OK...

MY nominee for Worst Kohaku Performance of '04 goes to Sada Masashi. This is the guy who wrote the mellow, stirring theme music for "Kita no Kuni Kara."

I think he slipped too much LSD in his tea that morning cause he was going off on several tangents in an attempt to replicate John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over" anthem. Only the generous executives at NHK gave him what seemed like ten minutes to get his point across: OK, Merry Christmas already!!!

And I hope he stays in bed for at least two weeks to sober up.
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Saburo wrote:

OK... MY nominee for Worst Kohaku Performance of '04 goes to Sada Masashi. This is the guy who wrote the mellow, stirring theme music for "Kita no Kuni Kara." I think he slipped too much LSD in his tea that morning cause he was going off on several tangents in an attempt to replicate John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over" anthem. Only the generous executives at NHK gave him what seemed like ten minutes to get his point across: OK, Merry Christmas already!!! And I hope he stays in bed for at least two weeks to sober up.

I agree. At the very least, it was the most annoying performance of the night. He usually does a pretty good job on Kohaku, but I was very confused by this song.
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Now I'm 2-1/2 hours into the show and I like the more traditional singers as opposed to the over-produced J-pop stuff, particularly the boy J-pop groups: most of them seem so obsessed with their "look" that their music is mediocre at best... It's like a hairstyling/warbdrobe freak show.

Hmm...

my fav performances were by Hirai Ken, DCT and Matsumoto Ken.

and it seems like the ratings for 55th NHK kouhaku hit the lowest in many years. From what I know, the yearly ratings were over 40% normally...

First half = 30.9%
Second half = 39.3%

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20050103-00000006-dal-ent

3Peace...
Orenji

groink wrote:

My girl Mizumori Kaori was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! She also took part in a lot of the cheering during the other acts. At one point in the event, she was wearing a very sexy silk red outfit... Nagayama Yoko also looked really great! Fuji Ayako was extremely great... I've heard her a few times before, but her Kouhaku performance gave me goosebumps! --- groink

Fuji Ayako really impressed me, surely one of the best acts !!!!!!! Nagayama Yoko was great too (she sang one of my favorite enka songs) !!!! And Hikawa Kiyoshi blew doors too !!!! Has another female enka act that impressed me too, but I can't remember the singer's name ...

I like Matsudaira Ken's performance too, it was really funny (ALERT: His Samba has absolutely nothing to do with real Samba !!!!), the most entertaining moment of the night (oh, and he'll play Musashibo Benkei in "Yoshitsune", hard to believe ... )!!!!!!

Among the J-Popsters, I think W-inds, Exile, BoA, Shimatani Hitomi, Dreams Come True, Hirai Ken and, obviously, Tokio (aaahhh, my gorgeous Mabo... ) were good.
Well, in fact, the Popsters weren't so great this year (or that year, we are on 2005 already ...). The female acts (specially Ueto Aya, Momusu and their derivatives) bugged the hell out of me once again ...

orenji wrote:

and it seems like the ratings for 55th NHK kouhaku hit the lowest in many years. From what I know, the yearly ratings were over 40% normally... First half = 30.9% Second half = 39.3%

I'm not surprised, since Smap wasn't there (I honestly don't like Smap's songs, but the japanese love them ...)
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Here's my take on the poor Kouhaku ratings... A combination of things:

High availability of motion video/audio of fans' favorite idols are available at your fingertips at various legal places on the Internet.

DVD sales of PMs and other idol-related merchandise satisfy fans' crave.

Pirating and sharing of those DVDs on the Internet, giving the idols even more and broader exposure throughout Japan and the world.

In my honest opinion, Kouhaku Uta-Gassen as a media vehicle is no longer a necessity for both music fans and artistes. When Kouhaku was first invented over 50 years ago, it served as a vehicle to expose current and up-and-coming artistes who most of Japan haven't otherwise been able to see. Remember, now, that back then, all you had were a handful of low-resolution color magazines and a small number of analog TV stations. Even color wasn't used in earlier broadcasts.

With today's technology, including the Internet, Kouhaku is now obsolete. Here's other pieces of evidence to prove my point... The invitations given to artistes are supposedly given to artistes, based on the following criteria:

1) Artist released a new song since the last Kouhaku.
2) The artist is popular, and there was heavy demand by the fans (or at least that's what NHK claims).
3) Kouhaku icons, who's appearance is virtually a MUST.

With that, NHK brought back at least two artistes that I recognized: Natsukawa Rimi and Yokoyama Youko. Given that they did actually release something new this past year, neither of them performed anything new. Instead, they sang the same song as th 54th Kouhaku. And, Rimi-chan even sang the same song for the 3rd year in a row!!!!

What does this point mean? NHK could have paid SMAP billions of yen to have them appear on Kouhaku. My suspicion: SMAP does not need Kouhaku. Neither does Utada, Matsuda Seiko, and many other artistes. You do see huge stars like Morning Musume make an appearance year after year, but my understanding is that their appearance is almost a contractual requirement with their production company.

For me personally, an appearance on Kouhaku is a MUST for all Japanese enka stars to strive for. When Kouhaku was invented, virtually the entire cast of artistes were either enka or very damn close to it. If you watch the Okinawan Kouhaku Uta-Gassen, earlier Kouhaku's were very similar to it.

For me, I could care less about the show's ratings. As a matter of fact, I'm not surprised on the numbers. Like I said before, fans do not need Kouhaku to see their artistes.

NHK should, however, continue to air the annual show for years to come. It's a spectacle in its own right. Fans like myself will continue to watch the show for years to come. You know what? It's not the only show of the year...

