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StarTalk interview
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She really loves that top, doesn't she?
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Want to watch the whole show..
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http://ent.tvb.com/enews/56d020246db...c000004#page-1
You need to be in HK or have Hola in your browser to watch it.. |
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^ Doesn't work for me! :( And isn't Hola unsafe?
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^ It can be any other VPN that has HK region, doesn't have to be Hola. Though any free VPN (and some payed ones) have security and privacy issues...
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Interviewer: "What do you want to say to all of your fans in the world?"
Ayu: *proceeds to talk only about Asian women* lol @Aderianu: thank you so much for the link by the way! Do you mind if I share the video in Ayu group on VK? |
Her answer about having privacy, private time and "Ayu vs. Ayumi Hamasaki" is the complete opposite from the CNN interview...she's accepted that she isn't going to get it and doesn't give a fuck anymore.
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This was a nice interview to watch. She seemed more like herself versus those videos of her and Alvin Goh schmoozing it up...
After all these years, the one thing that remains the same about Ayu is that even on her days off, she says she still prefers to work LOL Also lol nice that her husband was there watching and had a few things to say about her being fashionable even at home XD |
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Anyway is it me or she said she still writes music, though just as a pass-time? It gave me some sort of sweet feeling, even if I could be wrong about it too. |
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I think she meant that she writes lyrics? Though she might be writing music, too. I think sometime around Rule/Sparkle release she said that she wrote some music but in the end it was never released because avex didn't think it was good enough? |
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I liked her answer about music and how she prefers to stay true to herself by making the music she wants to make and not making the music people expect her to make ...
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About writing music now I'm 99% sure: she said "I write music OR lyrics", so she should refer to composing. Unluckily, I never read the thing you're talking about, but when she made the shoot for BAZAAR's 25th Anniversary I think she said something like composing is her favourite part of making a song but she doesn't do it anymore because it makes her feel bad for some reason I don't remember (sorry: I read the interview only once and I was in a really bad mood). Maybe it's related to what you said... she didn't take it too good when she was fired by COLUMBIA Nippon (if I remember the name correctly), and it would be a pretty similar situation, though many years have passed and Ayu went through changes. I didn't mean writing music at a professional level, anyway. I'd love a comeback from my favourite composer, but as an hard-dying pessimist I prefer not to think about such a thing at all. I feel pretty intrusive saying it since it's her private life, but I had that sweet feeling because I find it lovely that she still amuses herself with songwriting. Spoiler:
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I'm not sure about the music part, I'm unfortunately unable to rewatch the video, and I don't remember it word-by-word. I would love for CREA to make a comeback as well... I think she just doesn't feel confident about her composing skills. |
She said word for word that when people give her off time she still prefers to do her work "writing songs or lyrics" so yeah maybe one day she will share some of these with us I hope so ...
I'm happy because I'm not fluent but I understand nearly everything she says she has really make great progress since the CNN's interview back in 2006 she sound pretty natural now not perfect yet she doesn't need a translator anyway the principal is to be understood =) |
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As I said, she went something like "Write music or lyrics", so maybe she still has some fun writing something to play with the keyboard or the piano, but even if as I said CREA is my favourite composer, I understand her if she's not sure about her skills. Also, composing at a professional level must be so hard. I mean, even if I'm not really into music as an art to make (in other words I just listen to it), I sometimes try to think about a new melody but I always end up realizing it's actually a song I already know. Writing poems is just so much easier to me (then, of course, we must see how much Ayu and I differ on this point of view) EDIT: mizuki seemingly confirmed me while I was writing |
While her English has improved she is far from being fluent.
Kind of disappointed she didn't know whether they speak Cantonese or Mandarin, but oh well. Also she keeps avoiding answering stuff about her private life which is ok. The thing that annoys me is that she keeps answering in a very politcal, generalized way. With so many words she has said so little. I am not sure whether it's intentional or just the lack of ability to fully converse in English. It doesn't seem like she is being very honest tbh, but just trying to say the right things. |
To me it felt like she can't really explain herself or fully understand what she is asked (since there's no Japanese translator at all this time), even though she improved in English, she might have answered differently to some stuff if she would be interviewed in Japanese. It seemed kinda awkward but very cute! I might be wrong though. I mean she is asked about fans around the world and answers about asian wom(a)n. XD
Maybe she felt she needs to answer that way, dunno. |
Guys is a general term, it usually refers to a group of people whether they are female or not. But she definitely meant "I am proud to be an Asian female (just like you)."
