Back to Basics: Behind the Scenes of Kōhaku Singer Selection

A proposal to have the entire 7th generation of enka performers appear.

On November 19, the performers for the “75th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen” were announced, revealing that, for the second consecutive year, no artists from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (hereafter, STARTO Co.) would participate.

“NHK had reportedly acknowledged progress in compensation for the victims of the sexual abuse issue and attempted to invite former Johnny’s Office talents to Kōhaku. Among them, they considered the return of two groups, ‘Snow Man,’ whose CDs sell exceptionally well, and ‘SixTONES,’ popular with younger audiences. However, STARTO Co. reportedly hoped for additional groups to be included. The discussions with STARTO Co. did not reach a resolution, which seemingly delayed the announcement of the Kōhaku performers compared to usual,” said a music program insider.

Then, on October 20, the broadcast of “NHK Special: Unveiling the Reality of the Idol Empire Built by Johnny Kitagawa likely had a significant impact on STARTO Co.’s decision-making. Nonetheless, the music program production team, eager to feature STARTO Co.’s artists in Kōhaku, reportedly continued negotiations until the last moment.

Although the result was zero participants this year as well, NHK had been considering increasing slots for first-time appearances by young enka and kayōkyoku singers since spring, in case this outcome materialized.

“Since a few years ago, 20-something enka and kayō singers, collectively called the ‘7th Generation of Enka,’ have been holding joint concerts across record labels and production companies. This movement centers on talented newcomers debuted by various companies as post-Hikawa artists following Kiyoshi Hikawa’s (47) hiatus from music activities. Among them were Leon Niihama (28), who secured his first appearance, and three other handsome enka singers. Around this summer, there was even a proposal to have all four of them perform,” the same music insider revealed.