On November 14, NHK announced the contestants for the 76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen. Many congratulatory messages were sent to the singers who participated for the first time, and the names of returning artists such as Sakanaction, Toshinobu Kubota, and Perfume were also included, creating a great deal of excitement on social networking sites and elsewhere. On the other hand, fans of the artists whose names were not mentioned voiced their disappointment, asking why they were not in the Kohaku. Photo] Here are the popular singers who were left with “scars” from last year’s Kohaku. This year, the tattoo issue attracted particular attention. A music writer says, “NHK, a public broadcaster, is not going to let a tattoo go unnoticed. NHK, as a public broadcaster, has been known to be cautious about tattoos in the past, but this year the trend became even clearer. Symbolic of this was the fact that Ayase, the composer of YOASOBI, is known to have dark tattoos from his fingertips to his neck, and when YOASOBI was eliminated last year, there was speculation that the tattoos were “influenced” by the fact that Ayase was a solo contestant. When YOASOBI was unsuccessful last year, there was speculation that it was “due to the tattoos. The fact that the same tattooed SEKAI NO OWARI vocalist, Fukase, was also eliminated from the competition shows once again the cautious attitude toward tattoos. Although the number of artists with tattoos has been increasing with the changing times, if the tattoos are so extensive and gaudy that they cannot be concealed even by costumes, the decision may be that they do not match the “Kohaku” show for family viewing. Turning to male idol groups, King & Prince will be participating for the sixth time. Although they are the first former Johnny’s group to return to Kohaku in three years, some people in the entertainment industry say that there were some differences from their prior expectations. The surprising one was the omission of timelesz, whose audition program for new members aired on Netflix became a social phenomenon, and the new group made numerous appearances on music programs. Hence, it was seen as a ‘sure thing this year,’ but when the lid was lifted, there were no names. In many cases, former Johnny’s groups have made their breakthrough after a long underclass during their Jr. days, and this has become a factor for fans to guess. On the other hand, as for timelesz, some of the members passed the audition and ran on the road to breakthrough without underpaying, so they were sometimes booed when they participated in big events or special programs. The decision by the office to drop them this time may have been made in light of this background,” said a source in the entertainment industry.
