Thoughts on COUNTDOWN LIVE 2007-2008 Anniversary

[Huaka]

Umm, right. Sure. Whatever. If you can choreograph and design Hamasaki's performances better than she can, why don't you do it? I really don't see what's so terrible about her vocals. They were fine, Countdown Live 2005 TV version was much worse.

[PrincessAyu]

ok fine be angry or whatever:p if you ALL seem to think this is as great vocal-wise as years back, then go ahead. XD I'm tired of her singing. And yes that's the last I'll say about it. Most of you are like "aw ayu must be sick or tired" or say" <3" about everything she does anyway. While she can't sing like before and it'll only get worse from here ^_^.

[Huaka]

I said she sounded fine, as in neutral, there's a difference between great and fine you know? You're just being ridiculous and unreasonable.

[Empry]

All in all this is my 2nd favorite CDL ^__^ The costumes are not spectacular but it was a very emotional and personal concert, imho ^^

My Top 3 of Countdown Lives:

1. CDL 05-06
2. CDL 07-08
3. CDL 04-05

[octocoffee]

I'll stick to my opinion, I thought she sounded great. I've sort of given up on comparing her to her older days and just try to see how on-key she is. Cause we all know Ayu ain't gonna turn back the clock and go back to supah-Ayu time. So I'm good with what we've got. Plus, she still sounds better than a ton of other artists live. And I wish I had sausages in my ears. That would be awesome ^_^

[milky_way]

Ayu looked cute in the plaid outfit during the encore. She's the only person, IMO, who'll ever look good in plaid.

[chocopockymaster]

Originally Posted by PrincessAyu

she's SO lipsyncing in STEP you. Her vocals are so blah in talkin 2 myself ..... she couldn't possibly sing STEP you the way she did live. It's impossible. Seeing this concert confirms her time is over. It's all bland and boring now. She's done everything like this already. Custome stuff, dancer stuff, everything. I'm bored with her.

Seriously? Iris, you are so freaking full of negativity. No one wants to hear it. If you're not a fan anymore, whatever, no big loss, but don't rain on our parade.

[edgefusion]

OMG I want to STAB Miwako Hamada in the HEART! Ayumi, PLEASE get rid of Peco! She is a RUINER OF CONCERTS.

OH. MY. GOD.

[ComatoseBunnySnatcher]

Originally Posted by chocopockymaster

Seriously? Iris, you are so freaking full of negativity. No one wants to hear it. If you're not a fan anymore, whatever, no big loss, but don't rain on our parade.

A-frickin-MEN!

[Kaiyn]

i never usually post but i feel i must voice my disapointment This would have been the best CDL ever for me....had Ayu not sung soooo badly ;;... i agree with what someone said about it going downhill after decision. Surreal was terrible :S lol; but not only Surreal...she was singing part of just about every song after that slightly lower than the proper key and it really bugged me :/ (reeeeach for the notes ayu;;;. She couldn't even sing the low parts of humming in key... If only the vocals of CDL 05-06 could be coupled with the visualls of this CDL ...
Also OMG i agree with everybody that Peco and Princess must be hung...on the bright side they made Ayu sound like Mariah Carey by comparison...lolz

also whoever said she lip synched step you that is not true... i have never, in her 10 year career seen Ayu lipsynch.

[namiie]

Her vocals were so-so. Not as bad as last year's CDL but definitely not her best....I like how untitled~for her~ and MY ALL sounded live though! And I actually really like the schoolgirl outfit. My favorite part of the whole thing has to be the fact that there were multiple stages, with the big catwalk down the middle! Awesome way to reach more fans.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by PrincessAyu

ok fine be angry or whatever:p if you ALL seem to think this is as great vocal-wise as years back, then go ahead. XD I'm tired of her singing. And yes that's the last I'll say about it. Most of you are like "aw ayu must be sick or tired" or say" <3" about everything she does anyway. While she can't sing like before and it'll only get worse from here ^_^.

