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  •  driftingsymfony
      driftingsymfony
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
Addicted to Hikki
Joined: 2009/3/9
A/S/L 21/M/Sacramento-Los Angeles
Posts: 45
The event was indeed unorganized. It was very bad. I got there around 5:30PM. I didn't get a wrist band, but I kept on waiting in line. Most people left because security told them too. By still waiting in line, I managed to be the last 40 people let in to the store.

So, I was able to get a glimpse of Utada, hear two songs, and listen to the Q&A session (which I recorded on video).

After the Q&A they announced that they would do pictures with Utada and as everyone formed a "line" they let everyone from outside in (like re-opening the store?)
It was disaster. Utada soon left, and it became more chaotic from then.

In any case, there were a lot of fans, more than I thought. Although, some fans were there simply cause they knew Hikki's older works, not necessarily her new works. Some people were just there for the heck of it.

It was interesting, and fun.
Posted on: 2009/3/24 23:41
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Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
UtadaNet Regular
Joined: 2005/9/2
A/S/L 23/F/Chicago
Posts: 26
Haha, It's cool to see everyone's different experiences of the event. Guess it's my turn then. ^.~

I got to a late start but thought I'd make it by 6:00 till I hit traffic on Highland. I'm new to LA so really I had no idea how bad it was. Ended up paying $20 for parking in a spot that said $10 max. I think the guy scammed me or something but I was in a hurry so I just paid it.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to find the Sephora but I stumbled upon the Huge line going down the stairs from the store front. It was pretty obvious everyone was there for Utada. Of course the minute I joined the end of the line the security guards started to tell everyone to go away since there was no way we would be getting in.

Seeing as how I had no intention of just walking away after blowing $20 on parking I went up stairs and stood with the crowd of people waiting to see her leave. I don't know about the other people but the two security guys (one was the mall's, the other was in a black suit) were definitely very rude. No one was being noisy or destructive, we were all just waiting and trying to hear/see Utada. Besides, all their shouting did was make people shuffle about.

I ended up sitting on one of those stone benches with the plants in the middle and started talking to this guy. I guess he had done the email RSVP (I had missed that completely) but apparently the guy with the list disappeared. Some girl came out with a list and let a couple girls in so he went over to her. She made him wait so we started talking again. By a crazy stroke of luck, when she came back he told her he had RSVPed for 2 people so she let us both in (this was super nice, he didn't have to do that at all).

When we got in most of the event was over. We got to hear Utada talk about a couple of her songs and answer a few fan questions, but I had a really hard time catching a glimpse of her. It would have been nice if she had been higher up or something. I ended up watching through someone else's raised camera.

Then it got crazy cause the Kiss DJ said Everyone would get to take a picture with Utada. Needless to say just about everyone stood along the wall for about 20 min and maybe 15 people got pictures before she had to leave for her flight to NY. Then we were told we'd all get a picture print or a makeup bag so everyone sorta rushed the doors. It was all so disorganized. It didn't take long for them to run out of whatever was getting handed out and my new friend and I left empty handed.

My impression was that they had no idea they would be getting that many people. I can only hope things will be better prepped for the other events. Really it doesn't take much to have a stack of 500 photos printed to make sure everyone gets one (it would be a nice bonus if Utada signed them but I wouldn't expect that). At least I was able to get in and hear her talk, and I made a new friend. Hopefully next time she's doing a promotion in the area it's better organized.
Posted on: 2009/3/25 0:19
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  •  Hikki101
      Hikki101
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
Hikki Obsessed
Joined: 2009/2/20
A/S/L 17/ M/ Bangkok
Posts: 387
Quote:

S0ySauce wrote:
It was fun listening to her talk. Especially when she mentioned the time she was drunk and fighting tug of war with a friend's dog using her mouth. LoL.


