Red vs White Songfest

[Ian_Lee]

Just curious. How many of you have watched the annual Red Vs White Songfest on New Year's Eve?

I have watched it since the early '70s (not every year though).

There used to be some Chinese singers, i.e. Judy Yung, Agnes Chan etc., who first participated as singers, then judges and then faded from the screen.

But amazingly there are still some really good old time Japanese singers in the fest this year.

[tokyo_girl]

There is a red and white concert on Japan's NHK on NYE too!

[in_lab]

I'm going to record it tomorrow. I've watched it on tape for a few years, fast-forwarding through most of it. This year there will be a few Korean singers, inlcuding Lee Jung-hyun, who I like. But I don't know if they will perform individually or together. Abe Natsumi won't be attending because of a plagiarism incident. That's all the dish I know.

[Ian_Lee]

Tokyo Girl:

I am sorry actually the show that you mentioned is what I referred -- Red White Songfest broadcasted on NHK.

But lately I read from the Japanese media that the viewers are getting tired of the annual show (this year is the 55th) and the rating has been constantly dropping.

Actually the show needs a drastic change in format. Compared with the earlier show that I watched since early '70s, the format remains basically unchanged for almost 40 years.

[tokyo_girl]

It's a pretty bland affair...

Even the Olympians lacked any sponteneity...

I was in the far flung north with quite heavy snow -

which made watching the NYE concert seem like

predestination ... going to the local shrine

seemed more effort than it was worth.