Continuing a bit from my comments on the 71st annual Kohaku Utagassen which was broadcast last Thursday, I've noticed that there has also been a gradual shift of customs in the format. It used to be the thing that the final participants of the Red and White teams just before the votes are tallied to decide the winning team were veteran enka singers. But with the decrease in the representation of the genre within the show over the past several years, although enka singers still can and do come on, having folks like Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）and Hiroshi Itsuki（五木ひろし）wrap things up is no longer a guarantee, and of course, Saburo Kitajima（北島三郎）retired from the Red-and-White Song Festival a few years ago.
Indeed for the 71st edition, actor/singer Masaharu Fukuyama（福山雅治）actually ended up finishing for the White team at NHK Hall itself instead of his usual remote appearances during his own New Year's Eve concerts. And then finally, Misia completed the performances for the Red team.
I gather that I was probably eating breakfast or simply not paying attention in 2018 and 2019 since Misia sang "Ai no Katachi" (Shape of Love) near the end of those editions. However, I did keep my ears and eyes peeled this time around for the 2020 edition as she sang the song for the third year in a row.
"Ai no Katachi" was actually Misia's 35th single released in August 2018 to commemorate the singer-songwriter's 20th anniversary since releasing her debut single (good heavens...it's been that long...the lady hasn't aged a day). Plus, this was in collaboration with the band GReeeeN who took care of words and music; the band also had their major contribution earlier in the show. The group's Hide assisted on backing vocals.
Should have given myself a Gibbs slap upside the head for not paying more attention in 2018 and 2019 because "Ai no Katachi" is another tenderhearted marvelous ballad by the singer. In fact, I could imagine that a number of tears were shed when she performed this one at the end of the Kohaku. What can anyone say about that golden voice of hers?
In addition to its No. 15 ranking on Oricon, "Ai no Katachi" hit No. 1 on Oricon's digital download charts and earned Misia a Best Vocal Performance Award at the Japan Record Awards for 2018 as it went Double Platinum. It's also available on her 13th studio album from the same year "Life is going on and on". According to J-Wiki, in terms of sales, it ranks up there with another hit ballad of hers, "Everything" from 2000. And like that classic, "Ai no Katachi" was also used as a theme for a TV drama "Gibo to Musume Blues"（義母と娘のブルース...Foster Mother & Daughter Blues） on TBS.
GReeeeN performed a cover of "Ai no Katachi" which was recorded onto their 9th studio album, logically titled "Dai Ku"（第九...Number Nine） from September 2019. That album hit No. 8 on the Oricon weeklies. As much as the original sung by Misia sounds wonderfully Misia-esque, this version by GReeeeN sounds perfectly GReeeeN-esque.
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