[News] Ayu to perform at Music Station 31 March

[Coelacanth]

this particular performance was certainly a disaster, but we're simply missing the bigger picture: her charisma and talent as a live performer has diminished to the extent that it's beginning to embarass her own fans (i'm embarrassed that she's still even performing on shows like MUSIC STATION that perpetuate the spiritually exhausted J-POP idol-machine)

her live shows have become complete spectacle packaged for sterile mass-minded experiences, she overacts on stage to the point of camp, and vocally she's far from fantastic.

as a fan for nearly 15 years now, my wish is that after the 20th anniversary, she becomes a full-time studio musician. just fucking drop albums, man.

i'm at a point in my life where i don't understand the fascination with live music anymore—what is the draw of a rock concert when music almost always sounds better when studio-recorded and professionally engineered?

[se7entheaven]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

this particular performance was certainly a disaster, but we're simply missing the bigger picture: her charisma and talent as a live performer has diminished to the extent that it's beginning to embarass her own fans (i'm embarrassed that she's still even performing on shows like MUSIC STATION that perpetuate the spiritually exhausted J-POP idol-machine)

her live shows have become complete spectacle packaged for sterile mass-minded experiences, she overacts on stage to the point of camp, and vocally she's far from fantastic.

as a fan for nearly 15 years now, my wish is that after the 20th anniversary, she becomes a full-time studio musician. just fucking drop albums, man.

i'm at a point in my life where i don't understand the fascination with live music anymore—what is the draw of a rock concert when music almost always sounds better when studio-recorded and professionally engineered?

I feel you

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

this particular performance was certainly a disaster, but we're simply missing the bigger picture: her charisma and talent as a live performer has diminished to the extent that it's beginning to embarass her own fans (i'm embarrassed that she's still even performing on shows like MUSIC STATION that perpetuate the spiritually exhausted J-POP idol-machine)

her live shows have become complete spectacle packaged for sterile mass-minded experiences, she overacts on stage to the point of camp, and vocally she's far from fantastic.

as a fan for nearly 15 years now, my wish is that after the 20th anniversary, she becomes a full-time studio musician. just fucking drop albums, man.

Originally Posted by se7entheaven

She seems to fall into the cliche hole ala Mariah and Whitney. The next time we heard she probably lip sync her entire tour. As someone mentioned above, it's so embarrassing to hear and see that she become what she is now. Compared to her old times where she was busier she still delivered and served us great vocal and image. Now she seem go be taking things too lightly and.... I don't know. It's just sad. I love her so much.

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

I'm a fan for 14 years and I'm honestly grieving for my Ayu fandom.

I feel you all. I shivered from the beginning of TO BE chorus till the end of the performance. Also, her dress was so unflattering. I thought she had gained weight until I watched the beginning when she wore a different outfit. She used to be a really good live performance (well probably not vocally), with right choices of make ups and outfits. Being a fan for almost 18 years, it's really hard to cut the bond from her. I don't listen to her new music anymore, but I still have her old songs (up to FIVE) on my iPod. I still watch her old tv performances from time to time (e.g., watching HEAVEN first MS performance and Moments Pop Jam right now). I always secretly hope that she's have a second peak (just like Namie when she went back to the peak with 60s70s80s). It seems like that hope is not going to happen with her current vocal/image. To be honest I think her path is even worse than Seiko (which I wished she didn't follow). She really needs to rewatch her older performance if she wanna stay relevant to the public. I'm really sure that her performance last night will be dissed on social medias. I'm also surprised that 80% of the comments here are actually more negative than I thought (usually some of us would come up with reasons to defend her).

I feel like I'm connected to the old ayu, and I know nothing about the new ayu anymore...

[Yumsushi]

Like most of you, I too have been feeling so much second hand embarrassment watching and listening to a lot of her stuff for the past few years. This terrible performance and look aside, I don't know what it will take for her to objectively see and hear herself nowadays. Why does she not acknowledge her current vocal limitations and insist on mutilating old songs? Why does she dress and act like a 20 year old now when she didn't act like that when she was 20? I'm sure she can afford a 5 year hiatus to rediscover who she is. Right now its looking like a continuously desperate attempt at relevancy that definitely isn't helping her make her way back into the Japanese public's hearts.

