66th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen

66th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Also known as66th Kouhaku Utagassen: That's Japan! That's Kouhaku!
Created byTsumoru Kondo
Presented byTetsuko Kuroyanagi
Yumiko Udō
StarringHaruka Ayase
Yoshihiko Inohara
Opening theme"That's Oomisoka"
Yuki Hayashi
Ending theme"Hotaru no Hikari"
ComposerTsunaki Mihara
Production
Executive producerYuji Itano
Production locationsNHK Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Running time1st Half: 100 minutes
2nd Half: 165 minutes
Production companyNHK
Original release
NetworkNHK-G
NHK World Premium
TV Japan (US)
ReleaseDecember 31, 2015 (2015-12-31)

The 66th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (第66回NHK紅白歌合戦) was the 66th edition of NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2015, live from NHK Hall from 19:15 (JST) to 23:45 (JST), with a 5-minute break for latest news. This is the 27th Heisei Era edition. Broadcasting time was announced on September 16.[1] The 2015 Broadcast marks the 65th anniversary of Kouhaku Utagassen which started in 1951. The red team won this event, beating out the white team with a final score of 356,832 to 346,929.

Broadcast

Yuji Itano, NHK Broadcasting General-Director, revealed on September 16 that the 66th Kouhaku will air on December 31, starting from 19:15 JST and ending at 23:45 JST, with a 5-minute break for news. On Japan, the broadcast is made by NHK-G and Radio 1, and worldwide by NHK World Premium (Note that airs between 10:15 and 14:45 UTC). Kouhaku airs worldwide since 1998. Viewers outside Japan can watch the Kouhaku on NHK World Premium, at 10:15 UTC airing on a same time with NHK-G.

On November 26, captains and announcers, along with performers were revealed, and this year's theme is "That's Nippon! That's Kōhaku!".

Songs which artists will perform are revealed on December 21, and performance order was announced on Christmas Eve. On December 25, the judges were revealed. Rehearsals took place on 29 and 30 December. On December 31, the festival was broadcast live, culminating in the victory of Akagumi (breaking a sequence of Shirogumi's 3 consecutive wins); Haruka Ayase received the championship flag from the hands of the judge Masato Sakai. This was the first victory of Akagumi since 2011.

With the 2015 victory, Akagumi accumulated 30 wins, while Shirogumi continues with 36 victories.

This Kōhaku is also notable for being the last Kōhaku by former AKB48 general captain and Team A Member Minami Takahashi 1 year prior to her graduation.

Personnel

X Japan
X Japan performed again on Kouhaku after 18 years.
AAA
EXILE performed a special medley.

Main host and team leaders

Live Comments

  • Announcer, NHK Radio 1: Yuka Kubota
  • PR, Commentary: Bananaman

Judges

Contestants

This year there were 51 artists in total, 25 for the red team and white team at 26. 10 artists performed for the first time.

Red Team White Team
Singer/Group Performance Time Singer/Group Performance Time
E-girls 3 Arashi 7
Ikimonogakari 8 Hiroshi Itsuki 45
Sayuri Ishikawa 38 EXILE 11
Miki Imai 2 X Japan 6
AKB48 8 Kanjani8 4
NMB48 3 Gesu no Kiwami Otome Debut
Sakurako Ohara Debut Go Hiromi 28
Natsuko Godai 22 Golden Bomber 4
Fuyumi Sakamoto 27 Hideaki Tokunaga 10
Ringo Sheena 3 Sandaime J Soul Brothers 4
Aya Shimazu 2 SMAP 23
Superfly Debut Sekai no Owari 2
Mariko Takahashi 3 Sexy Zone 3
Yoshimi Tendo 20 TOKIO 22
AAA 6 Masahiko Kondo 10
Kana Nishino 6 Bump of Chicken Debut
Nogizaka46 Debut Kiyoshi Hikawa 16
Perfume 8 V6 2
Ayako Fuji 21 Masaharu Fukuyama 8
Seiko Matsuda 19 Gen Hoshino Debut
Kaori Mizumori 13 Takashi Hosokawa 39
μ's (from Love Live!) Debut Keisuke Yamauchi Debut
Miwa 3 Miwa Akihiro 4
Rebecca Debut Shinichi Mori 48
Akiko Wada 39 Hiroshi Miyama Debut
Yuzu 6
SPECIAL GUESTS

Artists not invited this year

RED TEAM
Ayaka, Nana Mizuki, Momoiro Clover Z, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, SKE48, HKT48, Kaori Kozai, Sayaka Kanda, Miyuki Nakajima, Hiroko Yakushimaru, May J., Yoshino Nanjou[2]
WHITE TEAM
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, T.M.Revolution, Chris Hart, Kouhei Fukuda, Pornograffiti.

Performance Order

It was announced on December 24. Go Hiromi and Sakurako Ohara were the first artists to perform. The finalistas (Ootori) were Masahiko Kondo and Seiko Matsuda. Two artists performed live from a remote location: Masaharu Fukuyama (from Pacific Convention Plaza) and Bump of Chicken (from Makuhari Messe). This was the last appearance of Shinichi Mori (who announced his honorable retirement from Kouhaku).[3] AAA, for being a mixed musical group, served again in Akagumi.

Songs Performed on Medleys

Staff

Final Results & Ratings

Final Results
Votes Akagumi Shirogumi
Partials 168.179 179.230
Overall 356.832 346.929
Individual Results
TV, 1-Seg, Apps & NHK Hall
DTV 246.705 236.986
1-Seg 9.286 10.652
App Android 99.554 97.871
NHK Hall 1.287 1.420
Winner Team: Red
Ratings
Kanto: 34,8% (1st Part) & 39,2% (2nd Part)
Kansai: 36,8% (1st Part) & 42,2% (2nd Part)

Production

Every year, representatives of each of the two teams in Kōhaku are announced between the 1st and 15 October, and the artists who will participate are disclosed in late November. However, this year, according to some news portals and Japanese newspapers reported, NHK had to delay the announcement of representatives after Tamori, renowned Japanese TV host, refused participation in Kōhaku. In response, NHK started searching for another representative. Rumors began to surface that Yoshihiko Inohara (V6) would serve as Tamori's replacement. Both representatives and participating artists were announced on November 26, the day the line-up is traditionally revealed.[6]

Haruka Ayase received the Championship Flag from guest judge Masato Sakai.

References

  1. ^ "66th Kouhaku timeslot announced". Yahoo! Japan. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  2. ^ "Love Live! Idol Yoshino Nanjou Will Not Perform in New Year's Kōhaku Battle". Anime News Network. December 28, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  3. ^ "SMAP to Disband After 27 Years".
  4. ^ "New Year's Kōhaku Singing Contest to Include Special Anime Songs Program". Anime News Network. December 29, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "Love Live! Idols Deny μ's Breakup, Preview Animated Kōhaku Footage". Anime News Network. December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "Ayase e Inocchi (V6) serão os apresentadores do Kouhaku!". 26 November 2015.