OMG she looks adorable. Leaving Japan. https://twitter.com/ayu_19980408/sta...769152/photo/1

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that color on her so much!

i really hope this is a start of a new and better era for her with the changes she's making.

That's your opinion.... just like how I found them shitty is mine. And actually, it can, if you think about it. They have to fit her in the costumes/props, work out the costume changes (the one year she changed three times in less than 4 minutes), just like CDL. Surely that isn't a one day affair, and the days leading up before CDL are the most crucial. And when she's falling from exhaustion and breaking bones.... luckily Ayu isn't a wimp and toughed through all of that... but she did have to cancel MUSIC STATION. A day later and that could've EASILY been CDL being canceled instead. So if giving up the prestigious Kohaku can give her the tiniest bit of relief, even if she's focusing on CDL, that's fine with me.

too bad

I guess I'll miss her big dresses on Kouhaku, but other than that, they've been pretty much the same routine for a while. She doesn't even have any "new" popular songs to promote with if she did go lol

I just hope she can hold concerts outside of Japan and with a lower budget, so she can cut back on all her dancers and Timmy's drag outfits :)

Back to basics, ayu!

They should revamp Kohaku anyway. The event is so fossilized at this point. But I guess that's just a reflection of the fossilized music scene in Japan these days. It used to be you could actually watch exciting acts. Now it's just an endless parade of Johnny's and girl bands.

I'll miss seeing her performance every Jan 1st. :(

Good, time to leave things of yesteryear behind.

Phew! I thought she was taking an extended break or something!!

recent CDL are so much better than her past...big budget and looks like her real yearly tour...

it's sad to not see her on Kouhaku anymore...its a very presticious event...i hope she will make a come back maybe 4-5 years from now.

We will see what she will bring for us next year

I think it's not as prestigious as before ! The concept is aging and brings nothing to the performers in terms of sales or exposure since years ... and for Ayu since even longer than the newcomers ! In fact I saw it coming since the last Kohaku lol In addition she is not really relevant since several years now she played there only because she had some sort of "obligation" but considering she barely made any TV appearance since 2010 she must be pretty fine with this decision ^^

What is more impressive is how this new is covered by the journalists ...

I hope she can atleast appear on this year's Music Station Super Live for her new single. Kouhaku is fine. But not promoting her upcoming single is probably worse :(

Somehow I feel she's done with performing on TV. Not that she's done that a lot lately...so nothing will essentially change. This is something we've lived with for a while now.

I loved her performances there, especially for the outfits (Dearest's bird cage, progress's big dress hiding the dancers or even last year gold throne were amazing) but it's ok if she doesn't want to do it anymore.

However, what bothers me is that this year she just took things off from her works. Promotion, TV performance, (Peco and Shuya, XD) Introduction/interlude from album, PV (even if maybe there is at least one PV for the next single, right?), and now this.

Probably I have to try to be positive and remember that she added american collaborations and a new fashion designer (and I really like what he did until now) that is cool but I can't help to notice what I said.

(This transition toward LA is worrisome too, though. I hope that she can manage to keep her quality up - and her interest for her works - even if she is on the other side of the globe...)

I don't think moving to LA will affect her songs, she had already recorded plenty of things outside Japan... iirc NEXT LEVEL was recorded at LA and then RnRCircus at London, and kept on doing it once in a while in later works. As long as she feels comfortable with the staff around her, I'm good :)

I wonder why they decided not to invite her if its true?

Though a bit sad, I'm glad she is not performing as she can dedicate her time to pulling off a great CDL.

I guess it's still prestigious... But she did it for a decade and a half already, so, she already used all the prestige it gave her! :P

Her latest CDLs have been amazing, and I hope this years will be even better. Having more time to prepare, not having to rush to the venue... All those things will collaborate for an even better experience.
I actually loved Kouhaku and her performances there, even though they were nothing new. There was always the excitement to see what she was going to wear, the song she was going to sing, the dance routines (of the dancers, obviously) and all of this happening on Jan 1st made everything even more special.
But she's gotten to a point in her career that she should do whatever she feels like it's more important. I'm gonna miss her Kouhaku performances, but if she understands that there are more relevant things for her, I totally respect her decision.

At first I was dissapointed, but thinking again about it... do we really need another Surreal-Evolution-Surreal performance? Do we need another Inspire one? Another M performance maybe?

No. She keeps singing the same songs over and over on TV, so if she wants to leave these kind of compromises and do what she really wants, lets her do it.

I consider Ayu quite an intelligent person, so if she is making this movement on her carrer, she's got something on her mind. Let's wait and enjoy what comes next...

Check out her latest tweets :O She sounds so serious and independent