I don't think your name suits you. :|

So what if you don't care about Ayu anymore? Get out of the forum if you think so. No offense, but I think you want attention or something by posting negative thoughts about Ayu, almost like you want people to tell you: "Please stop talking."

[lovemimi40]

Originally Posted by PrincessAyu

ok fine be angry or whatever:p if you ALL seem to think this is as great vocal-wise as years back, then go ahead. XD I'm tired of her singing. And yes that's the last I'll say about it. Most of you are like "aw ayu must be sick or tired" or say" <3" about everything she does anyway. While she can't sing like before and it'll only get worse from here ^_^.

I kinda agree with you there...I dled the clips and she sounded very off-key in most of the songs...she wasn't following the rhythm at all. I'm a die-hard fan of ayu, but I haven't throroughly enjoyed any of her lives since a long time...I used to LOVE her lives, even preferred them to the CD version, but something definately happened...maybe she needs to rehearse more.

[4ever*ayu]

well, i'm not really in to this whole "thought about cdl" thing because i'm not watch the show yet even the preview on veoh or yt, but all i want to say is that i'm so satisfied with the setlist, the stage (saw the screencaps,lol), and how ayu still could made most of you guys happy and satisfied too...
Thank you for all the thoughts (positive and negative) guys, really make me more anticipate on the release of the DVD

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by lovemimi40

I kinda agree with you there...I dled the clips and she sounded very off-key in most of the songs...she wasn't following the rhythm at all. I'm a die-hard fan of ayu, but I haven't throroughly enjoyed any of her lives since a long time...I used to LOVE her lives, even preferred them to the CD version, but something definately happened...maybe she needs to rehearse more.

I watched BEST of CDL 06-07 DOCUMENTARY recently, and she sang pretty well there outside of a "performance" setting when it was just her rehearsing. I think it's just circumstances and stuff that arose in the last week that made her voice all... blah. This has happened before, where she had to "reach" a lot of the time for notes and stuff. I see it as a very small problem though, considering that she probably does this concert on less than 5 hours of sleep. :|

[Coelacanth]

I liked the concert. Her vocals were.. yeah.. so-so, at best. But I liked the whole aura around the concert this time.

STEP you and evolution.. prerecorded vocal tracks, 90% sure. Just listen to how clear and crisp her voice sounds compared to the songs in between. I wouldn't think it's a bad thing if the concert was phenomenal vocally, but it's not.. so.. as a fan, it worries me a little bit.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

I liked the concert. Her vocals were.. yeah.. so-so, at best. But I liked the whole aura around the concert this time.

STEP you and evolution.. prerecorded vocal tracks, 90% sure. Just listen to how clear and crisp her voice sounds compared to the songs in between. I wouldn't think it's a bad thing if the concert was phenomenal vocally, but it's not.. so.. as a fan, it worries me a little bit.

Actually, STEP you was only the second song of the show, and that song seems like she's done it enough times to know how to sing it...

I mean, it's not that difficult to sing STEP you. It's MUCH easier than talkin' 2 myself, so t2m is no standard for "omg wow" vocals.. perhaps the vocals just went downhill as TW.... ended?

[futureLOVE]

I think there may be a reason why the vocals are a bit off...i noticed that the ear piece she uses in this CDL is different from her usual big black ones. Also, i noticed she was messing with her ears quite a few times. I think this could explain some of the problems.

My thoughts on each song:

talkin' 2 myself: i did like this performance...of course the vocals were a little hard to hear, but i think it was very well done. i especially love the outfit.

STEP you: my first response is that it is most probably lip sung....the vocals are soo much better than the rest of the songs...it almost sounds exactly how the AT06 performance did. LOVE the theme though

Ladies Night: very cute... i don't know why everyone thinks that this has such a bad vocal...i definately think SURREAL takes the lead for poor vocal in this concert. I like the dance off too

fated: i think the vocal sounded pretty good...I HATE Shuya's dance..it looks awkward most of the time. the dress, imo should have been longer, but i understand the need to make it short so she can walk.

