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chrryblssmninjaI'm watching NHK's 58th Red and White Singing Festival (Kohaku!) right now.
It's become a New Year's tradtion for me for like...three years now?
It's a Japanese New Year's program where they alternate older enka and pop acts with new and/or currently popular J-pop artists on the same stage!
It's interesting.
It started off with a bunch of girl groups (led by Morning Musume, of course), and then enka acts. Boy band EXILE just finished. Now it's Mihimaru GT.
I can never watch the whole thing, because it's 5 hours long, I can't take all the J-pop, and there's other things I have to do on New Year's Day.
But here else can you see a bunch of of pommel horses, used by alternating sets of gymnasts and BMXers, set behind an oddly dressed enka singer and in front of a bunch of people either waving long thin flags and juggling silver bowling pins?
Also, I am convinced that, if you make a song the right slow mid-tempo, and stretch out the syllables just so, you can sing ANY song in enka style.
Happy New Year, y'all.
ETA: oh my gosh they're singing the Butt-Biting Bug song. With the bug mascot on stage. Singing with a bunch of little kids. With puppet bugs on their hands. The nicely-dressed people in the audience also have the bug hand puppets.
Yeah, I don't watch for the music. I watch for the spectacle.
It's become a New Year's tradtion for me for like...three years now?
It's a Japanese New Year's program where they alternate older enka and pop acts with new and/or currently popular J-pop artists on the same stage!
It's interesting.
It started off with a bunch of girl groups (led by Morning Musume, of course), and then enka acts. Boy band EXILE just finished. Now it's Mihimaru GT.
I can never watch the whole thing, because it's 5 hours long, I can't take all the J-pop, and there's other things I have to do on New Year's Day.
But here else can you see a bunch of of pommel horses, used by alternating sets of gymnasts and BMXers, set behind an oddly dressed enka singer and in front of a bunch of people either waving long thin flags and juggling silver bowling pins?
Also, I am convinced that, if you make a song the right slow mid-tempo, and stretch out the syllables just so, you can sing ANY song in enka style.
Happy New Year, y'all.
ETA: oh my gosh they're singing the Butt-Biting Bug song. With the bug mascot on stage. Singing with a bunch of little kids. With puppet bugs on their hands. The nicely-dressed people in the audience also have the bug hand puppets.
Yeah, I don't watch for the music. I watch for the spectacle.
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no subject
2007-12-31 21:50 (UTC)no subject
2007-12-31 22:02 (UTC)no subject
2007-12-31 23:42 (UTC)hey, if you consider my time zone, Near Year is an appropriate term...
no subject
2007-12-31 23:33 (UTC)no subject
2007-12-31 23:42 (UTC)no subject
2008-01-01 21:21 (UTC)Lol, that's crazy!
Happy New Year!
no subject
2008-01-01 21:29 (UTC)this is the original video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W0G9Uwqm2U)
ojiri kajiri mushi....
and here's a recent live performance. No cute little kids, though. :(
Happy New Year to you too! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJcdYx3VkUE)
no subject
2008-01-01 21:49 (UTC)The butt biting bug makes you propose!! MEN BEWARE!
no subject
2008-01-01 22:49 (UTC)