Ayu to appear in 61st Kouhaku for 12th time
 

As expected, Ayu will be appearing in the 61st Kouhaku Utagassen on New Year's Eve.

UPDATE (11/25): As posted by tokyoxjapanxfan, this article states Ayu will be the "top batter" (act who performs first) for the third year in a row. She performed "Mirrorcle World" and "Rule", so a speculation could be a faster song, such as "blossom" or "Last Angel".

Artist List

This year's theme is 「歌でつなごう」, translating as "Connect By Music (Song)".

A total of 44 acts, 22 for each team, has been invited. There are 5 new acts: 3 for the Red (including Nishino Kana), and 2 for the White (including AAA).

Numbers in parentheses represent their number of appearances, including this show. A （初） represents their first time, which I denoted in the Romaji names with a bold (1).

Artist lists are alphabetized by Japanese kana order (vowels, "ka" column, "sa" column, etc.).

I will post a song list as soon as news comes out.

Artist List as seen on site


Red Team


White Team


-----

Thanks to Polyrhythm for the romanized names.

For a more open chat thread in the Asian Music Discussion forum, click here.

Does anyone know how to attend this event? ^_^ And where is it being held?

is it list of all artists who attend Kouhaku??

I think it's held at the NHK Hall in Shibuya.

Apparently you apply for tickets?

From Wikipedia:

Shibuya? Oh that's a good location! Hmm but a LOT of people wanting tickets, lol.. I wonder how expensive they will be in the harajuku ticket-stores~.. I kind wanna go =)

I wonder which song she'll perform?^^
thanks for info

So excited !i think she'll sing crossroad or moon ^^!

Do they actually resell those tickets? I mean I don't think there are more than 4,000 or so seats in the hall, so if you get a ticket, you're probably going to keep it, haha.

I hope she sings You were.... *get's murdered*

Oh...Ayu's going to the Kouhaku, huh?

Now I only see 44 artists - WHAT!? :thud
This has got to be the least-crowded Kouhaku we are about to ever see in a long time!

Some notes:

• Am I seeing 4, 5 or 6 Johnny's artists?
• Motohiro Hata was predicted to be but he's NOT in...
• YUI's still NOT interested in the Kouhaku...
• And if you thought the rumo(u)rs about Masahiko Kondo going to the Kouhaku as part of an agreement with Johnny's, FORGET IT - he's not coming to the Kouhaku!
• With the fact that Ai Otsuka is pregnant earlier this year after the marriage with RIP SLYME's SU, she's not going to be able to perform for a while as she awaits for her baby in April.
• AAA was part of the red team last year, but they're in the WHITE team this year.
• Now why in the world there is 44 when in 2006 there was 56, in 2007 and 2008 roughly 54, and last year 50? Either the count is right, or there may be some surprises...[/b]

yay for Ayu~
Also, of course TOKIO is going to be there. Ayu and Nagase in the same room once again, lol
Oh...and L'Arc~en~Ciel will be there?! Nice! I cannot wait to see this one. Of course we already know which team will win...
Thanks for the info~

You are not likely to ever find them in ticket stores. It is not a very large venue, so tickets are exceedingly rare and if one did show up in a ticket shop, I'm sure it would be over $1,000.00.

To answer your question why there are less performers, one reason is that NHK invited Korean groups this year; KARA, Shoujo Jidai (SNSD) and Big Bang. They are however not attending because of Korea's own end-of-the-year music festivals between the 29th and the 31st.

I knew she'd be there lol owned.

I alsways thought Ayu had been to kouhaku A LOT. But then there are a lot of artists that have been there more than 20 times =O

And Akiko Wada with 34 times O_o

Oh dear. NHK might have attempted something risky - attempting to invite Korean gropus - except that Korea also have their own end-of-the-year music festivals, and I think NHK could be the loser - and to blame - why there's fewer artists this year than the past.

Maybe they should also make supplemental nominations in the event an artist declines their invitation or could not attend unexpectedly...

Erm, what's with this in-your-face commentary?

Why is HY in the White Team...? @@;

whoah~ ok... I'll just settle for CDL10'11 then~

No, I agree! :heart I really hope she does You were... too! I don't want to hear Virgin Road... x.x I hope it's at least crossroad or MOON, but You were... would make me happiest! Or dare I say, Last angel!