Marcos V.'s Thoughts on the 72nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen for 2021 (第72回NHK紅白歌合戦)

 It's still time to show off a Christmas tree

Well, I was only going to comment on Larry Chan and J-Canuck’s posts, but it would become a very long comment, so I decided to make it a third article talking about Kouhaku instead. I think both Larry Chan and J-Canuck have written more thoughtful articles on the subject, and I agree with a lot of what they said, but I just wanted to contribute with a couple of my own opinions too.

Right off the bat, I’m always among the people who wants NHK to keep producing Kouhaku Uta Gassen for years to come. I also agree with a lot of the criticisms, though. The show is heavy, kind of stale and even repetitive sometimes (Hiroshi Miyama’s [三山ひろし] performance!), but let’s be honest, every tradition is like that. We just have to pick up the good things about them and keep going.

As for Kouhaku’s ratings, like J-Canuck said, it will never be the same of the good old days. However, in my opinion, having around 30% of the viewers is not bad at all for such a traditional show. Of course, I’m not a TV specialist, and I’m not putting money on it, so maybe I’m wrong, but 30% of viewers, and in a country like Japan, with a huge population, I really can’t see as a disaster… especially in a world of YouTube, countless streaming services and things like that. Yeah, the audience decreases every year, so that’s frightening, but, again, like J-Canuck pointed out, 70-years of history is not something that can be thrown in the garbage so easily.

Is the show always amazing? No, of course not, but I’m always excited for it, nevertheless. It’s reassuring to see some old faces, while sometimes we’re just in the right mood to discover what’s hot in the world of J-Pop through Kouhaku’s lens (Kaze Fujii’s [藤井風] music is not my cup of tea, but the young man is very talented). Also, as I was talking to a close friend of mine who watches Kouhaku every year (unlike myself, he enjoys watching it live, early in the morning, here in Brazil), the staff really puts on a lot of effort in producing this show. Some transitions between the performances are very well-thought and ingenious (sometimes, just sometimes, it reminded me of “The Best Ten's” [ザ・ベストテン] camerawork). For example, when kayo singer Keisuke Yamauchi (山内惠介) finished singing his number somewhere inside of an upper glass corridor, the camera just pointed below, the lasers began shooting, and Sakurazaka46 (櫻坂46) started their performance in the ground. Do I care for the songs both Keisuke and Sakurazaka46 performed? Not particularly, but it was a beautiful and exciting TV moment. The same can be said of Fuyumi Sakamoto (坂本冬美) and Ken Matsudaira’s (松平健) performances, or not exactly the same, since I love “Yozakura Oshichi” (夜桜お七) and “Matsuken Samba II” (マツケンサンバ II), and their performances were full of beauty and charisma, respectively. And what do we still have to say about Hiromi Go (郷ひろみ)? Of course the epic “Ni-Oku Yon-Sen-Man no Hitomi” (２億４千万の瞳) helps, but he’s an amazing and experienced artist, so I’m never tired of watching him. His performance was pure Kouhaku “juice”, like we say here in Brazil when a situation is representative of something.

There was only one moment I got embarrassed, and it was during Junretsu’s (純烈) performance, mostly because of that strange gimmick they kept doing with the plastic hands and alcohol. Like my fellow Brazilian friend said, they could have brought Hiroshi Itsuki (五木ひろし) instead and everything would be just ok. Nobody would complaint.

I also see why people could get their eyes rolling on Yo Oizumi (大泉洋) as the male host, but his over-the-top personality shined on some moments, especially when interacting with the singers. Again, like J-Canuck said, he’s an acquired taste, but I think he was able to create a sense of familiarity, which is something important to Kouhaku. He could have been acting all along, but I really believed when he seemed thrilled with some artists. I too would be honored to perform alongside Takashi Hosokawa (細川たかし), for example, and I’m not even Japanese or an enka enthusiast (I love "Kita Sakaba" [北酒場], though). And that brings up another important factor of Kouhaku Uta Gassen, which is something called affective memory.

I’ve watched Kouhaku for the first time in 2010, live in the morning here in Brazil, and I remember how my late grandmother enjoyed Takashi Hosokawa at the time, even though she had never heard of him before in her then 77 years of life. One of my aunts have also watched Kouhaku with me a lot of times in the years after, and she was always amazed by the classy enka performances, or with Perfume, which she knows I’m a fan of. This year, we didn’t end the year together, but when I was on the phone with her on December 31th, we started talking about Kouhaku, and she confessed that, in the end, the show felt the same to her every year. We both laughed of this, and I know she’s not totally wrong, even though Kouhaku was basically her yearly contact with Japanese music. Again, I’m not Japanese and don’t have Japanese roots, but even so I was able to create my own affective memories towards Kouhaku through the years, mostly related to people who have been (my grandmother) or still are an important part of my life (my aunt).

I smiled a lot while watching it alone this time, especially during the first half, and started losing interest just towards the end, or more specifically after Masayuki Suzuki’s (鈴木雅之) "Me Gumi no Hito" (め組のひと) performance… but that’s basically because I really don’t care for performers like Gen Hoshino (星野源), Fukuyama Masaharu (福山雅治) or MISIA. By the way, AI is also in the group of singers I don’t care about. These artists don’t have the energy I want to see on Kouhaku, even though I respect their work and praise all the artists who take their time to perform on that special stage.

To finish, I’d like to register some other highlights I ended up not talking about before in the main text. LiSA and YOASOBI are great, even though I usually don't listen to their music. NiziU’s “Take a Picture” is a catchy song, and probably the best pure aidoru tune on Kouhaku this year, since the 48/46 groups are not releasing interesting music. Yoko Takahashi (高橋洋子) singing “Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis” (残酷な天使のテーゼ) is always nice as well, even with her sometimes dubious wardrobe choices. Regarding Perfume (パフューム), I believe “Polygon Wave” (ポリゴンウェイヴ) is their best song in years, and I think they bring variety to the show, since, while not having the surprise factor in their favor anymore, they are still unique. Going on, Sayuri Ishikawa (石川さゆり) is a must on Kouhaku. She just needs to be in that stage, regardless of what she performs. Period. Last but not least, Kiyoshi Hikawa (氷川きよし) is someone I respect as a performer. The way he sang while paying homage to Hibari Misora (美空ひばり) was beautiful to watch.

One more thing, I was sad that Seiko Matsuda (松田聖子) couldn't perform, but totally understand it in face of the tragedy she’s facing out in her personal life. It's unfortunate, though, since she would have brighten up that stage, as she usually does. I also miss the always flamboyant Ken'ichi Mikawa (美川憲一) appearing on the show, since his over-the-top performances are among my favorites in Kouhaku's history (the Eurobeat version of “Sasoriza no Onna” [さそり座の女] performed on 2007's edition of Kouhaku is stellar).

In the end, I really love Kouhaku Uta Gassen, and I hope to watch it at the end of this year as well. This show must go on!