http://ameblo.jp/a33188/entry-11125130335.html

Some iPhone pictures from the WOWOW broadcast. High definition stunning!

It seems that the theory is that Ayu cut songs from the 12/30 show [and the 12/31 show as well] due to the late start and timing issues. If flower garden were used in the New Year's show, I think they would have messed up the timing for the countdown.

Same angles from the ustream. Excited for the .ts

Ah I forgot to mention, that 29th and 30th didn't have the NO NO NO parts extended but the 31st did!!!

While I was lining up for goods on the 31st at around 4pm, I heard Ayu rehearse NO NO NO extended parts and then go into Humming.

It's the first ever year all shows of CDL had a different setlist... and maybe timing was a bit off because she had a minute or two before the countdown, but then again, because of all the events in 2011, I wonder if she WANTED to have a mini speech before the countdown...

I think you mentioned that the NO NO NO parts were not extended at the first two dates before, might have been someone else though, cause I was surprised to hear them extended because of it!

Yeah, I read it in all of the early reviews.

I was surprised that they put it in. I guess they wanted to eat up time before the countdown but didn't want to have another song (flower garden)?

The stage actually looks fantastic on still pictures compared with in motion.

http://i.imgur.com/5052n.png

It does look amazing. I wonder if the stage is being reused for the tour though.

Oh yeah, I forgot about flower garden...

haha I'm kinda happy it wasnt there :shrug

I think she planned to extend NO NO NO (that's why she rehearsed it, and also because she knows fans enjoy it a lot) and she also planned to not sing flower garden.

You guys can see from all of Ayu's past CDLs they are ridiculously timed to the tee with always something like 30 seconds till the countdown when she stops mid song, this time wouldnt be any different. We do live in an age where theres lots of programming behind the scenes and stuff.

What annoys me about that is...her delays of 10-15 minutes are apparently also planned.
Though one thing that IS possible: If they run late they can leave songs out. The screen and lights programming is usually done song for song so if you run late and you know you have one song that's say... 4:37min long you can start 4:37min later and leave that one out. So maybe flower garden was that "safety song".

Will Peco be back? =((((

Yeah, I'm wondering - WHERE'S PECO???

Japanese fans said Peco and Gomi have both graduated from the troupe. And a RT of a tweet from Peco said she was in NYC I think, East 53rd street or something, sounded like a NY street.

So Gomi's gone. He was my favourite dancer :/
Timmy seems to have replaced his role on the stage. Visually, at least, while providing some vocals.

i wonder if we will ever get the DL link for WOWOW version?

kyaaaa can't wait for WOWOW version!!

I wonder if there will be two different DVD's: one for CDL and other for arena tour
?

If Peco really won't come back, a big part of Ayu's show dies for me :/

I always loved Peco's singing, her high-kicks, her laugh, her outfits xD, her giant hairstyles etc ._.

And where is Ayu's drummer Nobuo Eguchi??? I miss him as well ;_;

Peco has her own career you know...she was never really a BIG part of Ayu's shows.

of course there'll be two different :shakehead

^Cdl03-04 and At04 have only 1 DVD: AT03-04

^thanks~Really good to save money :D

Not really, we only got one concert for that. We did not get CDL0304 at all, only a date from the 2004 leg. It's no money saving when there's only one concert.

^ I meant: we only have to buy 1DVD/Blu-ray instead of 2 = more money to spend in other releases~:)

maybe is not bad idea if ayu decide to not put on DVD this Countdown, and go straight for an HLS 2012 DVD/Blu-ray

im only praying for the tracks of FIVE fit in a very good way on the HOTEL LOVE SONG concept
because i don't liked how "virgin road" and "Moon" breaked the RnRtour concert concept last year.

Awww sad that Peco's gone and Nobuo Eguchi - how's her new drummer?

mi|kshake~

Why wouldn't they put CDL11-12 on a DVD? They had all those cameras at the concert, they put so much work into it, it wouldn't make logical sense for them not to release it on DVD. At 5000+ yen a DVD, and they sell what, 50,000 or so (I have no idea, what are the past DVD sales like?), I'd think avex would want that money in their pockets. :yes

I am totally devo that Gomi is gone, he's my fake dancer husband!! :(

It isn't so much that if they will or not... it's whether or not the DVD or Blu-ray will be stand alone or if it will be bundled with the tour HOTEL Love songs instead of being on its own since both are titled HOTEL Love songs.

CDL03-04 and AT03-04 doesn't really count since CDL03-04 WAS AT03-04. The first tour dates for AT03-04 were essentially on 12/30 and 12/31. The show was slightly different with some different hair and a song or two but basically it was the same.

