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Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Japanese New Year's Eve musical television special / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (Japanese: NHK紅白歌合戦, Hepburn: Enu Eichi Kei Kōhaku Uta Gassen, "NHK Red and White Song Battle"[1]), 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.
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Kōhaku Uta Gassen | |
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Also known as | NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen |
Created by | Tsumoru Kondo |
Ending theme | Hotaru no Hikari |
Country of origin | Japan |
Original language | Japanese |
No. of episodes | 74 contests |
Production | |
Production locations | Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (1959–1972) NHK Hall (1973–2020; 2022 onwards) Tokyo International Forum (2021) |
Running time | 4 hours 30 minutes |
Production company | NHK |
Original release | |
Network | NHK General TV (1953–present) NHK Radio 1 (1951–present) NHK World Premium (Worldwide) (1964–present) |
Release | January 3, 1951 (1951-01-03) – present |
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.[2] 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.