[TA news] AYU will give her performance at NHK "SONGS"!

[kinix]

will she ruin SEASONS again... =___=

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

M and SEASONS. Two songs from #3 most downloaded album of 2014 in Recochoku, called A BEST... Also two of her major hits. So strange...

^We're not saying it's strange, we're saying it's TYPICAL and annoying. There are other choices, better choices.

[Coelacanth]

Desperate and humiliating setlist if true. It's like she's saying, "HEY JAPAN!!! REMEMBER ME!!!"

[ayumisrael]

lol at people being surprised that this is the setlist.

It is surprising they at least let her sing Step by step. The setlist is not her own only decision.
I wanna see it.

[attractive nausea]

Yeah it's normal that she has to sing her mainstream songs, when you stop being popular among the general public that's what happens, she could sing her newest song and call it promoting, but maybe they didn't want her to do that for some reason.

[melissalove]

Very disappointed with the setlist. But I knew ayu will pull something like this. Enough with the classics God, as if singing the same old songs will help. We finally get some tv live and it's just Recycled songs from almost every gosh darn concert.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

Originally Posted by ayumisrael

lol at people being surprised that this is the setlist.

It is surprising they at least let her sing Step by step. The setlist is not her own only decision.
I wanna see it.

...what do you mean, "let"? ...

[ayumisrael]

Originally Posted by Pieces_of_SEVEN

...what do you mean, "let"? ...

Let means that that she probably doesn't have a full say in everything she would perform. It's not even her own tour.

[Coelacanth]

I'm just not sure how these old crusty ass songs are supposed to build hype for an upcoming album release with brand new songs. All this promotion for what? So A BEST can continue to slay on Rekochoku? Big deal.

I feel like her willingness to cling to her golden era like this really goes against everything she was conveying in "Don't look back."

[jbrat2219]

I've seen how general fans/non fans react to ayu singing a bunch of new songs instead of the classics (like when I play her concert DVDs), they get so frustrated because they don't know the new music and complain that she should just sing her older songs. Then when a classic pops up, they say, "oh, I know this one!" And they sing along. I think ayu is playing it right this time, even if fans don't like it.

[Delirium-Zer0]

I think one thing Ayu fans have always had a hard time with is that not everything she's gonna do is gonna be for them. Many, many releases and appearances are going to be for the general public instead. It would make no sense for ayu to sell to people who are already buying.

I have plenty of music artists where I loved their older material and their newer stuff just didn't do it for me, so when they sang an older song that I actually knew on TV or in concert, it made me much more excited... then they'd do a new song, once I was pulled in, and it made me more interested in the newer stuff than if they just primarily performed new stuff at the event I'm watching.

The fact is, Ayu's work right now is in no way groundbreaking or exciting, it's just pretty damn good. That's enough for us, but it's not enough to grab people who've lost interest. To get them back, it's better to say "Hey, remember how good my stuff was before? I'm still doing stuff like that!" which is what this'll do.

[mizuki-7]

I found some informations on Baidu ... A chinese fan was elected to go there and the STAFFS told them to say nothing about the content of this mini live lol but this person confirm that there are 5 songs performed & three sets of clothes including two from the AT 2015 ! According to him Ayu's singing was great and he or she was really moved =)
The show would broadcasted 8th August !!

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

I guess that's that then. :/

[~kashifaita~]

HAHA these reactions.

I'm more surprised that she didn't do SURREAL~evolution~SURREAL, but then again the tracklist is just speculation xD. I personally think it's a nice setlist and a real crowd pleaser. Idk, honestly if I was in that audience, I'd be hyped with M, evolution and Movin' on, and sing along to SEASONS; long time fan or not. I think SbS had a good reception so it makes sense she chose that out of the six new songs. Yeah sure, maybe one new song would've been nice, but the inclusion of SbS alone would help people realize she's still releasing new things. If she sang all new songs, the crowd would be too...stale and quiet.