I wish they'd have kept RAINBOW in the final tour date though.... it'd have been amazing!

If they kept to the same layout of the track lost but only removed songs, I don't see why we couldn't have only one. Certainly RAINBOW could be swapped out and that whole Sparkle section as well...that felt like it was clearly just for the CDL. The rest, pre-Sparkle definitely already have the Hotel thing going on.

here's a little digest I made for this countdown to show my friends if anyone's interested since my last digest made it here, nothing to flash and hope avex doesn't find this one. Hate doing the copyright thing and thanks to Aderianu for the ustream rip

http://youtu.be/S2Jkh5MHeNA
(sorry I dont know how to do the youtube window thing)

Nice job!! :yes

i love these kind of things. XD

I do hope they don't find it, it's a really nice little digest!

Great for anyone who just wants a sneak peek.

She kinda was :shakehead

^It's great that you enjoyed it! Your post reminds me of my trip to Tokyo last year. I went to her CDL both on Dec 30 and 31! :D It was such an awesome experience to me, so I know what you mean. :)

Today Peco, tomorrow Shuya!

I'm sorry but I can't wait 'till he graduates, he's being used way too much, and frequently in repetitive roles, both in PVs and concerts.

hmm Ayu's voice kinda hurt my ears nowadays but I like how beautiful you are, really

Has anything been said about Peco from ayu?

Can you explain why? Is it her timbre, her vibrato, her support? Cause objectively speaking her live vocals in CDL1112 were possibly the best of her career, at least some of her best, so I'm always surprised when people dislike it.

I have mixed feelings about Shuya, last year I really disliked him but when I was watching CDL 11-12 and saw that Peco was gone I grew towards him (sortof). It's just that he's part of ayu's shows and he will be part of it forever, It would be strange if he was dismissed from the performance team.

I don't like his dancing or something just his presence.

^Haha, yeah I am kinda "used to" Shuya's presence, to the extent that's more than Peco's presence.

I like her voice less especially live these days too, but it's been like that for a little while. compared to when her voice was the most pleasing/interesting to my ears (up till around MY STORY I suppose), the change is mostly in timbre, but that's connected to the technique as well. She sounds older now, less clear and bright, like her thoat is dry half of the time, making her sound like she screams or at least rather "harsh" in many places. She also has volume control issues, even though it seems like her mic technique is fine to me live. THis could be related to her deaf ear though. Other changes related to her probably overworking her voice earlier in her career, singing in a way that's not really good for her voice (don't know who came up with the super high pitched helium voice (someone in avex?), but the difference between her early ASFXX lives and Idol on stage performances and later is pretty big) and smoking..

I technically don't mind that she misses out on a few notes here and there live, she's been doing that since LOVEppears, but the way she sounds now it doesn't sound cute anymore.

I really like how she sounds on Love Songs fully processed studio album. But she hardly ever sounds like that live.

I liked her vocals a lot for CDL 11-12.. I feel she didn't have as many pitch problems as in the past.. although I've never thought her vocals were terrible, I really did enjoy her singing for the CDL, thought it was the best she's sung all year :)

mostly her timbre. she sounds like screaming than singing. that is quite annoying. i like her vibrato tho. I also like her soft voice like in Stadium Tour 2002. NEXT LEVEL tour was Ok for me but this CDL 11-12 really annoys me much same like CDL 02-03

This surprises me. Since she just recently learned how to support her voice properly while belting to me it sounds like she is NOT screaming anymore while all her belts 2002-2009(to some extent 2010, too) were pure, uncontrolled screams to me(I hated most of her belts in that era, she just...shouted).
She does however have problems with the dynamics, common for someone who recently learned how to belt properly, she has yet to learn to control them in power instead of staying on one power level so when she goes from normal, less supported vocals to her belts there is a big gap in dynamics right now.

yep agree with you~
CDL11-12 is the best vocal as of now.
she didn't sound like struggling during hitting the high notes. it just went quite smoothly.

to my mind her best vocal is 2004-2007
2010 is her worst for vocals. NL ARENA TOUR my ears were bleeding :thud
CDL10-11 was like wtf in terms of vocals. I watched it not in recorded DVD, but without any edit at all. and it was really horrible.
2011 nice vocal for FIVE but not the best vocals of her career -live-. honestly :yes

I agree with anyone who says about dry throat. yes, yes:rolleyes
and screaming. it-is-very-true:)


THIS :yes:D


I will miss Gomi, he was fun, but if Peco & Shuya are gone part of me will be glad :tipsy

Sorry guys, I was wondering if Ayu had ever released that song from the encore, the one in which you can hear "are you ready?" or something like this ...

