With no audience physically present at the NHK hall, a socially distanced theme that dominated all performances and spectacular used of technology, the tone was set right for something I knew was going to be interesting to watch to say the least.
Far beyond the framework, the question of how to make music performances attractive at a time when they have become quite the opposite, was properly answered. This time and age due to Covid-19 we do not have (or almost seldom have) people experiencing live music so, rather than delivering it to its audiences, we must bring audiences to the music while being as creative as we can.
Creativity took the shape of screens of all sizes playing performances of stages inside stages, several studios and locations made available remotely all delivered with superb MCing executed by the outstanding performance of Fumi Nikaido. She played a fantastic role at carrying the team forward in a very professional, consistent and strongly elegant manner.
On the performance side I must say that this is the year when the show organizers finally paid attention to what happened in the music scene throughout 2020 as opposed to resembling an oldies display of nostalgia. Immediately from the onset it was very clear that the Red team had a chance at winning with much stronger singers than their counterpart White team (shirogumi).
In general I saw both teams on an even note focusing on what each side achieved in 2020 and in this perspective we can say that the ladies in Red had a strong year with talented singers that were a delight to watch. The heavy hitters in Red were Foorin, Milet, The 46s groups, Little Glee Monster, NiziU, Baby Metal, Lisa, Miyon Ai, and Yoasobi, these latter two standing behind a record of strong success with the animation Devil’s Blade. The Heavy hitters in White were Eito, Greeeen, Official Hige Dandism, King & Prince, and Keisuke Yamauchi.
On an even stage, the usual wild cards were present with Fuyumi Sakamoto, Yoshimi Tendo, Perfume, and Sayuri Ishikawa for the Red side. The guys and their White side saw Arashi performing as a group for their last time, Yoshiki and his international collaboration, Hiroshi Itsuki, Hiromi Go, Yuzu, Mr. Children and Kiyoshi Hikawa.
While generally I was quite impressed with the tone of the show, the end started to resemble the usual kind of show with both teams putting their biggest names forward in hope to seal their win. The ladies played Seiko Matsuda as a prelude of the final fight between Masaharu Fukuyama and Misia. They all were good, but unlike previous years, they did not seal the win this time.
With a very-creative approach that focused on talent and attracting audiences not only to watch but to remain engaged, this year’s edition of Kohaku gathered a lot of attention from people who ultimately judged new and relatively new performances over long-lasting careers. Far from being disappointing, on this front as well the judging was done right with viewers finally voting from their homes more than ever at the press of a button (those colorful buttons in the remote control that are never used enough). And, rather than the voting happening at two specific times, it happened throughout the show at strategically well-positioned times to collect input more consistently and fairly.
Right about 15 minutes before midnight and as the music show prepared to give way to the transition to another year, the ladies and their Red team where crowned winners by a landslide of 2.6M votes. As they sealed their victory against the White team that achieved about half the votes gathered by the ladies, I could not avoid thinking once again how great this show was this time around and how exciting music can be again if the right thinking is put in place to deliver a wonderfully inviting experience.
