On November 14, the contestants for the annual “76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen” were announced, and King & Prince from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT decided to participate for the sixth time in three years. Meguro Ren at the scene of the Gekkanen just before the announcement of their hiatus, with dark circles around her eyes. However, in 2011, following the former Johnny’s Office’s admission of the sexual misconduct of its founder, the late Johnny Kitagawa, NHK announced that it would not be using any new talent from the office for the time being. NHK announced that it would suspend the use of new talent from the company for the time being. That year, for the first time in 44 years, there were no new talents from the company in the “Kohaku” program. NHK’s decision to part ways with the former Johnny’s Office, with which it had maintained a close relationship, was also likely to have had a major repercussion. The average household viewership ratings for “Kohaku” in 2011 were 29% for the first part (according to Video Research, Kanto region) and 31.9% for the second part, both of which were the lowest in history. The production team realized once again the importance of the old Johnny’s group. The following year, in October 2012, NHK announced the resumption of the use of STARTO’s talents, perhaps in anticipation of Kohaku (red and white). NHK most wanted Snow Man, led by Ren Meguro (28), who is now a representative of STARTO, to appear on the program. We wanted them to perform so badly that we were desperate for them to appear, but negotiations broke down, and there was no talent from STARTO that year either,” said a music insider. Snow Man’s name was not there. According to Sports Hochi, Snow Man received an offer from NHK, but did not accept it. Snow Man was selected for the first time for the Kohaku in 2008, the year of their CD debut, but they had to withdraw in tears due to a member’s infection with a new type of coronavirus. It is no exaggeration to say that I have worked hard for the Kohaku for the past year. However, he was to participate for the second consecutive year in 2010, and was considered a “sure bet” for 2011 as well, but he was forced to swallow a bitter pill because of Kitagawa’s sexual assault issue. Of course, all the members understood that it was “inevitable” that they would not be appointed, but they were not satisfied with the fact that they were not selected, despite their influence and sales. In 2011, in addition to the “Kohaku” event, the annual “Johnny’s Countdown Live” held at the Tokyo Dome was also cancelled. Snow Man, who had an open schedule for the end of the year, decided to take action. Snow Man held a solo live performance “Snow Man Special Live ~Enjoy New Year’s Eve with Everyone~” for their fans! ～for the fans. The number of simultaneous connections, meaning viewers, at the same live exceeded 1.33 million, ranking first in Japan’s history at the time. In announcing the event, Meguro posted on his Instagram Stories: “Let’s make this the best New Year’s Eve with the 9 of us and everyone else! We will never make you regret it. We will make it right.” This statement could be taken as a declaration of farewell to the “Kohaku” show, which is a “back-up program. Snow Man did not participate in “Kohaku” in 2012, but held a similar solo live broadcast on New Year’s Eve, recording approximately 1.27 million viewers. No announcement has yet been made regarding the implementation of this year’s year-end delivery. As of 2011, the members had already discussed the idea of holding a live performance of their own initiative on New Year’s Eve at the same place every year. It is highly likely that this year’s New Year’s Eve will also be a live broadcast live event. While the use of STARTO’s talents has returned, Snow Man did not choose “Kohaku,” but it may be that the gap has not been bridged even after two years. The loss of Snow Man is a big blow, but is there any way to revive the show?
