Kōhaku Uta Gassen (1951)

Original title

NHK紅白歌合戦

Genre

sketch show, music program

Country

Japan

Length

1 season, 76 episodes

Rated

10

Rating

8.0 of 10 from 1 voters

How it feels

This annual New Year's Eve special pits the year's top female and male musical acts against each other in a red versus white team competition. Famous singers perform live and a vote decides which team wins. The show is a major TV event in Japan.

festiveupbeatcompetitivenostalgiclivelygrandcelebratorywholesome

What happens

NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (Japanese: NHK紅白歌合戦, Hepburn: Enu Eichi Kei Kōhaku Uta Gassen; "NHK Red and White Song Battle"), more commonly known simply as Kōhaku, is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK network and by some overseas (mainly cable) broadcasters who buy the program. The show ends shortly before midnight. Before the show began broadcasting on television in late 1953, the show was held on 3 January and only consisted of a radio broadcast. The program divides the most popular music artists of the year into competing teams of red and white. The "red" team or akagumi (赤組, 紅組) is composed of all female artists (or groups with female vocals), while the "white" team or shirogumi (白組) is all male (or groups with male vocals). At the end of the show, judges and the audience vote to decide which group performed better. The honor of performing on Kōhaku is strictly by invitation, so only the most successful singing acts in the Japanese entertainment industry can perform. In addition to the actual music performances, the costumes, hair-styles, makeup, dancing, and lighting are given focus. A performance on the show is regarded as a highlight in singers' careers due to the show's wide reach. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• 75th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
• 76th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
• 笑っていいとも!新春祭 (2004)
• 全日本パフォーマンス人文字大賞 (2005)
• Kōhaku ga Umaretahi (2015)
• 輝け!2005年お笑いネタのグランプリ (2005)
• Momoiro Uta Gassen (2017)
• Sakura Meets (2023)