She did. It is part of the Never Ever Single. Track 3 Seasons (H-H Remix).

Really? I didn't knew!

From KMC!

mpeg 8.66G

I can't post the links or even the link to the topic it's forbidden by their rules, I post this just in case anyone is registered there and wants to download ^^

46parts =.="
is rehosting/sharing of the files uploaded by them forbidden too?

That file is MPEG2 720x480 SD quality. Might be disappointing if you expected HD or something.

http://i.imgur.com/ZC7Ai.jpg

No it's not. Hotlinking only is forbidden!

seems last hour is PVs...

Yes, "Hamasaki Ayumi Music Video Collection" was shown for a hour after the concert ended. If I recall correctly, don't they always do this in the TV versions?

@kinix: You are free to repackage the file and upload after download, as long as credit is given. Direct copy from another source is strictly forbidden.

I cut last part with PVs
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/2...20112012tv.jpg
began upload it, but it'll take much time... at least 7 hours. I'm sure someone will post it before me



sending mail video. almost all angles are the same %)
http://vkontakte.ru/video1358601_161720807

there is a mp4 version of 1,37GB at jpopsuki... is the quality worse or better than the 6GB one, Aderianu?

^I think this mp4 converted from ustream flv

Does anyone know if CDJapan will have the CDL goods?

I enjoyed certain parts of the concert, but I REALLY miss just classic ayu performances. NO background singers, just ayu and the band. Smh even the dancers kinda get on my nerves sometimes. They're OK for some upbeat songs, but ayu should be more focused on

I would have pretty loved this setlist! CDL never betrays!

CDJ only has some PoM Goods and that how long after the release? Xd

I'm still waiting for yesasia to get the goods, I want a pink cushion, purple phone strap, some chou-chous and the ayupans. At least. XD

They should be getting the goods in the next few days since mu-mo is going to put them on sale tomorrow/today in Japan.

It's WAY worse than 6GB version or 2414MB .mkv verision by Aderianu.

There is a 1920x1080 HD mp4 version available now too.

I am blind o.o Were did you found it?

^ KMC :yes

Ah now I found it xD
I searched for a seperate thread xD

By the way isn't there any HQ pic of these outfits ? We usually get some, don't we ?

Usually that is reserved for tour finales only and a-nation.

Oh... Because I have some pretty HQ pics of I am @ CDL ~future classics~... I'llwait for the DVD booklet then x)

Someone comment about PARTY QUEEN on my youtube video.
anyone can translate??

I've been an Ayu fan for a long time, but…honestly, this song and "how beautiful you are" are the most boring Ayu songs I've ever heard!
This is the first time in my whole life I've been so disappointed with her new songs. I wasn't expecting great things from the composer of BRILLANTE, but I never thought I would be this let down.
People have different tastes but, more than anything else, the good things about Ayu's music aren't here, nor do the melody/harmony have any sort of impact. I'm seriously disappointed…
The person that came up with such a hopeless song shouldn't be called a composer! Fire him!
It's a good thing this wasn't released as a single. I'm really hoping for more material by veteran composers on the next album. :(


/end translation

Ugh! How anyone can hate Timmy's work is just a mystery to me!

:yes

Plus, we only have live versions for these 2 songs, we can expect a better quality (in terms of vocals and clearness of the music/arrangements) with the upcoming studio versions, right ?

It's quite simple. Even though BRILLIANTE was epic, the two new songs are mediocre at best. how beautiful you are does lack a strong melody and it's very repetitive.

Wow.. i just started watching the countdown live... and um... just finished watching Happening here...

um... I really shouldn't saying anything because its not nice... lol..

But... Timmy... WHAT ARE YOU WEARING AND DOING????

Besides that, my thoughts so far, I have to agree that it feels totally un organized and not planned... but I think the reason why is because there are SO many people on the stage for that one song...

I don't like it... lol.
But I also feel like she has taken elements from the last tour tours (rock in rool and POWER) and last countdown and combined them into one show...

I hope it gets better... So far the only think that i can say i liked the most was the very beginning...
again....
again.
again

It's not that hard to figure out. I really don't like his contributions so far, none actually. Some people don't like him because he's kinda responsible for the 'change' in her music style; BRILLANTE.



/Timmy rant

^ totally agree with the rant... I liked the man for that one song, but.. blah.. as of right now I do not care fore him very much... he's too out there...