As far as her comment on writing lyrics and music, I wouldn't read into it so much. I took songs to mean she will begin and complete an entire set of lyrics, and lyrics to mean she will try to work on a few lines or fragments. |
I don't really blame Ayu for not speaking perfect English. It's really hard to learn a foreign language and become profecient in it. :) How long has she been learning English? I think she started studying it properly after her Asian tour. I've been studying English for more than 10 years and I still sound awkward a lot of the time, even though I've been studying in an English speaking environment for around 5 years :laugh And she's probably even less immersed in English than I am.
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Thanks for the video!
Yes she def improved but having married two foreign men over the past 5 years i expected her to be fluent or almost, she improved in pronunciation and vocabulary but it's like she's always searching her words, she's always like "uuuuh" or making pauses. Idk how it's like when she talks to her husband but i hope she speaks to him faster otherwise i couldn't stand her if i was him lmao |
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Funny, she has sung in Chinese before with the Chinese version of Who... |
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My god I thought that this was the podcast with Neil deGrasse, I almost had a heart attack!
I love the way she talks, she sounds so mellow and relaxed. I'm falling more in love with her. |
may not be perfect , but for me it's more natural than before.
ayu will never be like a Native American , but their advance leaves me delighted . For me it sound like when you talk in Japanese ( calm ) . She is so cool |
thanks for sharing the video, aderianu!
loving this interview, she is very independent in answering all the answers, not perfect but it's definitely improving a lot. yay! and ayu's husband answered bout what she wears at home haha |
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^Thanks for sharing the link!
I enjoyed the interview. I'm happy to see her a bit more relaxed and genuinely confident in who she is and what she wants. |
I really love this interview...If we compare to her 2007 CNN she definitely improving like A LOT of skill on her English...Proud of her.
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Poor ayu, she does an interview in english, she gets blasted about her english, she does stunning photo shoots, but people complain its 'too' photo shopped. I think her english is fine and she speaks fine for english not being her native language. I think she just having some trouble getting what she is thinking out in english.
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Thanks for the link ^_^
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i love how she asks those questions from her husband :luv2
she seems kinda awkward at times but i understanded what se meant and isn't japanese always kinda awkward when they speak english? when she said "a lot" i heard everytime " a lala" :D she is so easy to love |
I absolutely loved that interview. As others have said, she does a lot of "talking-around" things when she speaks in Japanese so it's fun to compare her speaking styles when she switches languages. I love that you can always see the wheels in her head turning. :heart
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Why do they have to put music during an interview? It's so disturbing to me. >.<
Nice interview. Go Ayu do music you want, you're an artist!! |
The interview is quite awkward to watch, I guess it might be because neither one of them are native English speakers, so maybe they're a bit uncomfortable?
Also, I find Ayu's pronunciation to be really good, though her vocabulary and ability to construct sentences aren't as great. |
I liked the interview a lot. Her English is really good! There's a few errors here and there but that's to be expected with a non-native speaker.
I got the awkward feeling from it as well but I think that's more from the questions that were asked. Like when the interviewer asked Ayu what dreams she had to give up and she responded with that it would be too difficult to explain. I'm sure Ayu could answer it just fine in English but that seems like a really personal question. :/ |
Her english has really improved. I think this interview was better than the snippets I had seen of her on the red carpets etc in HK. Ayu needs time to formulate and give an answer and there wasn't any time for that during those red carpet style interviews.
I think it is maybe good that she has come to terms with being Ayu all the time. Switching between Ayu and Ayumi Hamasaki must have been difficult sometimes and is at odds with her wanting to always be true to herself. It was also cute when she asked her husband about her fashion sense! I thought she was saying that she would like her fans to be strong like Asian women and be true to yourself? So it could be a message to any fan |
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"You are particularly elegant in the home, also wearing pajamas" https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...7a5e130dd1c024 "I have thousands of pictures of you in bed" :love |
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LOVE again, "ayu" book, etc |
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one thing is a book , something else is private photos, no? :yes |
omg thousand pics of ayu in bed.. hmmmmm hahaha..
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Ty is so entertaining :D i love him even more when he says something :yes
when he was asked about that family dinner he should have said "i want it to be only two of us since i'm gonna eat sushi on her body" |
Finally got time to watch it.