Together When...: This probably has one of the best vocals in the concert, which should be expected since she's performed it steadily for the past month. it's really a powerful ballad. I love the acrobatics...its nice because of the fabric and stuff. it seems to tell a story of sorts.

decision: First, I think i do like the outfit i know it's pleather and shiny and stuff but i do like it, it's edgy. Also, I think ayu's vocals by her self are spot on...and i dont think that Peco and Princess's vocals are awful until the "yeah yeah oooh ooohs" near the end which is when they've been bad in the past as well. Overall, I liked this performance...seems like it'll be another song like 'is this LOVE?' in AT06. i like.

SURREAL:....well the beginning was decent. I think the concept of the performance was very good. i like the lift and runway use and stuff. it gets off when she starts with the "ah"....this is one of my favorites and i must say that this is probably the worst vocal of it i've heard. good performance concept though.

Bold & Delicious: Overall, it was okay... i like it when the girl dancers come out right behind ayu. Peco's howling kinda always makes this song...less than stellar...but it's bearable. I think this is probably a good audience song. it seems to get them going really well. I like this one too.

RAINBOW: i like what the dancers are doing. I also this song has very good vocals before the countdown.. after the countdown, it seems that she's yelling a bit, however the song is still a very good performance and seems that it's very emotional.

evolution: what can i say? it's a classic. and it's sung well. however, i wish she had performed AUDIENCE of flower garden in replace of this or Boys & Girls.

Boys & Girls: again, not much to say, it's the same classic performance.

glitter: vocals are good and everything...somehow i dont see how a song that is blatantly about Summer fits in a New Years...i think it would be interesting if she changed the lyrics to be about the new year... that probably sounds dumb but it sounds good in my head.

untitled~for her~: O...M....G i have never seen her get this emotional ever! you can definately feel the pain behind the song. I think this is the most touching performance i've seen in a long time...it's up there with the 'teddy bear'-'Memorial address' performances in AT03-04. when she says the title, it made me tear up...and when she bawls, i had to let loose . Beautiful. It probably has the best vocals of all of them.

卒業写真: I dont really know this song that well but this is a very nice performance. It made me go and listen to it from A BALLADS. i think the vocal was good in this one also.

+: nice to hear this one. i wish this one was performed more at concerts, it's obviously a good crowd song. it really gets the audience into it.

Humming 7/4: Ugh....i know many people would disagree, but this song just annoys me. I don't like it at all. But if i were to give my opinion, it did it's job by getting the crowd excited.

MY ALL: Another fantastic performance emotionally. this is a perfect closer...especially to a CDL with the title "Anniversary" when considering the lyrics. You can tell she has a lot of emotion behind this song as well.

OVERALL: Of course, there were some vocal issues and blah blah blah, but Best of CDL 06-07 almost bored me to tears. so this one is very exciting...however i do wish she had done more as far as costumes...wish she had done something more extravagant rather than outfits that are very similar to a lot of the TV performances we've seen this year. Also, it was pretty obvious that STEP you was lip sung so that was kind of a bummer but what can you do?

I like it a lot so i give it a 8/10. However, it isn't better than my all time favorite, CDL04-05.

[truehappiness]

I still don't know if STEP you was lipsynched or not. IMO, it really doesn't seem like she'd choose one song out of 17 to do that for...

Plus, it was only the 2nd song of the show, whereas SURREAL was more towards the middle, thus sounding much worse. I dunno. Perhaps she really got into STEP you?

Even the adlibs were the same as AT06 though, so perhaps it was the same "performance" just not some vocal track..

[futureLOVE]

^well she lip sang 'theme of a-nation '03' at CDL05-06...and that song is definately not a hard song...i thought that was really bizarre...you can tell in the tv version of that one becuase her lips move different and the vocal does something different.

with STEP you though, i think she probably used the vocal from AT06 because her vocals, even when mixed with Peco and Princess are far too crisp and clean to be live...when considering the rest of the songs.