I didn't mean to come off as attacking you and I do respect people opinions, but I respect them even more if they are informed, which really your first post does not come off as informed at all. Your post just gives the impression that you are dissing other artists that you really don't know much about or have ever given a fair shot to. (Trust me, it took me a looong time as well to realize how great Mr. Children are!) There is also such a thing as a balanced opinion that isn't insulting - which your post was to all artists involved.

You say that you listed those artists because you find no enjoyment in their music - well I don't find any enjoyment really in ET King or Exile either, but I wouldn't say that they are untalented.

As for Perfume - I've yet to see them do a song that is actually "live" anywhere, whereas Morning Musume performs live 95% of the time with the exception of a few tv performances here and there. That to me, makes them more talented by default than Perfume.(like I said though, I still enjoy Perfume's music anyways.) Nearly all of MM's voices are at least an acceptable level and some are actually very good and the ones considered the worst in the group have been improving tremendously. Also I find Perfume's dance to be extremely easy and something that doesn't exactly require a lot of talent in that department either, even if it still maybe something fun to watch.


PS. Thankyou Emiko. :)

And really random inconsequential thing that I just noticed: Greggerz and I joined the forum at the same time. :)

^How interesting! I didn't notice that before, either! Alas, we joined at the same time and are on the same page with respect to this topic, then! =D Oh, and we both live in California (sort of). Haha.

^Lol i've always found your sig so funny! He totally deserved worse than the yummy cake smashed on his face.

I see this as the balance of power between the male and female celebrities in the music industry. I would be mildly upset if the girls lose again, but then i guess i'd get over it real quick and continue supporting whoever haha... But i do wonder why some acts are there. They are not exactly the most popular in japan but if it balances out the genres then that's nice. I have never watched kouhaku so i don't know what it's like =( Except for some ayu performances on youtube and the super happening DJ ozma one 2 years back.

Honestly to me it's actually one of the worst year end specials - mainly because the energy in the building is always so low. Although it is technically a competition between guys and girls teams, it's not like it's a big entertaining smack down or anything :) One artist performs, and then the next, then the next, etc etc. Then at the end they tally up the votes to see which team won. At least this year has a stellar guest list for both teams (if this ends up being the final list). It's a much better list than the past several years.

I don't really care which team wins so long as the team that does win was actually the most entertaining team that had the best performances.

I never end up caring which team wins in the end...though if one team seems a little bit more appealing than the other in terms of performances, then I might "root" for them, I suppose.

SolarAngel: I've had this sig for two years and you are the first to comment! =D You don't know how appreciative I am of that! Hahahaha, I miss that drama so much.

where can this be watched and what's more important downloaded??

alan is on the list! Yay!!!

I hope Namie would come and Ayu please...no more Mirrorcle World, perform a new song or at least an old one...

Why does Hikki and ELT doesn't included there??
I'll cheer for the Red Team!!!

You could watch it if you had "NHK World" channel. Streaming of NHK is most of the time not available. :no
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHK_World

It is usually available as torrents at jpopsuki or D-Addicts. Size is around 4GB though.

I'm glad that we have settled this issuse in a polite manner.

I hope the girls' team will win. The line-up is better and the possiblity of what songs each might sing is too great. Ayu, if you do sing Mirrorcle World, please be on pitch like at a-nation!

tnx for the info^^
i tought it was avevable for download, because a lot of people were already talking about the show, but it's not downloadable yet, so i guess i'll just have to wait XD

I was thinking the same thing. She already had 2 below average performances back to back. But i doubt it. I think it will be a new song to promote a single or album.

For me.. the female artists must do spectacular performances, or else the crazy fangirls/moms will just vote for the guys (let's say red team and white equally perform well). I remember the year when ayu performed Moments was one of the years the ladies performed really well. I really wish ayu will have another fabulous performance this year.

Typically though, the crazy fangirl vote is not a problem with Kohaku because usually most Johnny's acts are not at it. (Johnny's artists have a countdown live concert just like Ayu, except there's is in the Tokyo Dome) And many of the non-Johnny's male acts have large male audiences.

However if Kohaku this year will indeed have Tokio, Smap, and especially Arashi - I think the men may win this quite easily actually even though the women's lineup is great as well.

If this list ends up being finalized, one thing is for sure:

This year's Kouhaku Utagassen is about to be INCREDIBLE.

EPIC.

Well, when SMAP performs it seems to do wonders for the white team. But i agree that the women have to pull off a stellar performance to win. It's just my opinion but i feel that guys ooze charisma easier than girls do. Like when you see a male and female emcee on stage for example, you just feel more for the guy. Kinda unfair really but life's like that.