First of all, what a lovely reporter. He seems to be very friendly and relaxed. His questions were really good, not even hard or really though on Ayu. It is too bad Ayu did not know to give really interesting answers on his questions. Therefore, it missed interaction. Also, I am not a fan of this 'Well, I don't care - Whatever' attitude of hers, so I don't think Ayu really presented herself very well. Oh well, she doesn't care. The only highlight of this interview was the small 'interuption' (not sure you can really call it like that) from her husband. His small involvement in this interview was really cute. He seems so nice! |
I haven't watched an ayu interview in a while, has she been behaving like a stuck up bitch in her interviews lately or is this one just off? She seems really weird, keeps rolling her eyes, not seeming down to earth at all in this and like she's trying so hard to look sexy by pouting her lips and pushing out her chest. :/
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That was sarcastic I think lol Humm yes she made a bit of charm (sorry don't now if it's ok to say it that way ?) you know interviews are really rare lately so I think it's just because she was interviewed in english ... she is not really confident like it's not her native language so she is a bit playful ^^ Her answers are definitely down to earth to me !! |
Now after watching it, I agree with xLuna&1Love.
She's using so much universal answers overall and I somehow did get the impression in between she doesn't even want to talk about herself. To be honest she had more charme in the CNN(?) interview back in the day even though her English was worse. The best thing was the interaction with her husband at the end. And you never sung in Chinese before, ayu? Hm, and what's with the chinese version of Who...? |
I could hardly recognize Ayu in this interview o.o
She was so busy flipping her hair and working her eyes'n'mouth play that she could either barely give specific answers or simply didn't want to. It seemed somewhat ironic to me when she talked about being yourself paired with her I-don't-care-at-all attitude. It somehow always saddens me to see the image she once had fade away, even though she's always retained fragments of it. In this interview though, I'm having a hard time feeling Ayu at all. |
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If you compare with the latest interview of her we have, the one in SONGS where she cried, she's a completely different person, that must be because of the different language. |
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SONGS' interview and A song is born's one at Music Station comes to my mind, and she was the same down-to-earth person we all know. |
To be honest the questions were not thrilling in the first place ... most of them were either trivial or personnels and she wasn't here for that apparently lol
I think you put too much focus on her attitude instead of what she answered ... She already answered to most of these questions in the past and the answers were almost literally similar ! |
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Sadly I agree with both of this comments. I found her attitude to be very put-on and it seemed to me that she was more bothered with looking hot than anything else. But she seems very superficial to me lately anyway. |
she looks different , she might want to be so ... but it does not change the fact that I still like it, because I believe that loving someone sometimes means accepting things for your own good .
She went through many difficult things , I think this is reflected in what it is now , besides that day may also have been some significant event with her. There are countless reasons why it may be behaving that way , but I believe that she at least is happy at the moment. |
This is a non-Japanese interview. It's one thing to have to do an interview which she is used to as a long-time celebrity. And it's one thing to speak English with people casually when you are not truly fluent in the language. To combine doing an interview and speaking in a language you're not really fluent in, you would expect her to behave a bit differently. And in part she exeggerates some motions to express herself. I do the same when communicating in French in front of a lot of people. I seem a bit different but still myself.
Ayu stays curving questions. It should be obvious that she doesn't want to answer certain questions that candidly. Partially because of the potential content of her answers but also partially because she would have to be more careful that she would be expressing the right thing in English. She clearly wants to look good here and I don't think it was too much at all. I mean, she was traveling because she's featured in lingerie advertisements lol. Idk to me she's really cute here while trying not to be offensive. Because being yourself doesn't mean you should go be inappropriate on interviews. Also bless her husband. He really fascinates me and seems precious. But but I guess people can't try to look good without being superficial bitches lol. Ayu should try hunching over a bit and sounding a little more calm and sad so we can throw pity parties for her again or pretend like she's some sage. |
To me she just looks unconfortable because she seens to be really concentrated on understanding the questions, answering them correctly and with proper english without saying anything compromising. It's also funny how japanese her facial expressions and body language are while speaking english, it has a really weird result. :P She seens to have to stop from times to times in order to find the right word on the back of her mind. And obviously she is trying to do all of that while looking good, considering looking good is a huge part of her job as a popstar.
She is just struggling through a language she still is learning while trying to look cute. If this alone makes people see her on a bad light over this forum, I guess this just speak a lot about the kind of people we found around here. |
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least the guy is cute and she's still promoting Winter Dairy with that look she has still
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If she's still struggling through the English language after all those years then her relationships with her ex-husband and husband have to be very superficial. What in the end makes her somehow superficial. If someone was married to a native German speaking person and now to a native English speaking person and therefore has to communicate through the English language with their significiant other since some time now I expect them not to struggle with those very easy questions.
