I have been on a weird nostalgia trail yesterday, and bumped into this video. I never really paid too much attention, but rewatching this yesterday, i sort of noticed how GACKT is just, well, GACKT, but Ayu's body language is kind of...over the top?...i dunno how to put it... flir....ty? lol Like she's trying a bit too hard? xD I don't think i've seen her like this during tv or own online appearances:D On Another note it's cool to hear them both speak about each other :)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4p9ou6

if you came to Australia and called Kylie a flop, you would possibly get lynched haha. She is the princess of pop to us and nothing will ever diminish what she has done for the Australian music industry. :love

I think ExodusUK joke was just taken a little to seriously, considering he lives in a country Kylie is top tier celebrity...

But Kylie isn't selling how she used to, neither is Ayu. This is the thing about being an older popstar... New material starts selling less, people end up holding the older material to a higher standart out of nostalgia, sales stop reflecting on how much impact the star have in the industry. And this isn't for no reason... The majoritity of the music market is moved by younger people who have a lot of resistance in consuming stuff made by people old enough to be their parents (or grandparents).

And that's fine. Kylie is a pop legend, Ayu is a pop legend and there's nothing wrong with joking a little about the current state of their careers.

Yeah, Kylie? A flop?:laugh
She isn't popular like she used to be but she does pretty well for an artist in her position. I actually think she is a great example of a respectful professional pop star. The only thing is that she never blew up here in usa. People might know Can't Get You Out of My Head but that's about it.

So flawless here in every way — we love to see it

Once again this year's birthday message to TA members has been updated (seemingly prior to COVID-19)

i'm watching A BEST 2 -WHITE- LIVE TRACK LIST and it includes my name's WOMEN from MY STORY TOUR and holy shit how different her voice is in here.. I think this might be my first time seeing this version and I'm use to watch AT08 if I feel like watching this live. there's only 3 years apart but the change is kinda huge imo

but since I found ayu in 2008, I actually like her 2008 voice better. this is kinda too pure and high-pitched to my ear in 2005 version, I like her voice more raspy and rough like she was after her 10th Anniversary.. I might also feel this way because I have seen her every tour after 2008 but never had that much interest of watching her tours pre-2008! I've seen some but not every one of them so maybe I'm just use to hear her more rough and prefer it for that reason

Both BLUE BIRD and M have over 4m plays on Spotify!

I kinda live for this haircut now. I didn't like it before, but when she rocked it again in 2017 I was living for it. she looks so chic here

I have to disagree. From the US and I could name at least Locomotion and Can't get you out of my head.

The flop comment, I agree, is very out of touch. Kylie Minogue was huge in the early 2000s even in the USA. She was very known in Japan from even the 80s. She even performed on Kohaku. She was on SmapxSmap. Locomotion and I Should be So Lucky were hits in Japan, etc etc etc.

Agreed it was very refreshing for JTB, where as it felt kinda momsy for FIVE lol

Kylie is huge in general but the time she was big was a pretty short one in the US, I think. The singles I can remember are Can't Get You Out of My Head and Love at First Sight that got pretty wide airplay but everything after is a bit of a blur and I'd only have seen them because of international pop forums.

The flop comment probably was mostly a bad attempt at humor more than anything just looking at the reactions of "Kylie is an icon/huge/a legend/etc.".

^probably, but it was bad phrased if it was and if it's the type of "sassy gay comment" I hate.
However, again, the USA is not the center of the world either. Only because she wasn't huge there doesn't make her less of an icon.
But Kylie specific wasn't my point at all, I was rather referring to the overall toxic situation in pop music. everyone who creates and reaches people deserves a little respect. Again, if you don't like a tune or a specific singer just ignore them and don't discredit them.

this is amazing! I don't know how to explain it clearly but her voice seems to be in a very healthy state here; it's not screechy, there is very little resistance(?), and it just sounds very smooth all the way.

I'm also surprised at how boisterous the audience members are! they typically quiet down when the artist starts singing but these definitely aren't :laugh (or are they cheering her on because she's crying at the beginning of the clip?)

This was at Japan Gold Disc Awards, it was the winning encore performance following the wins for Album of the year, artist of the year and song of the year for SEASONS so I guess the fans in attendance were pretty hyped lol

ah that makes more sense. I would definitely have joined in the screaming if I were there :laugh thanks for clarifying!

She sounded so good here. Unfortunately Dome Tour came and her vocal cords started bleeding again. You could hear how she had to literally "squeeze" out her high notes during the TV performances for Dearest which happened after Dome Tour

Would anyone be down for a Concert Recording Megathread? I have a few saved from AT12 and I'd love to hear recordings of songs that got cut from the final shows.

Wow that SEASONS clip got me emotional, the crowd was loving it!

I actually like some of Ayu's recent vocals and how they change the vibe of certain songs, but I don't think she's ever been able to rework SEASONS in a way that works with how her voice sounds now. It just needs to sound light, airy and youthful. Not that she sounds old now, but she's just singing with different experiences. Works great for something like ASFXX, but not SEASONS.

Definitely close to perfection!