Haha, I saw that on Youtube, too when she was talking about the tua of war with her friend's dog and waking up withan aching teeth. Here's a link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdvSqD9Tycw You can search utada @ sephora and there are lots of vids, but stupid ppl screaming a her when she is talking, I know they're excited but at least they should respect her when she's talking
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Posted on: 2009/3/25 4:45
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Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
Administrator
Joined: 2004/3/2
A/S/L
Posts: 1466
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Twitter: @UtadaNet
Posted on: 2009/3/25 4:46
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Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
Administrator
Joined: 2004/3/2
A/S/L
Posts: 1466
New Video, showing the introduction, hikki walking in, and the start of the interview...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6xYBRxOYU
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Twitter: @UtadaNet
Posted on: 2009/3/25 11:26
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  •  <3_UtadaHikaru_Aijin_<3
      <3_UtadaHikaru_Aijin_<3
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
Show Off!
Joined: 2007/7/24
A/S/L 17/M/Cal
Posts: 8413
OMG!!!! who know there would be so many freakin ppl would be there!!! OMG!! i should of been there be with so many freakin hikkifans omg!!!! that would of been so fun, just watchin the vid gets me sad/hyped and such

omg thx for the post guys and Q =D

i'm am so jealous of ppl who went! omg ur the most luckiest ppl alive!!
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Posted on: 2009/3/25 12:03
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  •  lil2twins
      lil2twins
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
UtadaNet Regular
Joined: 2009/2/17
A/S/L
Posts: 20
If anyone has a facebook, I wrote a blog with pictures on my facebook if anyone wants to check it out.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746710428&ref=profile#/note.php?note_id=59307689373&ref=mf

Not sure if you need to be my friend, but if you are curious and wanna read; ill definitely give you an add :)

Videos are also posted on my Facebook. I capture utada saying "WOOO" to the fans haha.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=79011240428&ref=nf

YES EVENT WAS UNORGANIZED. IMO, Id rather not have her do the interview, and just have her do a photo/signing session. The interview took too much time and everyone couldnt get the chance to take a picture with her :(
Posted on: 2009/3/25 12:59
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  •  featpete
      featpete
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
UtadaNet Newbie
Joined: 2009/3/25
A/S/L
Posts: 2
I read through the other posts and am very sad to hear that not everyone was able to meet/greet with Utada.

I went to the BoA signing/meet n greet just a couple days prior and had a pretty bad experience because of the sheer number of attendees, so I decided that I would show up earlier for Utada's event. I got to Sephora at 2:30 and put myself on the waitlist. Luckily, there weren't many people ahead of me at the time.

Even though the event was supposed to start at 6, I don't think it started until about 6:45 or so? My friend and I were pretty lucky because there were only maybe 150 people ahead of us, which meant that the store wasn't super packed when we were let in. We ended up inching our way on the left hand side of the room because there was a decent amount of space there and got a REALLY good view (as you can see from the pic below). I kind of agree that they shouldn't have done an album listening party because honestly, we've all heard the new songs already and it would have been nice to have more time for meet 'n greet. Before she came out, they said that everyone would get a chance to get a picture with her but I guess it's really unfortunate that they didn't. My friend and I ended up lucking out that we were VERY close to the stage where they started to form the line for the meet 'n greet. We were probably around the 30th-40th people who got to do the meet and greet with her.

They were VERY hurried with meeting Utada, which in the end was okay because there were so many people. They had a guy take your camera for you so that you could stand next to her and snap a pic. I was motioning to put my hand on her back (because that's what people usually do when taking pics together) but one of her security people kind of slapped it away, which was awkward. I didn't really get to speak to her but she was very nice and casual. She didn't do any personalized signings, but an assistant handed everyone an 8"x10" of her presigned, which was really nice! *My friend and I compared our autographs just to make sure it wasn't some preprinted thing, and the "d" on the Utada are different so she really did sign them. :)





In the end I guess I was one of the luckier people. Good luck to those who are planning on going tonight for the NY event and later for the Florida one!
Posted on: 2009/3/25 15:23
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  •  Pom
      Pom
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
UtadaNet Newbie
Joined: 2009/3/25
A/S/L
Posts: 1
To everyone to who went to the LA one, Utada wrote a message of thanks and apology in her blog at http://www.u3music.com/message/index.php?m=1&d=2009032512183e.xml (i can't copy and paste because it has this giant warning in the note, but the link shouldn't be too bad right?)
Posted on: 2009/3/25 17:25
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  •  CubicUtada
      CubicUtada
Re: Utada@Sephora HOLLYWOOD [March24]
UtadaNet Newbie
Joined: 2008/6/2
A/S/L
Posts: 6
it was the most unorganized event ive ever been to
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Posted on: 2009/3/25 20:06
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