uses to decide her setlists:

Tours: Tracks from the current album + biggest hits
Because the idea here is presenting and promoting the album to the audience. The public ranges from casual listeners with nothing better to do to hardcore fans.

Countdown: Fan favorites + obscure tracks
CDL is aimed at her fanbase, and because of that she has more freedom on picking tracks that she doesn't perform often or that didn't really get big.

A-Nation : Biggest summer hits + whatever she is promoting at the moment.
It's a festival and there are people there who didn't really went to the event to watch her, so she must be sure to sing stuff people who doesn't really gives two shits about her existence can recognize.

To what context this TV special from the public tv station is more similar? It's not a hard concept to get.

If the general public hyped this release (and there's no marketing strategy that can do that right now), if the general public was even a little bit curious to know how Sixxxxx sounds, that would be a whole different story... But the people who are actually curious about this release already saw previews of it on the tour.

[rainbow_smile]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Ayu goes to a TV special dedicated to artists celebrating their own legacy. Ayu sings only new music, or music only people who bought her albums released after 2002 or so actually know. The random viewer that doesn't care about Ayu aside her hit songs changes channel. The promotion fails.

And this is exactly what would happen, the viewer that doesn't care about Ayu (AKA, most of japanese people right now) wouldn't bother sitting through a show staring a has been washed up grandma (to use the adjectives people apply to her) on a "desperate attempt of being cool and relevant". She is first reminding the public that she why they loved her to, after that, remind them that she still is alive.

There's a pretty clear logic Ayu uses to decide her setlists:

Tours: Tracks from the current album + biggest hits
Because the idea here is presenting and promoting the album to the audience. The public ranges from casual listeners with nothing better to do to hardcore fans.

Countdown: Fan favorites + obscure tracks
CDL is aimed at her fanbase, and because of that she has more freedom on picking tracks that she doesn't perform often or that didn't really get big.

A-Nation : Biggest summer hits + whatever she is promoting at the moment.
It's a festival and there are people there who didn't really went to the event to watch her, so she must be sure to sing stuff people who doesn't really gives two shits about her existence can recognize.

To what context this TV special from the public tv station is more similar? It's not a hard concept to get.

If the general public hyped this release (and there's no marketing strategy that can do that right now), if the general public was even a little bit curious to know how Sixxxxx sounds, that would be a whole different story... But the people who are actually curious about this release already saw previews of it on the tour.

I couldn't agree more. I also want to add to the bolded part: this is why I also think those people who say that Ayu is not the only one who has a say in what she's going to perform on TV are right. TV stations don't want this scenario to happen, too. They want more viewers, so obviously they'll want to control what Ayu sings to a certain extent. Unfortunately Ayu's not in the position where she's popular and everyone will do what she/her team wants any more. In regards to her own career: yes, very likely, but when more parties are involved... Probably not so much any more.

[truehappiness]

Unfortunately, I think she's at the point where if she appears on TV it's going to always be medley-of-old-songs + one new song.

[truehappiness]

TA tour should have a lot of hidden gems in it. Hopefully about as many as PCDL if not more.

[freedreamer]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

TA tour should have a lot of hidden gems in it. Hopefully about as many as PCDL if not more.

Im sure she will sing everything she sang on SONGS too lol

[Coelacanth]

But couldn't "singing the old hits" backfire?

SEASONS is one of those songs that only sounds good in her old voice. The last time she sang it well was Stadium Tour 2002, and it was even a bit rough there. It was AWFUL both times at FNS (the acapella and the most recent rendition), and the "magic" wasn't there at Power of Music, either. She could nail it technically this time, but it doesn't mean she'll nail it emotively.

M and evolution are OK in her current voice, but she sounds exactly the same each and every time she performs either one.