Besides, although her TV performances are rare, but it's not like she's completely stopping them (at least like Namie). She'll have more performances in future, so I'm not going to rage about this haha.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

^Yeah, I'm looking forward to that next performance of M, evolution, BLUE BIRD, and SEASONS!

[Coelacanth]

I feel there's a difference between an artist simply trying to maintain mainstream appeal and an artist who panders to the general public's narrow palate. For an artist with over 200 original songs, choosing to sing her three signature songs--SEASONS, M, evolution and a friggin' Utada Hikaru cover seems like pandering.

The public's perception of her has changed drastically and she's gotta play it extra safe, I get that. But just how long is she going to continue to so transparently placate the public's (and I guess former fans') delicate sensibilities? Reading the lyrics to "Sorrows," you'd think the woman skinned and killed a litter of kittens or something. Does she think her true fans really want her to wallow in self-pity for her percieved missteps? I certainly don't. I just want her to move forward.

[primavera♥]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

I feel there's a difference between an artist simply trying to maintain mainstream appeal and an artist who panders to the general public's narrow palate. For an artist with over 200 original songs, choosing to sing her three signature songs--SEASONS, M, evolution and a friggin' Utada Hikaru cover seems like pandering.

The public's perception of her has changed drastically and she's gotta play it extra safe, I get that. But just how long is she going to continue to so transparently placate the public's (and I guess former fans') delicate sensibilities? Reading the lyrics to "Sorrows," you'd think the woman skinned and killed a litter of kittens or something. Does she think her true fans really want her to wallow in self-pity for her percieved missteps? I certainly don't. I just want her to move forward.

People want her to move forward. If she went here to perform all new songs or songs only her dedicated fans know, she probably wouldn't have even been on the show. And if she had done that, the average person watching the TV probably wouldn't have even watched it if there were nothing to draw then in to at least be able to try one new song. Singing old songs to get attention towards a newer song is better than getting no attention at all. Like, there are different ways to promote, some of which aren't directed at her fans.

If ayu were to move on and not care about the public she probably wouldn't even be doing this so I don't really get why that's hard to understand.

And I also don't see a problem with her being able to reflect on how she thinks she messed up. and then expressing it to her fans. She should move on eventually, but she should definitely evaluate herself.

[attractive nausea]

^ Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe she didn't even get to choose which songs she was gonna perform?

[Coelacanth]

Originally Posted by attractive nausea

^ Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe she didn't even get to choose which songs she was gonna perform?

If you're willing to make such an assumption... then are you willing to speculate about the following:

What aspects of her career does she have control over? How much of Ayu is HER or a marketing/creative team?

I don't want to enter this territory. At the end of the day, Ayu has to take the flak for every decision either she or her team makes. She knows this.

[truehappiness]

Originally Posted by Coelacanth

If you're willing to make such an assumption... then are you willing to speculate about the following:

What aspects of her career does she have control over? How much of Ayu is HER or a marketing/creative team?

I don't want to enter this territory. At the end of the day, Ayu has to take the flak for every decision either she or her team makes. She knows this.

I do remember there was some arguing with her manager about what she should perform at a-nation during 2011, I think. She likely has more say than most artists, but still has to do what she's told for the most part.

I think she's stuck as far as TV performances go and there's no way out for her other than to completely stop doing them since they will likely always be some older tracks coupled with maybe one or two new songs. When was the last time she performed a new track on its own?

Last minute was on MUSIC STATION, but only with M. Feel the love was also on MUSIC STATION, but with evolution and SURREAL. (she also had a BLUE BIRD/evolution performance that year)

So three years ago, back in 2012 before HEY!HEY!HEY! finished its run, we got Song 4 u on its own. That was the last time she was able to perform a new song without older material to accompany it. It's a bit sad, but I think it is very unlikely we'll ever see Ayu on TV without the 'classics' attached to her. Who knows though, many thought she might not show up on MUSIC STATION again after the beloved thing and then she popped up again out of nowhere.