I would also like to see maybe another colab with JUNO... the song was pretty good and he is a great sight for the eyes.. lol

Some posts about Timmy just seem homophobic. Stuff like "Why does he have to dress like a dragqueen?"
Seriously AHS? No niveau left?

Also, he's her new back-up singer, one of the 3 new ones, and people will just have to deal with that. Once someone is a fixed member of Ayumi's staff they tend to stay for some time, especially multi-talented ones like Timmy.
What's so bad about him singing backings anyways? She needed male back-up signers for some time and he is a very good vocalist with a voice that harmonizes very well with Ayumi's. The same can be said about Peco(except for the gender obviously) who unfortunately left, so the comparisons to her are somewhat compliments rather than insults...

You shouldn't post like this, all acting like you know EVERYTHING. I would be stupid to join an forum with a lot of gay people if I was an homophobic person, you really are disturbingly annoying.

Its not homophobic, but is just out of place. This is not Lady Gaga, this is ayumi hamasaki. He can dress as a drag queen for Sparkle, Happening Here, Party Queen. But dressing like that for MOON or fated is a big NO.

^^^ actually I don't think I agree with you...

Backup singers are just that... backup... I could hear him to well while Ayu was singing and the backup singers are not suppose to overpower the main singer..., which i feel he did every time they were on stage together...

I like him in his song, but not as a back up singer... and I don't think Ayu needed any male back up singers... i don't think her voices fits well with the deepness of it..

As for the dressing like a drag queen... although i did not make that remark i feel like a statement like that is NOT homophobic... there really is no reason to dress like that unless the role he is playing is called for it... the fact that he was the only one dressed like that just is out of placed.
And further, i don't think he is dressed like a drag queen... he is just... a mess.

^ That is not neccessarily supposed to be that way, it probably isn't actually. It was the live stream, those are not mixed properly yet and his voice will probably be much quieter on the DVD, it's always like that with the TV versions, the back-ups and instruments always overpower Ayumi at times because they are not mixed correctly yet. In CDL0910 there were parts of I Am... we could barely hear Ayu's voice, in CDL0708 Peco overpowered Ayumi all the time...both things were fixed for the DVDs.

First of all: pot calling the kettle black. You state almost every opinion you have as fact and THEN call somebody else out for similar things?
Secondly: I wrote "seem", suggesting that it's likely but not neccessarily so.

Asking "why does he have to dress like a dragqueen" ALWAYS will make you seem homophobic, just saying :innocent And there are Ayumi fans who insulted her for releasing Lady Dynamite and GREEN because they called it "disgustingly gay" and "horrible to promote such a lifestyle" so yes, there ARE homophobic Ayumi fans and some have been(still are?) on this forum so sorry for getting to that likely thought from your post. Maybe just learn to state things a different way? If you write "why is he dressing like a dragqueen" without giving additional information (you could have just said it's out of place in the concert instead of making a general statement and it would have been fine and understandable as such) you suggest there is something wrong with the fact that he is dressing up as a dragqueen at all(which he isn't even doing, he's dressing androgynously)

Also, I refused to be educated by you out of all people on this forum, your post was just plain rude and so are most of them, moreso than the one you replied to since I at least did not act like I'm above anyone else while you seem to think you know me. And you even insulted me.


About it being out of place for songs like MOON: He was standing in the background amongst the back-up singers and the only reason people paid attention was that the camera focused on him sometimes, which is not his fault. I can see how people would find it out of place but I think him standing in the background and not doing anything to attract attention himself is enough to make it ok. I would also note again that I'm fine with people finding his outfit out of place in the concert, it only bugged me how it was expressed in that one post(which turned out to not mean what I thought it did either so now the only problem I have left is the snappy, rude response I got xD)

Just got past the part with Evolution and I thought she sounded amazing... it looks like those voice lessons she took paid off HUGE!

WRONG x 2 :no.

About the dragqueen part, in my eyes he dressed up like one, obviously otherwise I wouldn't say that. What you are stating is not a fact at all! At my work (in an hotel) we deal a lot with dragqueens and a lot resemble Timmy's look from CDL. So from my point of view that statement about that it's a fact that he was not dressed like that is completely invalid. :) I quote Wikipedia: "A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining."

You could PM me with this, so we could work it out privately, why would you talk about your experience with me on this forum publicly? A bit trashy if you ask me. And my posts aren't rude, sure the ones to you have been rude, but that's because of reasons I would love to share with the rest, but I am not like that.

