Ayu's vocal this year...

[se7entheaven]

I was just thinking about this and wanna discuss with you guys
Don't you guys think ayu's vocal this year is quite dissapointing? Despite the half deaf issues...Let's not talk and mention about that...this is about her vocal...not about being half deaf...ok ^^

Even she didn't do so many TV performances, but from all the clips of her AT08 and recent lives, or even last MW lives in March...we can clearly listened to ayu's downgrade vocal....why so sudden? I mean her voice going worse and worse since last year (last year was still acceptable)

Let's not argue about how hard to sing Mirrorcle World (and other songs), those HER songs, she should tackle it herself well...she knows her song... whether lower down the tunes or whatsoever...it's her problem...but the problem is her voice...cmon...it's just 10years...I like her voice being mature now but she's almost sounds like forcing her voice out...then kept shorten the beats...(eg: listen to MW when she sings the part 'ima no konna mirai o.....darou-'KA') its not good as she force the part too hard...then Marionette performance...she sounds like out of breath or can't even scream...(e.g : 'ikiru -ta-me-')...

I hope you understand what I'm going to discuss...ayu still has the feel when she sings but she totally lost her vocal...I thought 10th anniversary supposed to be something nice

[waterballoon]

If I'm not wrong, she fell ill and had something wrong with her throat or something during the tour in Japan. That could explain the vocals for the clips of AT 08 you watched?

Also, I don't know if I'm going to agree with you or anything but it could be because she smoked too much (if she even did, that is).

BUT, one thing that I wish to say is that, the clips for a-nation this year were really not bad! So, yeah.

[reixminako]

I agree. I hope her vocals don't just keep getting worse and worse, though. That would be a little bit heartbreaking.

[se7entheaven]

^ If she smoke it'll be really bad for her...not all smokers can sounds good all the time
I knew some smoker singers but they still sounds good

well she just sounds like not even a singer now...just like an artist who (anyhow) sings...sorry ayu...but recently I felt bad about her voice...she needs to revive herself, esp her voice...image is not enough for a diva like her
It seems like she's not even trying to sounds 'good'...which makes her look like having visualy enchanting performance is enough...in the 1st place...voice comes no. 2 or 3

[reixminako]

I think it's because she hasn't been spending enough time in the studio, where she can harness her voice. Instead she's just focusing on touring, which only puts a lot more strain on her voice with the demanding schedule. I wish she would take a rest and then go back into the studio!

[ownsarai]

Yes, Ayu's voice is not as good as it used to be, but I don't think it's to the point of being unbearable or anything. I really do think Ayu needs to take a small break from singing and just rest her vocal chords, maybe that will help. But we all know how hard of a worker Ayu is, so I'm sure that won't happen anytime soon.

[Melrose]

I think she sings great, so I don't really see the point. :] Her singing style just changed, and she's more easily out of breathe, but that's natural when you age. If I have to choose a year where she sung the worst, it'd definitely be 2003. I can't STAND the year with the TV performances of HANABI / July 1st / independent. Now THAT is concerning imo. @_@

[Zeke.]

I don't really think her vocals are that terrible either. I mean, I LOVED the performances at a-nation '07. When I went to AT08, she was spectacular. Just being in that atmosphere was amazing. And when the DVD comes out, her vocals will sound superb.

[Jwiz]

I kinda agree, and it's most likely because of the hectic schedule which strained her vocal considerably. I can't say that ayu vocal has totally went downhill, as i think she sounded okay in some of the performances.

[Ayumi_lover]

let's see A-Nation TV version, i like her vocals in MW, and also in most of songs from AT08. Well, we just have to hear some ballads to hear clearly her voice

[Melon Panda]

Well, she's aged ten years in a very hectic industry. Of course her voice will suffer somewhat. It's gotten much deeper (and stronger, in my opinion), so naturally she won't be able to belt out the high notes like she used to. Those were ear-bleeding high notes, so I don't miss them much.

I'm not sure what you're expecting her to pull off after ten years. Her voices sound fine to me - different, but not seriously worse.

[voltron]

Well her voice has been on a downward path since 2000-2001. It was really improving a lot between her debut and I Am... (the Dearest lives are some of her most outstanding in her career...especially the unplugged and x'mas versions). We've had glimpses of that again over the years (Will is quite great, in terms of vocals), but generally it gets more and more hoarse each year. A large part is that she screams so much during tours. And singing in a high register (which was natural at first, but I think became more forced over the years) is really hard on your vocal chords if it's not natural--it strains them.

[Matthew]

Ehh, I saw her at the second day of AT08 and thought she sounded great!

There might have been a few shaky performances, but if you perform as much as she does, its not gonna be perfect every time?

[lfe.]

I don't think smoking has that much of an affect on her. Ive seen the paparazzi photos, and if they are true, I think its only limited to social occasions because you would be able to notice the toll it has on her visually. Being a heavy smoker, I know how it can hurt your physical appearance. The rings that appear under your eyelids become so visible not even the largest chunks of makeup can cover it up.

[*+Dark.Night.Angel.+*]

She really sings form the heart though her throat can no longer endure the same due to smoking and exhaustive singing... I really think she should be given some rest but knowing her she will refuse XD.

It would be better for her to rest a while and comeback as strong as ever.
I still admire her so much for taking it over the limit.

