A question to people living in Japan

[Andrenekoi]

So, fellow members living in Japan =)

Considering some things, like the amount of tour dates she gets, she performing one more day for CDL recently, she taking part on non-Avex festivais seeming to be a big deal (and even headlining the most recent one, and holding 70% of an audience that wasn't 100% made of fans in the first place), etc, it just feels like Ayu actually is regarded as a top performer in Japan, even if people watch her for the sake of bashing her and even if she never were a top dvd seller.

Is this true? How do japanese public sees Ayu as a performer?