Kouhaku Uta Gassen
It’s Men versus Women! Red versus White in the ULTIMATE MUSICAL SHOWDOWN!
Well, actually it’s what you watch if you’re not cool/rich/healthy enough to go out on New Year’s Eve. I fell into the last category. I had a pretty bad case of the flu and couldn’t even stand up, let alone eat the traditional soba noodles that is supposed to ensure a long life. I didn’t feel like I had much longer to live that night anyway.
Anyway, Kouhaku Uta Gassen, or Kouhaku for short, is an annual music concert shown on NHK television on New Year’s Eve. It starts early in the evening and ends shortly before midnight so NHK can switch to a montage of Happy New Year greetings from around Japan.
It’s been over a month since it screened, but writing about ORANGE RANGE yesterday reminded me about it, so I thought I should write some more about it.
Literally, Kouhaku Uta Gassen means “Red and White Song Battle” and that’s what it is. Two teams: Red (made up of female performer or bands with female leads) and White (male performers or bands with male leads) perform all night and the audience votes at the end of the night for the team they liked best.
The artists are chosen by a committee and being invited to perform on Kouhaku is seen to be a huge honour. Most of the performers are highly successful pop/rock artists that have had hugre sales during the year, but there are also many traditional enka music performers.
There are also many guest appearances by celebrities and other characters. Notable guests in the 2005 edition were Kotooshu – the Bulgarian sumo wrestler who towered over everyone else by at least a foot and many Star Wars characters like C3PO and R2D2.
The White (male) team won the 2005 edition. Which must have been a disappointment for Gorie, the cross-dressing comedian. Gorie dresses like a cheerleader and has a gimmicky song which he performed on the night for the Red team. Oh well, maybe next time.
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