It's not like you guys also have to find her superficial. But for me either her answers are superficial because she is a superficial person or she has superficial relationships because she isn't able to have a meaningful conversation with her husband what also makes her superficial in the end. Furthermore since a few years I find her superficial in general most of the time when she gives interviews or posts stuff somewhere. Since she is my favourite popstar I tried not to see her that way but her actions speak for themselves. I simply don't like her as a person anymore, what makes me very sad but it's not that I can change that. And others seem to feel the same way. I guess we are allowed to talk about that without people attacing us. It's not like we were attacing people who loved her in that interview. |
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but you can not expect the same kind of situation in front of the camera. also i don' t think a superficial relationship lasts two years . |
Ayu married Mannie in 2011. So, it has been +- 5 years since she has being on a relationship with someone with who she spoke in English. But let's not forget Mannie wasn't a native speaker either and that Ayumi married her current husband two years ago.
It took me six full years to finish my English course, and even if they aren't sister languages, English and Portuguese both were originated on Europe, so they do have some little points in common here and there. Japanese and English has nothing in common and were originated in opposite points of the globe. It's well known that most Japanese people have a hard time learning English, and even more speaking English because the later has tons of phonemes that doesn't exist at all in the former. You are judging a person's character based on her language skill because she is married with a native English speaker for two years... Ok then... |
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it's awful how my abusive ex, I can connect now more with Ayu than him after three years after being my best friend and partner.
I hope she does more English as of course as it's my first language and I connect with it better and I want something literal to what she sings in Japanese to be able to relate to with a more sincere feeling than reading translation. It's a biased opinion to someone against "EEL THA LAUUUV" but I depend on her music too much that even I'd be hit for mentioning her. Silly but he saw I valued music more than his own deep issues I knew of at the time. I add a lot of rational depth to simple things like her only know November performance and Snowy Kiss that they personally mean a lot but I understand I'm beyond the point of that yet I wish our relationship was still self-destructive when we were together and had the chance. |
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at the Alvin's birthday party Ayu wears the same dress
wonder when it was filmed - before or after. Maybe she was drunk? =) |
Ugh I was going to stay out of this, but I can't resist making one comment:
Speaking a different language with a stranger and speaking it with someone you know is very different. With a friend or husband, you'll know what speech style to expect. You're used to their pronunciation. Her husband will probably also know what level she's at, and alter his English to it, subconsciously even. I'm proud she has the guts to take on English interviews. Japanese and English are nothing alike. Aside from a few loanwords, there's no vocabulary to build on. And the grammar is completely different. Comparing it to English and German (or any other European language) is unfair. |
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It just is the whole picture for me. If it was just that, I wouldn't care. But a lot of things lately fit together like a puzzle so that I get the feeling Ayu the queen of depth became a very superficial person during the last years. That's the feeling I get. If you don't, well be happy you don't. lol I tried a long time to defend her for everything against myself but it reached a point were I simply don't like the persona she presents us anymore. |
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Honestly some fans keep an image of Ayu stuck in the past which is sad ... |
Given that Ayu hasn't really lived overseas for a significant amount of time, I don't think her English proficiency is terrible by any means. Even if her partner speaks a differentiating language, it isn't as if her entire environment also commits to that language, and that is the major method of learning a language swiftly. Moreover, it isn't as if she is attending an institution of education (like international students are exposed to), and so her lack of interaction with people with a greater emphases on her proficiency (i.e. having to hand an assignment in, or give a group presentation in English) would disadvantage her also.
I'm not sure how proficient her staff are in English, but given that she takes Timmy everywhere with her, perhaps she doesn't have to use a lot of English overseas as her staff organise many of her activities and events for her? |
^Timmy also speaks some Japanese, so they probably comunicate with each other with a mix of both languages depending on what they are trying to convey.
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Wow, there are some heated up discussions here:-) While I wouldn't go that far and call her a stuck up bitch, this was definitively the first time I saw her acting like a glamorous diva during an interview. Her attitude, movements, etc are completely different this time. I wonder how real Ayu looks like.
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there was clearly something between her and Alvin and then she has to go to interview so maybe she can't be all relaxed since she has to act like everything is fine in her personal life
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Can't stand watching this :shrug
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As a note on the whole languages deal, people learn languages at different rates. Also, I think Ayu only began taking learning English seriously in her late twenties/early thirties - and I doubt this was through daily, focused tutoring either.
