49th Nihon Record Taisho
 

I'm not sure if this was posted already, so correct me if I'm wrong :) Here are the nominees for the 49th Nihon Record Taisho:

"Jewelry day" by Ayaka
"LOVE IS THE GREATEST THING" by w-inds.
"Toki no Kakera" by EXILE
"PEACH" by Ai Otsuka
"Kanazawa No Ame" by Miyuki Kawanaka
"Ai no Uta" by Kumi Koda
"Tsubomi" by Kobukuro
"Kiyoshi no Soran Bushi" by Kiyoshi Hikawa (last year's winner)
"LOVE LETTER" by BoA
"Hitori Satsumaji" by Kaori Mizumori

I'm a bit disappointed that the same nominees appear again and again and again. Good to see Ayaka, but aren't there any other deserving enka artists aside from Kiyoshi Hikawa and Kaori Mizumori (although these two are great artists indeed)? How many times are they going to nominate EXILE, w-inds, and BoA? (Sorry to the fans, but these artists are way past their prime, in my humblest opinion). Why not nominate Mika Nakashima's stunning "Life"? Bump of Chicken or Yui or Angela Aki? We desperately need some new blood, please!

I predict: Kobukuro.
Maybe: Kiyoshi Hikawa (he deserves more than one) or Kaori Mizumori (she deserves it, finally).

New Artist nominees:

°C-ute
JYONGRI
Stephanie
Satomi Takasugi

Winners of these two awards along with Best Singer (I predict Ayaka) will be announced on the 30th of December. Other winners can be found in the link below.

Source: hxxp://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2162

^i've seen it somewhere, but thanks anyway
yay that stephanie being nominated for new comer

I want BoA to win, but that's almost impossible...

I think BoA should have won for something like Double. Great single :)

Actually those songs are all winners of the Gold Prize. They'll announce the winner of the Grand Prize at the show. I hope ayaka wins. That song is one of the greatest songs released this year. I'd be fine with BoA too.
As for the new artist award, I'm all for °C-ute. I don't think Stephanie has a chance, I mean, have her singles sold over 10k? :P She has a great voice, though.

Yeah, I know, but the winners of the Gold Prize are so hit-and-miss (how many times do Da Pump, lead, and w-inds need to be included? Man.) that I prefer to think of them as "nominees" for the Grand Prize :P Unlike the Gold Prize, I haven't had any real problems with the Grand Prize winners :)

JYONGRI should win best new artist. or satomi takasugi.

I think Kobukuro has the highest chance winning.

I've heard rumors that the new artists category is rigged.

I don't think it's a coincidense that each of the nominee is from each big label.

New Artist nominees:

°C-ute (Hello!project)
JYONGRI (EMI)
Stephanie (Sony Music)
Satomi Takasugi (Avex)

yeah i know stephanie is hard to win it, but i'm happy that she being nominated

Where the hell is Mika's [LIFE]?! That's like the best song she's ever done! And what about the collaboration song she did called, [YOU'D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO]?

I don't like any of the nominated songs...

Well, the artists are allowed to decline the nominations, after all. Otherwise, I would expect Flavor Of Life to be there.

ANYWHO...if KOBUKURO doesn't win, I'm going to go blow some ***** up.

GO, GO, GO!!!! KOBUKURO!!!!! ^O^~~~~

Why is Peach the song being nominated? What's wrong with Heart or Pocket?

i havent seen it before..
ayu out..huuhuh

i hope ayaka or kobukuro win

ayu stopped accepting awards...

yea i hope ayaka (best singer) and kobukuro (grand prize) win too...Koda better not wins with ai no uta!

Again I say, Where's Leah? XD

It's only A sides that are nominated. And if a song is released in December, it's not likely to get nominated. Collaborations and character songs (Glamorous Sky, which I think would have won if it was a Mika Nakashima single and not a Nana one) are also out of the running.

I agree that Mika Nakashima's Life should have been on the list. But I'm all for Kobukuro, Kiyoshi Hikawa, or Kaori Mizumori winning.

No idea how many times has EXILE been nominated, but they're currently during their prime, not way past - number one album, a string of top 10 singles, one of the year's best selling acts, that's way past their peak?