Official NHK Kouhaku 2011 lineup

[YuriChan]

Interesting... I would think that Porno Graffitti would perform Yuki no Iro at Kohaku, not One More Time! O.o;

[Zemus]

My guess is that ONE MORE TIME gets the message through better than Yuki no Iro would. Not that I've checked out the lyrics for the latter. The theme is "Let's sing for tomorrow".

NHK has confimed that Lady Gaga will be making a video appearence on Kouhaku. The video (performance + message) will be recorded on the same day as the broadcast, and sent in from New York. Her comment on MUSIC JAPAN today:

Ohayou, this is Lady Gaga.

I'm so excited to be performing, this New Year's Eve, on Kouhaku. Thank you so much for your hospitality over the past years of my career, and for welcoming me into Japan during a very difficult time. I've been so very happy to return and see how colorful and how joyful the spirit is here in Tokyo and all over Japan. I love you and I will see you on New Year's Eve.

Message @ official Kouhaku website:
(translation credit: Tokyohive)

I am looking forward to making an appearance on the Kohaku Uta Gassen on this New Year’s Eve. It is such an honor to be able to appear on the program that has an over 60 years history. Thank you for supporting me ever since I debuted, and even during the hard time of the earthquake.

During my visit to Japan this time, I was very happy to see that Japan was regaining its cheerfulness back. I love you all. I will see you on December 31st.

[Zemus]

62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen tops 2011 TV ratings

The overall viewership ratings for NHK’s 62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen have been announced. In the Kanto region, the first half of the program averaged 35.2%, and the second half averaged 41.6%. In the Kansai region, the ratings were 34.1% and 41.9%, respectively.

By region, Kouhaku had the highest ratings in Niigata (44.2% and 48.9%) and Fukushima (45.7% and 47.5%).

• Kanto – 35.2% – 41.6%
• Kansai – 34.1% – 41.9%
• Nagoya – 41.5% – 46.6%
• Hokubu-Kyushu – 34.7% – 41.1%
• Sapporo – 37.3% – 41.9%
• Sendai – 39.4% – 47.0%
• Hiroshima – 36.3% – 39.0%
• Shizuoka – 42.9% – 45.6%
• Fukushima – 45.7% – 47.5%
• Niigata – 44.2% – 48.9%
• Okayama/Kagawa – 32.1% – 38.6%

The 41.6% rating in the Kanto region surpassed the final episode of the hit drama series “Kaseifu no Mita,” which set the ratings record for 2011 at 40.0% on December 21. This makes Kouhaku the highest rated show for the year.

In recent years, the highest rated show of the year has generally been either Kouhaku or a World Cup soccer match. Kouhaku used to dominate the ratings in the past, but it has gradually declined from 81.4% in 1963 to below 60% in 1986 to around 40% since 2004. The second half of Kouhaku has failed to reach 40% only three times, in 2004, 2006, and 2007.

The 62nd Kouhaku Uta Gassen aired from 7:15pm-8:55pm (first half) and 9:00pm-11:45pm (second half) on December 31. For the 6th year in a row, Kouhaku competed with NTV’s “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!” special, which got ratings of 18.7% and 16.6% for its two halves. Fuji TV’s “Bakusho Sokkuri Monomane Kouhaku Uta Gassen Special” got ratings of 10.5%, 5.7%, and 4.6% for its three portions.

This Kouhaku Uta Gassen finally saw the Red Team win after 6 consecutive losses. A total of 1,040,638 votes were tallied, including the intermediate votes counted halfway through the event. In the final judging, the Red Team received 343,045 votes, while the White Team received 323,767 votes.

Judges voted either by mobile phone, 1seg, digital TV sets, or as part of the actual audience at the event. Although the White Team received more of mobile phone, 1seg, and audience votes, the digital TV viewers favored the Red Team by almost 40,000 votes.

Source: Tokyograph

Totally deserved win by Red Team this year. Was an awesome show.

[Midori-chan]

Originally Posted by Zemus

Totally deserved win by Red Team this year. Was an awesome show.

I couldn't agree more!

And even though I don't really care which team wins in the end, I was cheering for the ladies. I'm so happy that they won...!

[Bigtop]

Originally Posted by Zemus

Totally deserved win by Red Team this year. Was an awesome show.

Agreed too. Although those ratings were slightlyl down (but I mean not very much), that was quite a bit steady compared to last year.

But I mean this... The girls... I kind of felt disappointed over the past few years - particularly the last two or three - but I think now the next thing is this: the girls need to play consistent, and we need to try to find that "lost luster" to get back on track with the boys...

(what this means: AKB48 might have a good job done, but there needs to be more "holes" to fill up)