Alex0821 wrote:
"Come Back to Me" was the best single Utada could've released in terms of breaking the American market. All of my friends who frankly are xenophobic when it comes to music really liked that song: it blended in with today's mainstream American pop/R&B.

The weak single this time around was Dirty Desire - it was just too strange for US ears. Just because a song is up-beat doesn't mean it makes people want to dance, and Dirty Desire was just weird (I'm speaking for the US market, not for myself). If she wanted a dance hit, it should've been On and On.

By the way, as other people have mentioned, defining success is difficult. If success means "big as Britney," then basically only two or three people a year become successful in the US market (last year would've been Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, and that might even be it). Based on where her singles went on the charts, both Billboard and iTunes, I would say she was moderately successful, especially compared to most foreign artists. And a "failure" doesn't sell-out Irving Plaza in two days.