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The Hawaiian meet and greet, was fan heaven and TITO hell, all the hard work, all Utada had to do was to turn up, executive private transport willingly provided.

Now there is no acceptable excuse for not completing a professional commitment that Utada willingly signed up to, without fear or favour.

Utada citing a sudden lack of ambition in the US, and pitching fan mania, as some sort of logical reason for ?ducking and diving? out of the essential publicity and promotion that is the life blood that can either make or break a project like TITO, and subsequently to smother any possibility of a second single is truly remarkable, and hint at it in a meet and greet originally publicised as part of a TITO promotional tour is ironic.

About the smoking and Drinking, Utada when questions about role models and lets be clear is a person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others, distanced herself from any such notion, delegating that role to fans parents.

A public figure with the influence that Utada commands should strongly reflect and encourage positives lifestyles, any wavering from the straight and narrow will result in negative consequences.

In the Pop world of excess, Utada is still a cool customer, and has mercifully steered well clear of drugs?

Utada's lack of of ambition here in the U.S. is somewhat aggrivating. By the time she became sick with tonsilitis CBTM was already in the Top 40 Rhythmic. With the Best Buy event and other promotional events planned that song was on the road to become bigger.
I would think the success of her single would motivate her but I was wrong. She said she felt stifled and a bit bored with her Japanese career (so am I). There are so many artists who would kill to be in her posotion and she's screwing her English career up. I so wanted to see her perform at Madison Square Garden here in N.Y.

I always knew that Utada had just never set herself up properly for a US career. She doesn't truly have the ambition to do it. Sure, TITO was a nice dream, of seeing her celebrated for the icon she is in Japan, but most Westerners can't see what her Japanese fans (or the select few Western ones) see.
Utada is talented, yes. She is beautiful, yes, but I can honestly say I truly think she's screwed up with TITO. I know she fell ill, and that is a bad time to do so, but something just hasn't seemed right to me, and I feel like she's slipping further and further away from us.
Before, on her UBlog, she'd post completely random things (such as the clutch-purse and lack of a hairbrush etc.), and I know she's busy, but she was busy then and she could post, so I don't see what's stopping her.

Also, the fact that she went off ill just seemed so... I don't know how to describe it. I guess in the best terms, it was "planned"? She disappeared so suddenly and without comment that people did seriously begin to worry about her health and wellfare (not sure if that's spelled right.). And with TITO being released in May (physically) and her absence beginning just after its release, it's been almost 4 solid months of nothing. Not even a "I'm getting better". I know she put she was at the recovery stage or something in a blog, but if she truly was in the later part of a recovery stage, wouldn't that have been addressed more publicly?

And to make matters worse, I think TITO is now just a distant dream. Utada felt like she wanted a new challenge, because releasing songs in Japan and everyone instantly liking them and shooting her to the top of the charts again bored her. So why did she choose to come to the West if she hadn't really set her whole heart into it?
Sure, TITO was a good album (many people say so), but I always felt it was missing something, and I think I now know - Utada's dedication to break into the West just doesn't seem to be there. I feel that with EXODUS, Utada tried her damned hardest to create something people would enjoy, and it shows. If EXODUS had made it big, it would have been so refreshing to hear something new on the radio, instead of the same, manufactured, mundane stuff we hear nowadays.
I think Utada should rethink her strategy with fighting to break into the US, because if she's not 100% with it, she's gonna be chewed up and spat back out.

And now, by the looks of it, the possibility of a new single from TITO looks about as likely as a new single from EXODUS...

And right now, I can honestly see Utada retiring before she's 30. I think she feels she's done enough now, because what's the point in releasing music from 9 years ago, besides to cash in?

I think it's such a shame because Utada is a rare gem, something you truly do not see more than twice in a lifetime. She's exceptionally talented, she knows what she's doing, she's gorgeous, she has a career spanning ten years. But then again, that may be it, she's bored now - she's been in the business 10 years, maybe she wants a rest, a break from it all.

I don't know, this is just one fan's ramblings, but I feel that Utada is going to turn around one day (possibly soon) and say "I'm done now. I feel I've done all I can, and I will work on my education. Maybe in ten years I will continue with music, but it's just not a top priority for me anymore".

I'm awaiting such a dark dream to come true.

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This may be beating a dead horse, but I don't think the changes in Utada's voice have to do with drinking and smoking. Well, perhaps drinking, but Hikki said she doesn't smoke (at least not very much). I'm not saying they have NOTHING to do with the changes, but my opinion is that Hikki went and changed her vocal style.

Notice in the first two videos how much quieter her voice was? I could barely hear her throughout the "Letters" performance. I would say that's the video quality, except ALL of her pre-Ultra Blue live performances are like that. It's easier to hear her in "Colors" because she's singing into a studio mic, which is clearer than a hand held. However, in both those videos, I still heard her slipping around quite a bit and hitting some flat notes. The difference in the TiL and PoL performances is that she was belting much more. I think Hikki changed her singing style so that she would sound louder- however, for anyone who knows anything about singing, the louder you get the harder it is to control your voice (due to using more breath in less time) and the more noticeable mistakes are. If Utada's voice is as delicate and light as I think it is (look at how small she is!), upping the amplitude would cause it to split and that's where those throaty "cracking" sounds come in as she's singing "This is Love" and "Prisoner of Love". That's also why her live performances of late have always gone downhill the longer she's singing (PoL started fine, but you could see her strain as she went on), and that's probably why CBTM is always cut short. Utada's voice type is already unsuited for a song like "Come Back to Me", a very traditional R&B belt-it-out-like-Beyonce tune when Utada's voice is much less powerful in terms of volume. That's also why Utada generally sings ballads very well: that's where her voice shows its true colors. Utada's singing gift is in texture and accuracy. Ballads are slow and she has time to shift between notes. Pop/R&B songs like PoL and CBTM force her to cut down on accuracy and push her voice past the point where the texture really shows through. Notice how much better Utada's performance of FYI was on CBS Early Show? It's not a particularly easy song. It's just easier for Utada because it's more of a ballad and it gives her voice time to adjust.

