Shuri Shuri, the heroine who sings the theme song of the morning drama “Boogie Woogie,” and Ran Ito will be the centerpiece of the Kohaku Drama “Mother-Daughter Co-starring”⁉

It was announced that actress Shuri (32), the heroine of NHK’s television series “Boogie Woogie” starting on October 2, will sing the theme song “Happy☆Boogie”.

The drama is modeled on Shizuko Kasagi, a major star of the postwar era who was known as the “Queen of Boogie. It is an original work about a girl who joins a girls’ singing troupe in Dotonbori, Osaka, and overcomes the hardships of war to become a star. The theme song will be sung by Yoshie Nakano, vocalist of the music unit EGO-WRAPPIN’, singer/songwriter Yuto Sakai, and Shuri.

The song was written and composed by Takayuki Hattori, grandson of Ryoichi Hattori, who was the model for the composer Zenichi Hatori, the musical teacher who guides the heroine Suzuko in the drama. According to Takayuki, the decision to select the singers to sing the song was made at the time of composition for Nakano and Sakai, and furthermore, based on Shuri’s growth during the recording of the song in the play, it was decided that the three of them would sing together.

Shuri said, “I never thought I would sing the theme song, so I was surprised when Mr. Hattori offered it to me, and I just had to do my best. I was very surprised when I received the offer from Mr. Hattori, and I just had to do my best. Mr. Hattori advised me to sing the song with warmth and softness, and I really enjoyed recording the song.

Tao Tsuchiya, the heroine of “Mare” in the first half of 2003, sang “Kisora~Marezora~,” which is a relatively rare occurrence for a heroine to sing in a morning drama. Tsuchiya is also quite a talented singer and has shown her voice in public so far, but Shuri has not had many opportunities to showcase her voice.

Nevertheless, her father is actor and singer Yutaka Mizutani, and her mother is actor and singer Ran Ito, a former member of the popular idol group Candies. Her DNA is unmatched as a singer, and those who heard her singing were astonished at how well she sang, saying, “She sings with the best of both of her parents! I heard that the people involved were astonished when they heard her singing voice.

The soundtrack of “Happy Boogie” is expected to be released on the day the drama starts airing. The release of the soundtrack will no doubt be a hot topic of conversation, but the annual “74th NHK Kohaku” will be held on New Year’s Eve during the drama’s airing period.

Every year, the actress who is the heroine of that year’s morning drama will be involved in some way in the Kohaku, either as a member of the judging panel or in a special corner. So, as early as this year, there was talk of Shuri making her first appearance in Kohaku with “Happy☆Bugi. I think the three singers who will sing the theme song will be given unit names, and it is likely that they will participate in the competition as a unit,” said a music industry insider.

Shuri’s mother, Ito, made her first appearance on the station’s music program “SONGS” on July 20 this year. As this year marks the 50th anniversary of their debut, she talked about nostalgic episodes from their Candies days and their legendary breakup concert at Korakuen Stadium. Shuri and Ito’s first mother-daughter collaboration is said to be a candidate for the centerpiece of this year’s Kohaku (red and white) program.

It is said that Shuri’s first appearance on “SONGS” was offered with the year-end Kohaku in mind. If Ito were to participate, it would probably be a Candies medley, and fans of yesteryear would not miss Kohaku. And if Shuri is also going to participate, they will probably perform together on one of the stages, and Mizutani will probably come along as well, making it a father-son trio.

This year’s Kohaku is likely to be limited to two or three groups from the Johnny’s office, which has been hit hard by the sexual assault scandal involving its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, and will probably refrain from participating. Therefore, it will be essential to prepare a stronger highlight. If this were to happen, NHK would continue to rely heavily on the father-son trio.

It will be interesting to see what kind of singing voice Shuri will bring to the “Boogie Woogie” theme song.