When she goes to spend time in countries where English is the main language, she is still surrounded by her staff that I assume all know Japanese. You would be surprised how easy it is to default to your native language when you can, especially when in situations where it can be hard to communicate otherwise. Ayu is also famous for her ability to express herself through language so I think she holds Japanese very close to her heart and I doubt she will ever feel the same with English. It makes sense to me that she hasn't gained 'fluency' given her situation and her noted strength in Japanese. As for judging her relationship, we only see the minimum amount of how she speaks to her husband, and her English we only see in controlled interview settings. I think when she's not under pressure to use English and can relax, it would come across much better. But that's even me assuming - their relationship is mostly a mystery to us, and making generalising statements about it to prove a point is sliding into strawman territory. This is not really talking about the interview, just my two cents on some of the discussion points in the thread. I think it's obvious that Ayu has changed as a person hugely since her debut and she will give off a different persona because of that. She is no longer working 24/7 and fighting challenges of youth; she's a rich, successful businesswoman. I don't think people should be surprised. Liking it is a different matter altogether... I miss the 'old Ayu' and I don't feel as personally invested in her new public image, but it's been a long time. Some still act as if it's a personal betrayal that she grew up. |
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What I felt sad on this interview was when she said about her private "I don't care. It's not important. I have to (be Ayu)..." etc. That's not what I want to hear from her. I just want her to be happy and some great songs from her, not wanting sharing some photos of her luxury but-its-not-important-life on instagram. I'd love to share if she loves her private. Or she calls even breakfast a promotion? ...sad.
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what happens before an interview is a conversation provided the subject minutes before being recorded. It's not like following a road map. The presenter have general questions Fomular , but also has the ability to introduce new questions according to context . |
I actually liked the fact that she changed, even if for some she's changing "for the worse".
If she's still the girl that writes about rebel and doesn't balance her own complex identities as a woman, a pop star, an artist etc, she will be the ultimate superficial product of "ayumi hamasaki", a perfect, immaculate, strong, yet crafted-by-avex girl that everyone loved so much and found it hard to let go of. In the past, she stated clearly that she separated ayu from ayumi hamasaki. Therefore, it is by no means we can safely assume that the perfect ayumi hamasaki is a representation of her true self. Now she's caring less. She does not hide away herself anymore. She lets us see who she really is, and a real human being is necessarily complex, and sometimes scandalous too. For me, it is a good thing that she's being more complex, sometimes a diva, other times a woman who shows more emotions and contemplates about life. I began to feel this way when the whole relationship era began (marriage, devorce, Maro etc). She will have flaws because she stops separating the private ayu and the public image, but as she said, "it's life." |
it is obvious that ayu had been nervous on that interview. she was really thinking about what she was saying and cared a lot about it. it seems to me that ayu wanted to create a 'perfect intervie' referring to language and pronounciation. it was kind'a sweet to ask her man for the right term. Humans keep being humans. It is admirable that she was willing to do this interview in english.
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^she was nervous she had to do play with something :D
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^ Yeah, right.
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I don't like the way Ayu's nails were done.
She seems like a totally different person. |
It's funny that everyone here starts to think that they actually know Ayu...
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^^RIGHT?!
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Also, I didn't read the rest of your gigantic post because I got like: https://45.media.tumblr.com/969902ca...4of6o1_400.gif |
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Amen to this, I can also confirm that my english is FAR from fluent although I've been using (writing, hearing, not really speaking out loud, then I would just struggle even MORE) it in every day basis for years. I still keep forgetting basic words and grammar and I still need to look up how things are being said in english, and ESPECIALLY from Japanese to English there's even a bigger difference than from Swedish to English for instance. It is generally just plain rude judging someone's English skills when they're non-native speakers. Like just. :no |
Plus English is HARD. I'm 31, I have a degree in linguistics (with a focus on English Composition) and I STILL don't feel like I have a grasp on this language!! x_x
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Guys, I partially take back my critical view on this interview. I am having so much fun replaying it over and over again since a couple of days. Ayu's mimic, the engrish, that seaman's infinite-loop-instrumental, that super polite and serious chinese interviewer, Ayu's hairflip, her pose, the eyes and mouth work. The entire, somewhat absurd scenario makes me love this interview all of a sudden.
Some favourite quotes: "It's been four eaaars." "I hadda to do da" "Alada my dreams came true." "Yea, yea. Of course I will. I want to. I was want to - and I will." "Jay jay gat an amazing voice, you know. I gad goosebams." "I want to make... (short pause) what I want to make ._." Perhaps this interview will become one of the most memorable appearances of Ayu, in an ironic but also enjoyable way. I mean, after almost 20 years, there barely exists any similar interview so far. I still feel she's acting somewhat unprofessional throughout the interview but very human at the same time. Not happy about it but sometimes looking at things with a wink can truly help. |
I think the whole interview was just super freaking awkward. From the fact that English was neither of their first language, to the interviewer clearly having a set list of polished questions, it just made for a cringe-worthy experience. And because Ayu's answers weren't as prepared as the questions I just got the impression she was just trying to not come off a complete fool. Which is understandable. Some of you may have enjoyed her for her flaws, but its stupid to be mad at her for trying to appear well put together in this interview.
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