I've been thinking about this lately. Was the whole cutesy slow "ayu wa this, ayu wa that" personality when she first debuted just a "character" she was playing, kinda like what Poppy had been doing before she parted away from her ex producer?
People have drawn comparisons between this and the whole "Tomo-chan" act from Tomomi Kahara. Seeing how Ayu dropped it rather quickly after her rise to superstardom, I can't help but wonder if her label pressured her into acting that way at first to make a lasting impression on TV?
PS: It's kinda crazy to see how the "dumb" ayu-chan in that video is the same person as the fierce lady in this interview: