CDL 11/12 opinions thread

[pommy48]

loooove the stage~! It looks so fun, but Ayu does blend in with all of the dancers lol

I'm beginning to think she's sitting down so much because the choreographers didn't do their job, but oh well~

[tasking]

Originally Posted by pommy48

I'm beginning to think she's sitting down so much because the choreographers didn't do their job, but oh well~

This.

[setsuka]

I liked it!
the only things I didn't like:
Timmy should stay behind the scenes tbqh
Love Songs was too out of place
the female outfits for Party Queen were ugly
Never Ever little play was random,I didn't like it
retire the circus act

everything else was fantastic Party Queen,Sending Mail and November

[asagarichan]

This countdown is amazing!

[cosmicfirefly]

I thought it was a pretty good countdown, could see the hotel theme throughout and she had a lot of energy, but at times there were just too many dancers. Also, I don't know if she really needs all 4 backup singers. Loved the ballad performances!

[Jennie Mae]

I have the feeling that there are a lot of positive reviews suddenly emerging on here is due to all the negative comments from people who saw the shows on the 29th and 30th, and we all just naturally lowered our expectations. It wasn't her best show, but it was still incredible.

[RayJason]

I wasn't able to stream because I was celebrating New Year with friends and family so I had to download and watch it. (Made possible because of Aderianu, thanks again!)

Positive: Her voice (I LOVED her voice in fated), her appearance, some costumes, she brought her lively song sparkle back, she actively went in a few dance sequences and the stage was awesome!

Negative: Timmy (wtf, is he doing there? I can understand that he was a part of 'Happening Here' but did he really need to contribute his voice to songs as Moon and Sparkle? NO, I really did not like that the camera concentrated on him sometimes as if he was the only backup singer...), too much backup singers (I felt like they overpowered ayu. I loved them during 'do it again' though), her short hair and the poor tracklist. I would love to hear songs as M, Surreal, Depend on You etc.

I didn't mind that she sat during 'Sparkle'. I really got demotivated because of the reviews posted in the other thread. I'm never going to read reviews again lol.

I think that this year's CDL and previous year's were the most disappointing CDL's, to be very honest.

[Chritopher]

I may not like the show really much but what is the most important for me is artist's vocals. Ayu managed to surprise me and did very well this time - her vocals were pretty decent. That's what made me very happy about this CDL :-) So I've got only few complaints:
All that random dancing in Love Song was a great way to ruin this very special song.
Happening Here looked more like a gay parade which was hillarious, weird and OK at the same time LOL. And it also made me finally realize that Timmy was that "woman" from Brillante (I'm still in doubts though :-)). Too much sitting was strange for Ayu concert, but at least it was OK to see her like that for a change :-) Weird costume choices...well, I guess it's easy to get used to, watching other Ayu concerts.

[jiarongisme]

I'm pretty impressed with the concert. To be honest I feel like the dynamics of this concert isn't FULLY Ayu-ish, but it's kinda refreshing and entertaining. I thought the amount of dancers were really too much though, and the choreography's a mess at times. But, her vocals, the theatrics, and the stage was pretty good! And Ayu really need to stop using the clowns. They are not working for me, and it's getting pretty annoying. It's not like the clowns fit the whole theme of HOTEL Love songs too. I could understand for Rock'n'Roll Circus (even though I didn't like them from there either).

Spoiler:

01.do it again
LOOOOOOOOOVE the opening video. The entrance pretty cool, but Ayu's outfittfit was kinda bleh. The whole mask thing was really interesting until the dancers took off the cloak and revealed their PJs. What.

02.Happening Here
Thought the studio recording was a mess, but it's a really great song for a live performance and it showed in the performance. So much fun and energy!

-insomnia
Hookers! Like tasking, I kinda expected NEVER EVER to open this segment because of the scantily clad dancers.

03.MOON
Not bad. I kinda like the slanted bed idea, and Ayu did a bit of contemporary dance! It was... Okay I guess.

04.fated
And the hookers are back, but why are they back? Wanting Maro, then pushing him around, then Ayu's on a couch, and what really happened to the girl from MOON? Pretty confusing. Not a fan of her vocals.

-feedback

05.NEVER EVER
The dancers were SO ANNOYING. Ayu sounded pretty good.

06.sending mail
Her vocals kinda fell short for me. The story there and Ayu's acting was pretty good though. Subaru with eyeliner is a no-no.

-machine

07.Sparkle
Pretty random choice imo. But it was cool since she sounded pretty good (though not as good as AT09). I loved the glow-in-the-dark parts of the outfit heh.

08.Humming7/4
09.evolution
Typical Humming/evo performance.

11.RAINBOW(COUNTDOWN)
Pretty good, until the end. The outfit kinda looks like the beloved dress in PoM except that they've cut the skirt to a shorter length. Even though I didn't understand what Ayu was saying, I felt pretty touched during the countdown. Especially when she's giving a shoutout to the audience from different areas of Japan!

12.November
Would've LOVED it if not for Shu-ya. It would've been the show stopper for me. Her vocals were fantastic, the whole water fountain thing was great. But Shu-ya. Bleah. Still waiting for a CAROLS @ AT05 moment and this was really close.

-music

13.Ladies Night
The cutesy voice... D: It's kinda worst than her usual cutesy voice imo lol. I really liked the chair in mid-air thing. And also the whole set up and outfit. Reminded me of a Vegas show.

14.Party queen~Happening Here
I LOVE Party queen (except the cutesy voice) though it kinda sounds like a drag queen theme song

15.Love song
Left no impression. Weird.

ENCORE
16.how beautiful you are
BEAUTIFUL song. Her vocals were really great too.

17.Trauma
If only she hadn't cut the song.

18.Boys&Girls
Hahaha the second verse moment was funny.

19.MY ALL
Typical. I miss her whole shouting thanks to a silent audience routine though.

[*hearT_Place*]

Originally Posted by jiarongisme

13.Ladies Night
The cutesy voice... D: It's kinda worst than her usual cutesy voice imo lol.

Yeah...using it in a song about (presumably) adult women going out and having fun REALLY didn't work.
I liked the cutesy voice...way back when HONEY came out, but HONEY is the ONLY song the cutesy voice actually fits. In anything else, it just sounds terrible.

[isthisLOL?]

About the back-up singers overpowering Ayumi thing: This was a live broadcast, the sound wasn't properly mixed. Actually this year Ayumi's voice was louder and clearer than in the live broadcasts of CDL0910 and CDL1011, we heard her better despite more back-up singers.
4 back-up singers are, given they have the right voice types and it seems they do, the perfect support for a singer and I think we will notice that on the DVD/Bluray, they won't overpower her anymore when properly mixed, instead she will sound a million times better by finally having some male harmonies thrown in.(The deepest harmonies support high voices best and Ayumi as mezzo-soprano is quite high - it's the reason Peco was a very good back-up singer, her voice went very well with Ayumi's no matter if people like her or not)

[DaNNy_aYu]

I've seen CDL and I have contradictory feelings about it
- Although do it again is one of my favorites songs in Love Songs, the performance os it seemed boring and toooooo much repetitive for me
- Happening Here (so crazy XD), NEVER EVER and sending mail were my favorite ones.
- Ladies Night's concept were good, but I didn't like her voice there.
- Why Timmy in Sparkle? Sparkle is one of my favorite songs of all time and I don't understand the performance. Ayu is seated too much time... And it seems a performance of the dancers rather than Ayu's!
- Rainbow was so emotive, I loved it. At least one Rainbow performance that I love!
- The new songs are so good! Speacilly Hbya is one of the best ballads since Curtain Call IMO.
- I saw more the dancers and backup singers than Ayumi. That annoys me XDDD

To sum up, a really good CDL (ayu's voice is improving and a lot of my favorite songs) but too much presence of dancers!

[ayu_ready?]

I didn't like CDL10-11 at all
I wonder if this one is better?

[LEOyumi]

Compared to last year's CDL, PoM and RnRC Tour, this one lacked so many things.
The focus on the dancers was too much, her voice wasn't as strong as I thought it would be... But I really liked it. The setlist is really good, lots of great songs! I must say I cried during how beautiful you are! I didn't like the NEVER EVER performance (well, vocally it was good, but the dancing...), but that acapella part with the new backing vocal, WOW! And the new backing vocal looks sooooo much like Aika from Momusu. LOL
The Love Song performance was so out of place to me. It should've been on the encore imo.
Timmy... What can I say about him? With make-up, he looks really bizarre (in a very good way), but without make-up... HE'S SO CUTE! I think I'm in love. xD I also liked Michi (is it his name?) and Peco was missed.
The fountain on November was one of the highlights of the show! Soooo pretty. And Shu-ya didn't annoy me this time.
I just forgot to say... Boys & Girls was soooo great, those moments she forgets the lyrics... Always the best parts of her shows! XD

[PoetGirl]

I just finished watching it.

I have to agree its too much sitting, I felt like something is wrong when third song came up and she's still sitting. I dont like the flow of the setlist either nor how Love song is kinda ruined. Its such an incredible song...you can't do that!

I was very pleased with her vocals and outfits. My fav performances were MOON, fated, November and how beautiful you are.

[RayJason]

I watched the CDL again and I found Timmy's appearance to be less annoying. He's actually a little bit cool! It was nice having someone on stage talking English XD. Though, I feel bad for the awkward introduction he gave.

Voted for 2 btw.

[Jester]

I pretty enjoy with this show the first thing came into my mind is, It was like after the tsunami she has PoM that start with nothing it's like everyone start from 0 including Ayu too. And then CDL2011-2012 when I saw it, It was like I see a next step from the zero thing it's remind me of "Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 Vol.1" the moving circle stage, the colorful outfit, the weird show, etc. So IMO maybe It's just the beginning the Arena tour 2012 Hotel Love songs would be "Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 Vol.2" because If it go this way it's really makes sense that why she makes songs like her earlier year. I would be glad to see that again cuz it mean the WOW thing will coming back by little to little.

[truehappiness]

I think Ladies Night will never be a 'cool' song to Ayu. She's NEVER going to sing it in a non-cutesy voice because in her head, the song is just like HONEY or something. Think about all of the performances of the song... they're ALL very 'adorable' and she uses that nasal voice for all of them. The best performance of the song was the first one she did at AT06 which IMO should've been the last. UNLESS she starts performing ~another night~ which would be amazing.

Also... I don't think people are being overwhelmingly positive because of negative reviews. And who is to say that people who said nice things about the concert even read other comments before watching the show? If you take the reviews from the first show or two out of the equation, I don't think it would have affected opinions in the slightest.

[emi♡]

Violet fur is awesome.


I don't think people are being crazy positive either. I'm actually surprised we had negative reviews at all from anyone who's never seen her before.

The positive reactions are how AHS normally loves all her crap

The show might be crappy, but people are still going to love it, because of Ayu and all the theatrics. And if the stage is elaborate enough, which apparently it is.

It's not rocket science. Ayu + Good visuals = A good show for most people around here.

Feel free to not agree.

[isthisLOL?]

^ Well this show also features what probably are the best vocals we have heard in Ayumi's live broadcasts.