[chocopockymaster]

Originally Posted by Yumsushi

Why does she dress and act like a 20 year old now when she didn't act like that when she was 20?

omg thank you for articulating what I've been feeling for ages.

The deeper she goes into her most recent "phase" of "I'm living only for myself instead of what others expect from me", the more disingenuous everything about her seems. The old Ayu was seemingly untouchable in that she was a well-constructed persona, she was all over the media, and everything she touched turned to gold...and yet there was always a vulnerable, relatable quality to her. She's not a talented actress and I think it's very telling that back then, she seemed more natural than she has in years. Now everything seems forced, superficial, and, as another poster said, overly contrived to the point of ridiculousness. It's almost as if there's an (attempt at an) elaborate show to distract you from the fact that, under the surface, there isn't much left. Are we being punked? Of course people grow and change over time but to see someone who has been such an influence in my life devolve to this point actually breaks my heart.

This might seem slightly over dramatic to some (I'm having a bad week; let me live) but this performance really feels like a death knell for my fandom, and I have stanned this woman for over half my goddamn life.

What the fuck is she doing?

[Refix]

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

The old Ayu was seemingly untouchable in that she was a well-constructed persona, she was all over the media, and everything she touched turned to gold...and yet there was always a vulnerable, relatable quality to her. She's not a talented actress and I think it's very telling that back then, she seemed more natural than she has in years. Now everything seems forced, superficial, and, as another poster said, overly contrived to the point of ridiculousness. It's almost as if there's an (attempt at an) elaborate show to distract you from the fact that, under the surface, there isn't much left.

Agree so much.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by bluegie

I feel you all. I shivered from the beginning of TO BE chorus till the end of the performance. Also, her dress was so unflattering. I thought she had gained weight until I watched the beginning when she wore a different outfit. She used to be a really good live performance (well probably not vocally), with right choices of make ups and outfits. Being a fan for almost 18 years, it's really hard to cut the bond from her. I don't listen to her new music anymore, but I still have her old songs (up to FIVE) on my iPod. I still watch her old tv performances from time to time (e.g., watching HEAVEN first MS performance and Moments Pop Jam right now). I always secretly hope that she's have a second peak (just like Namie when she went back to the peak with 60s70s80s). It seems like that hope is not going to happen with her current vocal/image. To be honest I think her path is even worse than Seiko (which I wished she didn't follow). She really needs to rewatch her older performance if she wanna stay relevant to the public. I'm really sure that her performance last night will be dissed on social medias. I'm also surprised that 80% of the comments here are actually more negative than I thought (usually some of us would come up with reasons to defend her).

I feel like I'm connected to the old ayu, and I know nothing about the new ayu anymore...

I would say part of the issue is just not appearing on TV all that often anymore so she doesn't really have much of a sense for what to wear and when. However, I don't think she cares much about staying relevant since it's not as though she is showing up on MS all the time. Before this, when was the last time she was on a show like this? Typically it seems like if they invite her to a big special, she says yes. From late 2015 to now, she has had four TV lives, all at MUSIC STATION and all with 3 months between appearances. Once for Ultra Fest in September 2015, once for an MS special in March 2016, again for Ultra Fest 2016 in September 2016, and this last special for March 2017.

I think it feels like even though she's on social media and stuff, these last few years we've seen even less of her as far as music and new content has gone so it's a bit like we lack the connection to her career that we did up until 2010/2011 when she really got into social media and basically stopped being as active as she was with releases and promotion.

[bluegie]

Originally Posted by truehappiness

I would say part of the issue is just not appearing on TV all that often anymore so she doesn't really have much of a sense for what to wear and when. However, I don't think she cares much about staying relevant since it's not as though she is showing up on MS all the time. Before this, when was the last time she was on a show like this? Typically it seems like if they invite her to a big special, she says yes. From late 2015 to now, she has had four TV lives, all at MUSIC STATION and all with 3 months between appearances. Once for Ultra Fest in September 2015, once for an MS special in March 2016, again for Ultra Fest 2016 in September 2016, and this last special for March 2017.

I think it feels like even though she's on social media and stuff, these last few years we've seen even less of her as far as music and new content has gone so it's a bit like we lack the connection to her career that we did up until 2010/2011 when she really got into social media and basically stopped being as active as she was with releases and promotion.

