Finally got a chance to watch Japan's 2005 Kouhaku concert. Thanks gocchin for sending me a copy. ^_^ It was a very entertaining program. And some of my favorite singers, including Fuji Ayako and Sakamoto Fuyumi, performed.
Every New Year's Eve, NHK Television in Japan airs a program called Kouhaku Uta Gassen (Red & White Song Battle). This is a four and a half hour show featuring Japan's top singers. Many music genres are represented; Enka, pop, rock, folk, etc. Kouhaku is a competition pitting all the female singers (red) against all the male singers (white). At the end of the show, one side is voted the winner. On New Year's Eve 2005, the men came out on top. Millions of people in Japan usher in the new year watching this program. Although Kouhaku is not as popular as it used to be, it's still pretty big. I'm told it's the highest rated show in the history of TV. Part of the fun of watching is deciding for yourself who was better, the men or the women. In Japan, you haven't made it as a singer until you've been invited to perform at Kouhaku.
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Yes, I saw the Def Diva performance. Very interesting group. Another highlight of the show was Kitajima Saburo's performance near the end with all that paper snow coming down. Looked more like a blizzard.
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