I just see hate. God.

Maybe it's time for a Xtina's "Circles" for Ayu.

you do realize that haters go about, band together, and trash together?
It means nothing to have that many dislikes on a page.
(besides, I would dislike myself for that horrible first la-li she sang)

besides that, everything that has to do with music is subjective. People can scream and shout back and forth about who is better in what not, and that just proves that its different to everyone, which makes it subjective.
All the rabble about vocals, compositions, insert random music terminology to make myself look smart here, is meaningless when it comes to music because everyone has different taste in what is good and not.

Claims music is completely subjective -> asks for conventions on writing in another thread.

i really don't see what's so horrible about that performance, she was out of tune for maybe a couple of times, and i heard a yell instead of singing in a couple of parts too but have anyone thought that maybe because she actually TRIED doing the old voice she sounded not that good for most of people, cuz it is NOT how her voice is now. i personally think she did just fine.

Some people's sense of hearing is seemingly spoiled by the full-playbacks of recent number one acts in Japan. This is how a human voice sounds live unless we're talking of extremely experienced and talented opera singers.

Don't have to be an opera singer to sing well live..
There are plenty of singers out there that sing great without playback at all.. so idk what you're talking about. "This is how a human voice sounds live".. Not really. This is just how a bad/damaged human voice sounds live. Not even hating, just being real here.

Any news on magazine covers for Ayu? I certainly hope there are a bunch planned for April...

That video was probably posted at 2ch or something. Unfortunate, but those comments are the reality of most Internet discussions about Ayu. Darn, this thread is going to die before I even start editing in 2013 material, haha.

Well, I was just at a bar with friends last night, we probably met about 5 or 6 other people there?(all Japanese) Someone brought up the subject of FNS and we were talking about the different acts and I swear everyone around me said basically the equivalent of "Can you believe how bad Hamasaki sounded? It was so surprising." So, yeah, its not just 2 channel/forums etc. People are actually talking about it.

i really do believe japan, at this point, is just tired of her.
this happens all the time sadly, which is probably another reason why she doesnt like doing lives much anymore.
She is perfectly content with releasing new music and doing tours. she has a solid fan bases that still go to the concerts and buy her music.
For females also you dont really see a lot of the older artist at the shows like Heyx3, MS, and all the others, they just do the special ones.

I'm not really convinced that most Japanese people would have been positive about her voice even if she was at her 'best' since her voice is so different nowadays.

Just an FYI, I was talking about that video only and not surprisingly, it was linked on 2ch along with articles that said she sucks at singing now as well as a ton of gossip blogs saying the exact same thing. The 2ch thread also has 400+ replies... I probably don't have to read them to know what they say. Something tells me most people who aren't fans and are just casual music listeners remember her voice as what it was in 2000/2001 and probably don't know that it's veeerryyyy different in the present (not that they care, really).

OMG Ayu is a big joke now...it must be hard for her to go on stage with a smile on her face knowing what people are saying and how pitiful her sales are. Hold your head high Ayumi~

I was expecting her FNS performance to be horrible by all the comments, but it wasn't that bad. But it wasn't great either. Oh well, I couldn't care less about TV lives anyway so she can be as bad as she wants to be xD

I actually would like to know more directly what the Japanese comments / people have been saying. I find it interesting to know the reality of the situation. If someone can post translations, that would be appreciated.

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=476

Many people also call her grandmother because of her current voice.

Wow....I never thought I would see the day when she was this disliked..I mean, I know she has been in a decline since her peak but wow. There was never this much animosity surrounding her until now. Yikes.

^
They also call her "Enka singer" lol

Poor Ayu.
I can't imagine how heartbreaking it is to be criticized over your passion.
Question, has Ayu ever admitted that her voice is 'damaged'?
Her voice was brilliant until 2007/2008, which is coincidentally when she also said that she had become deaf in her left ear.
Perhaps she is still having troubles properly hearing herself singing?
I mean, surely the most crucial factor to a great vocal performance is being able to properly hear yourself.

I agree with the people in this thread, and in other threads that have mentioned that Ayu seems to...well, sing awkwardly on TV lives in comparison to her own concerts.

The different vocal conditions in TV and concert settings are probably due to TV shows not adjusting the stage sound to her ears properly(especially shows with 50+ acts simply don't have the time for that). But the public likes to ignore it because it's easier to just bash her for "not being able to sing anymore".

for me this is when her voice was her worst, i can't sit through this concert

Also the shouting/screaming of Together When at CDL is forever seared in my mind.

that's why I don't freak out over her vocals that much because it seems she goes through stages of sucking, then sounds good, sucks, sounds good, sucks, etc. She's just in the suck stage right now, undoubtedly everyone will be freaking out and suspecting her of lipsyncing come Countdown live when she's improved/warmed up.