The problem is that she doesn't look that bad in normal life. I don't come to Ayu section as often like I used to be, but sometimes I still visit the social media thread to see what she's up to. She can just wear any of those shown in her instagram, and I bet the general public will say those outfits are more relevant then the one she wore last night. And actually most of her outfits on recent MS are unflattering. I feel like she's trying to make them as grand as possible, like she cannot really separate the sense of normal tv lives' outfits from concerts' outfits. (I still cannot forget the hideous outfit she wore when she sang Feel the Love on MS super live).

But you're right. Lately I find that all her tweets are all about her glamorous life, nothing music about her career. Also, I'm actually quite amazed that she can do tours in arenas nowadays. All the artists around her era are doing concerts in halls or even smaller places. I guess her hardcore fans in Japan are really loyal after all.

Originally Posted by ayuinh.k?

I thought I was the only one who thought the dress looked unflattering on her. She should have kept with the outfit she wore in the beginning.

She just doens't wear tees and jeans on tv anymore. Like I said above, she thinks grand outfits are the best. After I watched last night's performances, I watched her early lives (from her debut to maybe like Love Songs era). I wish she would wear some street fashion clothes on tv. Even if she's wearing pretty dresses, she can make them elegant like the one she wore in HEAVEN (the first MS live). But no she decided to wear that dress, to a point that I think her vocal wasn't as bad as I thought because the dress was quite distracting.

Originally Posted by AyuWorld

... She looked fuller and I can barely see her eyes and that dress with her busty chess made me think she barely or really has a short torso lol, so imagine the public who didnt follow her at all suddenly saw that. Thus the harsh comments and memes on social media meh,

And about her chest... If she wanted to show off her figure in the first place, then she is doing it wrongly. I really think that cutting was not complimenting her body at all. Like you said, My brother even went further by saying that her b**bs cannot fight against gravity. And like you said, that dress made her torso so full. I just don't understand, she had waist in the beginning of the show (as shown by her opening outfit), then all of the sudden she looked like she gained 10 pounds. What was she thinking when she chose that outfit...?

[ayuinh.k?]

Originally Posted by bluegie

I feel you all. I shivered from the beginning of TO BE chorus till the end of the performance. Also, her dress was so unflattering. I thought she had gained weight until I watched the beginning when she wore a different outfit. She used to be a really good live performance (well probably not vocally), with right choices of make ups and outfits. Being a fan for almost 18 years, it's really hard to cut the bond from her. I don't listen to her new music anymore, but I still have her old songs (up to FIVE) on my iPod. I still watch her old tv performances from time to time (e.g., watching HEAVEN first MS performance and Moments Pop Jam right now). I always secretly hope that she's have a second peak (just like Namie when she went back to the peak with 60s70s80s). It seems like that hope is not going to happen with her current vocal/image. To be honest I think her path is even worse than Seiko (which I wished she didn't follow). She really needs to rewatch her older performance if she wanna stay relevant to the public. I'm really sure that her performance last night will be dissed on social medias. I'm also surprised that 80% of the comments here are actually more negative than I thought (usually some of us would come up with reasons to defend her).

I feel like I'm connected to the old ayu, and I know nothing about the new ayu anymore...

I thought I was the only one who thought the dress looked unflattering on her. She should have kept with the outfit she wore in the beginning.

[AyuWorld]

Originally Posted by ayuinh.k?

I thought I was the only one who thought the dress looked unflattering on her. She should have kept with the outfit she wore in the beginning.

yes! at first I thought shes going to wear something like that, or something close to what she always wore during her days promoting Ourselves but then she came out with that dress and I was still hoping that she got another layer underneath her dress but NO

another huge problem well at least for me that she always looked very different when she appeared on MSta nowadays compared to her look behind the scene/documentary/concert in the DVD, seriously whoever did her makeup didn't do any justice for that. Just look at her recent pics in Italy, she looked totally fine and fresh but not in MSta yesterday. She looked fuller and I can barely see her eyes and that dress with her busty chess made me think she barely or really has a short torso lol, so imagine the public who didnt follow her at all suddenly saw that. Thus the harsh comments and memes on social media meh,

They should see her in Documentary AT16 she looked so good!