The contestants for the 76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Singing Contest) on New Year’s Eve have been announced, and while King & Prince have been chosen to participate from STARTO Entertainment, Arashi and Snow Man were not named. Will they be added to the lineup? The usual experts discussed. The list of contestants for the Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White) has been announced. The topic of conversation is STARTO Entertainment, isn’t it? Entertainment Reporter: From beforehand, the return of STARTO was seen as a certainty, and the names of King & Prince and timelesz were mentioned in the press. However, only one group, King & Prince, was announced this time, and the STARTO group will be returning to Kohaku after a three-year absence. The SpoNichi main newspaper desk: At this point, there is a gap in the number of groups, with 20 red groups and 17 white groups, and Shinsuke Shinohara, who oversees production, has said, “We will continue to negotiate with artists with high expectations. In short, there is room for additional announcements in the future. Weekly reporter: That’s the point. Since we are short three white groups, there is no doubt that we are considering reinforcing the white groups with additional artists. Some people think that the reason they are leaving the three white groups open is to make more time available for Arashi’s appearance. Wide Desk Speaking of STARTO groups, Snow Man and SixTONES are also mentioned in addition to Arashi, but Snow Man was not on the announced list this time. According to a source, NHK made an offer to Snow Man to participate, but in the end it did not happen due to the wishes of the members. In the past two years, there was no entry, and in the end there was no name this time either. it has become a tradition for Snow Man to do a live broadcast on YouTube on New Year’s Eve. Reporter Fans have their own take on the event, and while some are disappointed that they were not able to participate, there is also a positive view that with live distribution, they can be closer to their fans to celebrate the New Year’s Eve. The influence of distribution is huge these days. Weekly magazine reporter SixTONES will perform at the New Year’s Eve music festival on New Year’s Eve. However, their appearance is set for the evening, and depending on the time of day, they may be able to be flexible. Sponichi’s main newspaper desk The focus of attention is, after all, Arashi, whose activities will end next year. When asked if negotiations would continue, Shinohara did not deny the question, saying, “You may take it that way. Weekly magazine reporter If Arashi’s appearance were to take place, the impact on viewer ratings would be considerable, so NHK must be carefully and aggressively negotiating with the NHK side. Wide Desk: Personally, I think it will be interesting to see how the “bargaining” will go from here. As a fan, I think we are still at the stage where we can have high expectations. Even after the announcement of the contestants has been made, we will not be able to take our eyes off of them until the end of the year.