All of this can be evidenced by her studio performances. Utada sounds much better on CD, almost completely different according to some people, and it's not because they run her through machines a bazillion and one times. It's because in the studio, she can take breaks, record in takes, and let her voice rests when it needs to. Also, she doesn't have to belt in the studio. Less volume equates to more control, and the result is basically the opposite of what happens to her on stage. Even a song like "Prisoner of Love" can be sung in studio in such a way that Utada won't strain her voice.

So, that's my evaluation. Feel free to tear it to pieces, whoever cares to. :3

Shuri/Eli

I'm with Ghostdog here. I was watching some older clips for some reason, and WOW could she EVER sing live back in the day. I was saying that she sounded EXACTLY like her CDs. That's no reasy feat! But not these days -

Smoking is bad for you Hikaru. *slaps nose with rolled newspaper* BAD BAD!

From a selfish fan perspective, less smoking, less drinking, less partying, more work.

But as a fellow human being, she can do whatever she wants. Skydive naked into the Sea of Japan for frak's sake.

If she releases a good product, I'll buy it. I bought TITO because it wasn't half-bad. But it wasn't great either.

JimJam is sadly right. A TITO single is about as likely as an EXODUS one at this date. "Timing" is a really relevant point. I don't at all buy the 'illness' excuse, as she took the effort to dissapear without trace for months. It seems as though promo was cancelled and dried up, or she just gave up. "I'm rich enough already - ", "I don't do small-time.", "I miss sleeping with Kuma-chang.", "I needa drink or two (or sixteen)."

I fear that the 'heyday' of being a Hikki fan is over.

I wouldn't think that her sickness was "planned", If u catch those live performance on CBTM and FYI aired on CBS morning show, she's really struggling with her voice... she preferred to use her normal talking voice instead, which i think is less taxing on her vocal chords. And when she does use her diaphragm to sing, its kinda tight.

I do agree with shurikid, it really depends too on the kind of song she sings live, most of her Flavor of Life performance are quite good, despite being so called "after excessive smoking and drinking". infact, she already liked alcohol during her be my last days (seen from smap x smap bistro)...

Utada's retirement won't be in the near future i suppose, although ghostdog u mention that she keeps bringing up the word "retire" in the hawaii interview. Retiring is always wat working people think, like the end of their career. Its always easy to promise something before retirement. Anyway "hoping to make a cover CD, where the artists she mentioned are not even japanese... and then hoping to have some live performance in the US, and hinting that if she will, it would be something awesome" means she at least still have the heart to keep moving on in the US. Well i do think jim jam is right about her feeling bored with making music, which is why the cover CD... hahahaha. After 10 years of rigorous work... maybe she is... but music is in her blood!!! she will do something that's somehow related to it anyhow

Hikki kinda likes to take things easy though. I remember her saying that she doesn't like to plan stuff, cos u'll never know what would happen next. Like in this TiTo case, she didn't expect her sickness to come at such timing, which then lose her momentum... and she goes like, "oh well i didn't really plan anything big at 1st anyway. Let it be then... might as well take the chance and rest, and come back again another time " Well, she could since she's still so young, and she's a smart girl alright!

I don't think her voice changed due to smoking and drinking either. I knew she liked drinking from years ago, didn't know about the smoking though. I wasnt surprised since everyone in japan smokes. But she said that she gets similar symptoms of the sickness once or twice a year. And I believe a surgery was reccommended? So I would think after a while of that repetitive sickness, her throat would be damaged. She needs a lot of rest. She's been working hard these past 10 years. And I dont think she's had much time to herself.
Then again, that's what I think.
I believe she will continue to produce good music. As her fans, we have to always be there supporting her. She'll resume her work eventually. Music is in her blood. Who knows, she may return to us with a surprise.

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I agree with a_kikoo. Who am I to say tell Hikki to keep working just to satisfy myself? How can you blame the woman for wanting to take a break for a while? She's been one of the biggest stars in Japan for the last decade! With all this talk of retirement, a lot of people on this forum are too pessimistic and jump to conclusions WAY too fast. Let her have her break. It's not like she's doing absolutely nothing; she posted that she's in the studio...

Her voice strained a lot after utada united.

As we can see from the videos, her ethereal voice quality from her deep river and distance era seem to be the best such as ETERNALLY, FINAL DISTANCE, LETTERS, etc. It degraded during her ultra blue era wherein the highest and finest vocals can be heard only in COLORS and BLUE. It aggravated during her HEART STATION era wherein the only ethereal song she recorded was FLAVOR OF LIFE & STAY GOLD(stay gold seemed to be mastered only on CD recording) :{