It's funny that it's always the two of us who keep running into each other. Out of the 9/10 times we are discussing we end up talking about everything besides the topic.

evolution was my fave song this time! It really paid off yes :yes

ok, today i am totally loving everything you say. :yes

people who have issues with timmy based on his actions or how he appears really bother me. thinking he should dress as a man only is really narrow minded. i guess i would just expect more of Ayu fans...i mean, can't we be a LITTLE open-minded?

i've seen quite a few fans being homophobic about timmy, and even though someone denies that they are homophobic, it doesn't make it so. i think people are bothered by his "gayness" but they don't want to admit it.

i think timmy is fantastic. :yes

anyway, he's here to stay for a while, so everyone better get used to it.

There is gay and there is beyond gay which can be annoying even to me and I am gay so I can hardly be discriminating against my own kind. I don't mind the guy really, he isn't even a bad back-vocal. I just don't think the last two songs he's made were that good. I am alright with him doing her back vocals, but I don't think he should meddle with every aspect of Ayu's career.

Im just in here to say, I absolutely love Timmy, but I'm not big on the songs.

They DO have melodies that never really climax in any way...which, I guess is his style. It's a fine song, just not one I'd listen to because the melody isn't for me.


And, maybe we see him a lot, but uh, that's completely Ayu's fault :shrug, so if you guys are going to blame anyone, you need to blame her O_o

It's her career, not Timmy's.

oh, and I think he always looks great. He doesn't "dress like a drag queen." He dresses like Timmy. And anyone who doesn't like it can go suck it.

I personally quite like Timmy and couldn't care less if he was gay, straight, bisexual, loved animals, whatever. It's none of my business. However, i really wasn't a fan of his look in the CDL and i found his over acting kinda irritating in some of the performances. I wasn't thinking it in a homophobic way and neither (I don't think) were the other posters, i just thought it looked kinda out of place.

I'm not pointing fingers, but i feel like some people are being a bit over sensitive and i think that instantly jumping the the homophobic conclusion is a bit extreme=/.

Someone said if you deny being homophobic it doesn't make it so. But it works the other way too, just because you claim someone is homophobic, it doesn't make them so.

Just my two cents.

Sorry if this post is a bit incoherent, i'm never great at writing my opinions.

^ you are amazing... I agree with you.
I love Brillante and I think TImmy has talent, but what he did for countdown live was just... blah... He looked and felt out of place for me.

As for the actual concert, just heard music... and I don't know about you... but that. was. AMAZING!

I never claimed anyone actually was homophobic, people took my post out of context instead of simply taking it literally as it was supposed to. I wrote some comments SEEM(it's the most important word in the sentence yet the one always ignored...) homophobic, not that the posters actually are homophobic, it can just as easily just be a non-ideal way of phrasing it that made it seem homophobic to me. And with that I wasn't solely talking about the poster above me but about many things about Timmy I have read on here, on youtube and on other forums. While some focus purely on his work some name completely unneccessary things against him and stand out to me or phrase them in a way that makes them stand out to me.
Though there definitely are homophobes on this forum, I have not called anyone that has posted on this page one and claiming anything else is a lie.

Sorry to be rude, but some stuff posted here is just plain stupid.

People acting as Timmy dressed the way he did cuz the wanted it are being stupid... The same kind of stupid as people complaining about how Peco dressed.

U know... They don't were those stuff on their daily lifes... They don't pick their own clothes and say "oh, maybe this big hair and that drag lipstick will be great at this concert" on the last 10mins before getting on stage. They look the way they do because there was a chosen artistic direction, that included outfits, directing them this way. If they sang like this or like that, if they danced, if they did high kicks, if they acted gay, it's all part of the concert direction, not a personal choice they did based on their tastes.

Blame the director, blame the art director, blame the choreographer, blame Ayu that aproved everything, cuz blaming people who are there on stage following a script they didn't contributed to is just plain stupid.

Ok, end of rant :P

I'm just tired of reading about Timmy. Time to make a new thread. Let's keep Timmy out of it and I will be the happiest girl in the whole wide world.

^ my problem with that is that Timmy's outfit is so drastically different from everyone else makes me think he asked to dress like that.
Which in turn, if ayumi approved that, than blah for her... but blah for him because it was his idea...

If he had nothing to do with that choic and was forced to wear that outfit then i feel deeply sorry for him, lol, because it is horrible...

just a personal opinion. But if you ever have been on a stage you know nothing goes 100 % as planned, so to say that every kick was planned for is a little naive.

"...don't matter if you're rich, poor, boy, girl, straight, gay [...] give it up for the Queen Ayumi Hamasaki and HOTEL Love songs"

Some people need to stop complaining about EVERYTHING and start to listening, actually, Ayu's lyrics ._.

Edit: I'm the #500 lol