She started early, and yep, Ayu looked frustrated by that, but overall the performance wasn't that bad. I almost expected her to be wearing a headset mic, but she seems to be doing good after her surgery! ^^

@ Emiko: for me, none of the MW performance on TV was really that great, although I rather like the ones performed at the AT. I dunno how much you can judge my ears though...

I actually don't find the vocals to be that bad. Compared to the Days performance vocals, it wasn't great, but it's not any worse than her other MW lives.

here is one you can watch in HQ and you can hear them asking if ayu is ok at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ZH0jijEgo

I think it was a really good performance considering her hand problem, good wor
k ;)
is it just me or she was singing really fast at the ending?

wow... cool outfit!

Since ayu is probably tired , her hand problem, and probably is nervous to open for kouhaku, I don't want to think negative about this performance even those it was horrible. I will just consider it a "Kouhaku special version of Mirrorcle world" lol!

i really didnt think it was bad...compared to April08 when she sang MW, it's definitely better....
and I also didnt noe she sang early..I tot they edited MW such that there is a gap.. O.O
and it sounded quite cool...
I watched on TV and Ayu ddint seem like...fussed by it...

now that i wathced it on youtube...I see her earlinesss HAHAHHA...probbaly too excited...and MW's instrumental really sounds the same! with all those marching beats....

and red team losing is definitely NOT ALL Ayu's fault...you may have to see Ai's Ai performance, Mika's ORION which were diffinitely a down moment in the atmosphere...

lol, there's some positive thinking. :)

i liked the perf but she sounded pretty bad imo :( i loved her hair and her dress, not so much her second outfit!

thank yoooou!!



EDIT: OMG wait!! did ayu take out her tattoo?!?!?!?!?! OMGGGGGGGGGGG....

No, I don't think so. I think the NHK might have requested Ayu to cover the tattoo because some guys of the NHK don't like it...

ohhh ok lol

i thought she always covers it with makeup.... weird

I have to agree. I loved how happy and enthusiastic she looked. She really does seem to love and have a true passion for performing for people. :) However, the vocals were the absolute worst part. Of course, the ending was a bit better, with the kono mamaa part, as someone else has mentioned. Because it's easier for her to sing. Mirrorcle World is always kind of a hard song to sing live. SHe did a great job though! Just poor vocals :P

Lol I'm glad she didn't use her vibrato as much too. Although I feel it could've maybe added a little something special to the song and performance, and her team might've won. ;)

woooww....
good perform :luv2:luv2

yesterday i watched on TV...
the singing was ok as some parts were out..
but the performance was awesome...
Ayu seems to be very nervous as she's the first to sing...
but the tape that cover her tattoo was really a spoiler..
why bother to cover it if some guy(s) at Kouhaku dislikes it...

I didn't think it was that bad!!! To tell you the truth, I really am not a big fan of Mirrorcle World... but honestly I don't think that it was that bad. And her mistake was not even that big in the beginning. I do wish that she would have chosen to sing GREEN instead though... あゆちゃん、頑張れ～!!

LOL at the "daijobu desu?" at the last part! go ayu~! thanks for the links.

Love the outfits!!<3
Vocal-wise, this is imo the best MW live performance. Her vibratos were much more well-controlled, though I don't really like her raspy-ness.
Lyric mess-up? Deaf ear? Injured arm?
Couldn't tell. At all. Really. (:
Like many have said, energetic performance, great start for Kouhaku! I love how she seems to love performing!
(The audience didn't seem to enthusiastic however. /: Is it cos of the perf or some this-is-Kouhaku-traditional-Japanese-yadda-we-have-to-be-polite-only-clapping thing? Anyone knows the reaction of the audience for other performances?)

EDIT: I just watched Koda's TABOO. The audience were also rather unenthu, save for a fan or too. -.- WHERE'S YOUR SPIRIT PPL?!
Okay screw this. Just watch Tohoshinki and hear those fangirl screams. Another point to add for the post below. -.- (Just to clarify: screams when they were introducing themselves individually, none, as far as I can tell, after the perf)

EXACTLY!
I mean, fangirls tend to be crazier, and with all the boybands (Tohoshinki, SMAP, Tokio) and Mr Children (who sells like crazy), it's really difficult to say it's 100% fair.

oh i really love her outfits :P

Ayu looked amazing in this performance. Both costumes were lovely and TBH I barely noticed the early start until the backing vocals ran. I would've thought that they would've caught on and done backing early too but whatever, MW actually sounds good with the extra gap between verse and chorus too!

Ayu's choreography was really cool, her ninja kicks were awesome and I'm glad she didn't show the pain in her hand too much. Thinking about it, her hand must've killed holding the mike and waving it around, let alone the jumping she did, she probably started early because she lost concentration =| Overall this was a really good live.

If the girls team was simply just better, they would have won. period. The girls team won several times in the past and Johnny's Entertainment existed then too.

WAh ! her outfit 's so awesome ! i think it's the best " mirrocle world " 's costume ! thanks for video .

I'm just glad she did it :D

I love her big leopard dress. A pretty nice performance.

Yes, I agree.
But the white team has the advantage of having more fans.
And as much as I hate to say this, Ayu isn't as popular as she used to be a few years back. This, and the fact that she's one of the bigger (biggest?) names in the red team.
And I can't say anything about the girls' team being "better" or not - I've not watched any of the white team's performances.

I'm not saying that it's because of the fans that the white team keeps losing. It's just that it gives the white team an advantage over the red.

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/3949/ayuaz4.png
Ayumi Hamasaki kicks off NHK’s Red and White Singing Contest on Wednesday night. Hamasaki had surgery for her injured right hand last week and her appearance on the show was in doubt right up until the last minute.

source: japantoday

Last minute? :O That explains the performance and the patch...

lol :) so hot ^^

last minute?? .....
o... and white team probably won b/c some of the old singers many people haven't seen them in ages my mom told me......
everyone was excited for some singers that they hadn't seen in like forever..... and I guess the red team are people many people have seen some what times...

Those reminds me of the painkiller skin patch my father used last year, when he suffered from cancer. :( Poor woman! She must have been in serious pain if that's the case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transdermal_patch

Nice dress.
But everything else was lame.

REALLY lame.

In those pics, why is her tattoo all covered up with bandages? o.O

A transdermal patch!!? No wonder why she was a bit kind of rushed - all because the NHK requested her to cover that "heart" tattoo...

just wondering.. on which part of her hand exactly she got her surgery.. I don't see any wounds..

Has this been posted before? It's the kouhaku ratings.


Ayu nearly got the lowest out of the entire show, only some random enka singer got 1% lower than her. Since she starts off the show...shouldn't her ratings be somewhat higher <_< I remember last year they were pretty bad too.

I remember somebody saying the ratings at the beginning are always low. Maybe some people were late getting home and missed the start or they don't care to see Ayu live.

Why are there patches on her shoulder? Unless I'm mistaken they're where her tattoo is. Don't tell me she put those on to hide her tattoo.. it doesn´t look very subtle.