--- groink

Nice revealation, groink. I can see where you're coming from and I agree as well.
I like watching to Kohaku as well, but this year's one didn't do it for me. The Enka singers were great, but all those Korean pop singers...
But that doesn't mean I'll stop watching it. I've been taping the Kohaku every year since 1999.
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ahochaude wrote:

Nice revealation, groink. I can see where you're coming from and I agree as well. I like watching to Kohaku as well, but this year's one didn't do it for me. The Enka singers were great, but all those Korean pop singers...

Haven't seen it yet (yeah I must be one the last ones), got it Tivoed though. Many people dismiss Enka because it's not J-pop, but I appreciate it. As far as the Korean singers, blame it on the popularity of Winter Sonata. I read somewhere that Japan Airlines (or some other airline) is marketing chartered flights to the Winter Sonata sites.

dochira wrote:

Haven't seen it yet (yeah I must be one the last ones), got it Tivoed though. Many people dismiss Enka because it's not J-pop, but I appreciate it. As far as the Korean singers, blame it on the popularity of Winter Sonata. I read somewhere that Japan Airlines (or some other airline) is marketing chartered flights to the Winter Sonata sites.

I like Enka! Although there are times when I'm not in the mood for it. But hardly ever.
Yeah, that Korean boom in Japan is crazy!!!!!
They had a survey somewhere in Japan on the Japanese favorite country. (source unknown) America was #1 and Korea was #2.
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ahochaude wrote:

The Enka singers were great, but all those Korean pop singers...

Watching since 1999? You make me feel old, sir, bwahahah.

Anyway -- and, uh, please to go to KIKU-TV website to see some of The Man's thoughts on this past 55th annual Kouhaku (KIKU-TV's also scheduled to show the Record Taisho awards show this Sunday) -- I gotta disagree with you, Mr. Ahochaude. Ryu's ballad -- supported by the might of Winter Sonata or not -- kicked major da kind, if you ask me. I hope that performance lit the fire under some of these J-pop performers' da kind so that they make some pretty good ones in the future, because, I really can't think of some really good ballads since Anzen Chitai's day.

Oh, and, uh, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERBOTY!!!!! The Man hasn't been to the board lately as he was on vacation, just having a friggin' blast. Oh, man. Good times, good times.

groink wrote:

With that, NHK brought back at least two artistes that I recognized: Natsukawa Rimi and Yokoyama Youko. Given that they did actually release something new this past year, neither of them performed anything new. Instead, they sang the same song as th 54th Kouhaku. And, Rimi-chan even sang the same song for the 3rd year in a row!!!!

Yeah, I noticed that two. But that doesn't bothered me at all, 'cos I love both songs.
But I hope they sing new songs in the next Kohaku ...

Quote:

What does this point mean? NHK could have paid SMAP billions of yen to have them appear on Kouhaku. My suspicion: SMAP does not need Kouhaku. Neither does Utada, Matsuda Seiko, and many other artistes. You do see huge stars like Morning Musume make an appearance year after year, but my understanding is that their appearance is almost a contractual requirement with their production company.

It's actually a fact: they absolutely don't need Kohaku ... but Kohaku needs them, unfortunately ...

Quote:

For me, I could care less about the show's ratings. As a matter of fact, I'm not surprised on the numbers. Like I said before, fans do not need Kouhaku to see their artistes. NHK should, however, continue to air the annual show for years to come. It's a spectacle in its own right. Fans like myself will continue to watch the show for years to come. You know what? It's not the only show of the year...

I don't give a damn about the ratings too, I'll continue to watch.
I just hope NHK doesn't care too ... or we won't have Kohaku for the years to come ...

Oh, aho, I loooove your sig !!!!!!! "Matsuken samba, oleeee !!!!"
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rezo wrote:

My favorite part was probably the Shinsengumi theme. That song is great, and the singer(don't remember his name) looked so happy when he was singing the lalala's... was kind of funny.

[url=http://com1.runboard.com/bcjkdramasincalifornia.fdramamiscmoviesosts.t38|offset=20]John �� Nuzzo

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Well, I just finished download the 55th NHK Red and White show. But I missed the show from the last 3 years. Anyone know if there's a site that still up the Kouhaku.

thanks

Topic merged.

Finally watched it tonight. I think my downloaded copy was missing some parts. I don't recall Mai Kuraki or Hirai Ken performing. Should have just captured it myself

Not too bad a performance I guess. I mean what do you really expect from Kohauku anyways? It's good enough that they have so many stars on one stage and it's unfortunate that so many other big stars are being snobs and turning them down. Stereotypical Kohauku, not really exciting but not completely boring. Oh and that Korean girl they invited was freaking hawt!

Captain-Nippon wrote:

Well, I just finished download the 55th NHK Red and White show. But I missed the show from the last 3 years. Anyone know if there's a site that still up the Kouhaku. thanks

Actually, groink posted last year's Kouhaku on Usenet yesterday on alt.binaries.sounds.jpop. You can check it out there.[/i]

nothing hotter than gymnast women twirling steel cubes around...

So far none of the musical acts are doing anything for me... The commercials are more interesting.

And I keep missing Miyazaki Aoi as one of the judges.

What is with that SMAP guy and that yellow ski vest?

What a fashion statement.


And he looks old... Beat down.

Yeesh. We Hawaii peeps only get to watch this on New Years day. Unless they got the NGN channel. I think this is the first time I won't be watching it since my interest in Jpop has dwindled.
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