GO AYU ~♥
*+D.N.A.+*

[Melrose]

Originally Posted by voltron

Well her voice has been on a downward path since 2000-2001. It was really improving a lot between her debut and I Am... (the Dearest lives are some of her most outstanding in her career...especially the unplugged and x'mas versions). We've had glimpses of that again over the years (Will is quite great, in terms of vocals), but generally it gets more and more hoarse each year. A large part is that she screams so much during tours. And singing in a high register (which was natural at first, but I think became more forced over the years) is really hard on your vocal chords if it's not natural--it strains them.

No way.. 2003 was her worst year, then it went upwards, and a little downwards since 2006. o_O At least IMO. Like, currently she's probably less good than 2000-2001, but to say that she's gotten worse every year is a little exeggerated I think. ^^

BTW how do we know she smokes? And like, really SMOKES, not just a cigarette every 2 weeks.

[lfe.]

Originally Posted by Melrose

No way.. 2003 was her worst year, then it went upwards, and a little downwards since 2006. o_O At least IMO. Like, currently she's probably less good than 2000-2001, but to say that she's gotten worse every year is a little exeggerated I think. ^^

I agree with the timeline except I think it went a little downwards since the latter of 2007, because her vocals for the '06 and '07 summer tours have been spectacular. I too agree that "she's gotten worse every year" is a bit exaggerated.

Originally Posted by Melrose

BTW how do we know she smokes? And like, really SMOKES, not just a cigarette every 2 weeks.

We don't know that she smokes, but since people saw the paparazzi photos of her in a restaurant at some district (I believe it was like the gay district of Japan?), they have been flipping out and screaming OMG AYUS A SMOKER.

What I'VE been trying to point out is that it might be a social occasion thing, like one cigarette every 2 weeks like you say. If someones a heavy smoker, you can see the difference physically. I know as Ayu fans its hard to say that Ayu isn't looking pretty, but looking at her these days, I do not see any physical evidence leading to her being a heavy smoker.

[SunshineSlayer]

I know that people have probably read this from me before, but I'll talk about this again.

I think I first noticed her voice declining in 2006, although then, it was still pretty good, but it was during the Jewel performances towards the end of the year that I really noticed her seeming out of breath and cutting lines too short. (which is weird because Jewel is not at all hard to sing.) It was from then on that I really noticed a steady decline.

When I saw her live in AT 05, her voice was great - so powerful.
AT06 - Still pretty great.
CDL 06/07 - Not bad, but definitely starting to notice a decline.
A-Nation 07 - Bad. Definitely the worst I have heard her live. Do not trust the DVD or tv release (which was released an entire month later, just like this years will be) of this because they obviously did a lot of editing to make her sound better. She sounded like she did in the news clips that were posted the day after the live - not pretty.
AT 08 - At least it was better than the A-Nation vocals, but still not powerful like they were before and I noticed some lip syncing during the performance on a couple of songs.

As I just posted in another thread, I'm sure her ear has something to do with it, but that can't be all of it. She has struggled with that ear for her whole career and some of the problems with her singing don't seem like they should be related to her ear. I think her drinking could be another reason. I can't remember which issue it was, but someone here translated a vivi or other magazine where she says she drinks at least a few cans of beer every night after work. Alcohol can definitely do bad things to your vocals. I don't know if this is the reason, but I'm just suggesting it as a possibility.

Originally Posted by se7entheaven

^ If she smoke it'll be really bad for her...not all smokers can sounds good all the time
I knew some smoker singers but they still sounds good

Yeah, smoking is another possibility - it would also account for her apparent shortness of breath. Singers like Gackt and Hyde are heavy smokers and they still manage to sound great, but I would say they are definitely the exception to the rule.

Originally Posted by Ayumi_lover

let's see A-Nation TV version, i like her vocals in MW, and also in most of songs from AT08. Well, we just have to hear some ballads to hear clearly her voice

I wouldn't even trust the A-Nation tv version anymore. They used to air a-nation almost live, but now they wait a whole month to show it, giving them plenty of time to edit things. As I said, she did not sound like she did in the a-nation tv airing last year. It seems that newsclips and live tv performances are the only reliable sources anymore.

Originally Posted by Melrose

I think she sings great, so I don't really see the point. :] Her singing style just changed, and she's more easily out of breathe, but that's natural when you age. If I have to choose a year where she sung the worst, it'd definitely be 2003. I can't STAND the year with the TV performances of HANABI / July 1st / independent. Now THAT is concerning imo. @_@

Those performances were in 2002 - not her best vocal year, but still better than now. 2003 was perhaps her best ever year for vocals. The Music fair that year, all the ayu ready performances, the forgivness performances etc were almost flawless.

Whatever the reason, yes her vocals have taken a swift downturn, especially recently.

[Catzi]

Her voice isn't what it used to be, but also this year there is a lot of strain on her voice because she keeps touring.

Her TV performances were few this year, but they were actually okay. For me, the worst vocals were at Kouhaku with Together When... last year.

[Kikaru]

Am I in the minority coz I actually like her voice from the AT 08 clip?

I think her vocals tend to vary year to year. I really liked it in 2000, was meh on it in 2001, was okay with it in 2002, thought 2003 and 2004 were decent, really loved 2005 vocals, thought 2006 was pretty good, thought last year's vocals were decent until T2M, really liked the clip of the mirrorcle world one from her tour.