How in the world would Ayu come off "desperate" to be "cool" or "relevant" singing new songs like Step by step, Summer diary, Anything for You, Out of control, Story, NO FUTURE, The GIFT etc. etc.? These songs sound like they could've been released by Ayu in 2004, and not a single person would have thought otherwise. This setlist, on the contrary, is the epitome of desperate, because she's pandering to exactly what the "whitebread" nostalgia-obsessed Japanese audience want. What's worse? "Grandma" getting up to sing a brand new song or "Grandma" getting up to sing a well-known classic, except now it's apparent that she actually sounds like a grandma compared to the old way she used to sing it? Not buying the logic there.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Ayu goes to a TV special dedicated to artists celebrating their own legacy. Ayu sings only new music, or music only people who bought her albums released after 2002 or so actually know. The random viewer that doesn't care about Ayu aside her hit songs changes channel. The promotion fails.

And this is exactly what would happen, the viewer that doesn't care about Ayu (AKA, most of japanese people right now) wouldn't bother sitting through a show staring a has been washed up grandma (to use the adjectives people apply to her) on a "desperate attempt of being cool and relevant". She is first reminding the public that she why they loved her to, after that, remind them that she still is alive.

There's a pretty clear logic Ayu uses to decide her setlists:

Tours: Tracks from the current album + biggest hits
Because the idea here is presenting and promoting the album to the audience. The public ranges from casual listeners with nothing better to do to hardcore fans.

Countdown: Fan favorites + obscure tracks
CDL is aimed at her fanbase, and because of that she has more freedom on picking tracks that she doesn't perform often or that didn't really get big.

A-Nation : Biggest summer hits + whatever she is promoting at the moment.
It's a festival and there are people there who didn't really went to the event to watch her, so she must be sure to sing stuff people who doesn't really gives two shits about her existence can recognize.

To what context this TV special from the public tv station is more similar? It's not a hard concept to get.

If the general public hyped this release (and there's no marketing strategy that can do that right now), if the general public was even a little bit curious to know how Sixxxxx sounds, that would be a whole different story... But the people who are actually curious about this release already saw previews of it on the tour.

This makes perfect sense on paper. I guess I'm just the most disappointed with M and Movin' on without you. She has been pushing Mowy hard since it came out...I remember being surprised that she even did it at CDL. At this point it's like, alright girl...this song is popular, go call RedOne again...

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

Step by step, Summer diary, Anything for You, Out of control, Story, NO FUTURE, The GIFT etc. etc.?

Let's be real though, NONE of those had a chance of making it to this performance except for the sixxxxxx tracks.

[attractive nausea]

Originally Posted by Pieces_of_SEVEN

She has been pushing Mowy hard since it came out...I remember being surprised that she even did it at CDL. At this point it's like, alright girl...this song is popular, go call RedOne again...

The only reason why Movin on without you was "popular", i'd rather say well welcomed among the general public, is because it's a hikki cover, if it was an original Ayu song, people wouldn't have cared. RedOne sure did a good job, but he's def not the reason why the general public liked it and downloaded it.

[Andrenekoi]

^To a lot of people, the simple fact that Ayu is still breathing and releasing music is a sign of desperation in itself.

[RealLight]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^To a lot of people, the simple fact that Ayu is still breathing and releasing music is a sign of desperation in itself.

Harsh ç-ç

Originally Posted by tokyoxjapanxfan

I was interviewed in the waiting area to give a message directly to Ayu. They interviewed me in japanese then asked for an English message. I told Ayu that she has lots of fans in western countries so if she has the chance please perform. You're welcome. Lol

I love you.

[Coelacanth]

I mean, I'm kinda over it already.

All she has to do is slay me with the rest of sixxxxxx and I'll forgive her.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Setlist is real, I was surprised. Felt like a wasted opportunity to me. But her vocals were great for all of them. But granted I was watching it live, and when I watch it back it might sound differently. But I think she did them great. She recorded M and Seasons twice. She wasn't happy with the first time.

I was super close, and it was a really cool experience. Like a private concert for 600 people haha.

They asked us not to share the track list but someone else did so I don't feel so bad :-p

I was interviewed in the waiting area to give a message directly to Ayu. They interviewed me in japanese then asked for an English message. I told Ayu that she has lots of fans in western countries so if she has the chance please perform. You're welcome. Lol