Bridging The Gap: FNS Kayousai 2013

FNS Kayousai 2013 with SMAP and those Familiar Chandeliers

  From just glancing at the guest list for this year’s FNS Kayousai Concert, I knew I was in for a trip down memory lane, and MAN! Did I EVER! From the very first chords of the FUN opening song “Shake” by SMAP, I KNEW I was in for one HELLUVA nostalgic trip! Sure, there were a lot of newer artists, but for me it was ALL ABOUT the 90’s throwback theme-so much FEELS!!!!

TOKIO Nagase Tomoya and Yamaguchi Tatsuya

 After a few of the newer acts,TOKIO came up, and doing one of my VERY favorite songs of theirs from yesteryear, AMBITIOUS TOKYO! Gotta tell ya, I was singing right along with them-Too bad it was a shortened version! Still love the parts where Tatsuya Yamaguchi sings his lines- I’ve always loved his voice in this song!

Fujii Fumiya: "I Love You, Sayonara"

Makihara Noriyuki Collaborated with Kis-My-Ft2 for his classic “Fuyu Ga Hajimaru”, Fumiya Fujii continued the Nostalgia vibe by performing “I Love You SAYONARA”, (his old CHECKERS hit) and  Moritaka Chisato teamed up with ABCZ for a most unexpected perf of her song…(wait for it…) “Jin Jin JingleBell”!

Moritaka Chisato and ABCZ

When Luna Sea came out with the opening strains of their rocking song “Rosier”, soon as I heard that drum intor and droning guitar line, I was all like “HECK YEAH!” Man, when I read the guests that were appearing on the show, I was already stoked to see them, little did I know that they’d be performing the hits I knew and LOVED so well!!

LUNA SEA: Rosier

Aikawa Nanase and Nakagawa Shoko

Looking pretty much the same as she did 15 years ago: Nanase Aikawa

Speaking of Rocking, the duet between Nakagawa Shoko and the original Japanese Pat Benatar Aikawa Nanase doing her song “Yume Miru Shoujo Ja Irarenai ” was pretty solid, and my GOSH, Nanase looks EXACTLY the same as she did 15 years ago! A little later she came out and performed another one of her BIG hits, "Break Out"!

TRF with Kusanagi Tsuyoshi

Then finally, one of the acts I was really looking forward to seeing came out, the original Tetsuya’s Rave Factory, TRF, and they went right into their signature song…EZ-DO Dance! Eh, wait, WHAT? EX Do Dance? Not Crazy Gonna Crazy? Awww…Oh Well, at least they didn’t do SURVIVAL Dance, that would have just been tragic! Moving on…

Duets: Kishidan and SCANDAL "One Night Carnival"

Besides all of these classic acts, of course a BIG part of the FNS Concert is having the artists collaborate with one another (like the groovy "One Night Carnival" by Kishidan and girl rockers SCANDAL)  or with the newbie artists singing along with the seasoned acts, and though all of them were interesting, the ones that really made me smile were the collabs between Go Hiromi, Yuzu and those pretty and genki Nogizaka46 girls, so much FUN, and the high-tension ROCKING “White Breath” duet between TM Revolution and Mizuki Nana!

Go Hiromi, YUZU, and Nogizaka46

Mizuki Nana and TM Revolution: White Breath

Such a thrill to see the 80's Idols of the past onstage once more, with girls like Yuki Saito, Yoko Minamino (still as adorable as ever!), Yui Asaka, Iyo Matsumoto, and even Yoko Oginome all singing their classics, now as fine looking ladies! Yoko Oginome, in particular (doing her 80’s hit “Dancing Hero”) shows she still gots the power to rev up the energy, gotta say! So Sexy and COOL!

Saito Yuki and Momoiro Clover Z

C-C- Girl!! Asaka Yui 

Minamino Yoko

Oginome Yoko

Matsumoto Iyo

Iwasaki Yoshimi wi E-Girls

Iwasaki Hiromi wi E-Girls again

My vote for best “Passing the Torch” of styles goes to the duet between Koda Kumi and original Sexy Vixen Linda Yamamoto, BOY they both like they were having fun!!

Koda Kumi and Yamamoto Linda

And my vote for “Strangest Collaboration" HAS to be the duet between Yashiro Aki and “Demon” Kogure…who in the world dreamed up such a duo? ? Even MORE strange than the pair-up is how Aki’s epic Enka style totally matched Kogure’s Overly Dramatic music PREFECTLY! Plus they were having such fun, ya just HAD to laugh!

Yashida Aki and Demon Kogure

And for touching moments, I have to admit, I got a bit teary-eyed watching Tomomi Kahala (along with Tetsuya Komuro) doing a VERY sweet rendition of “I’m Proud/I Believe”, though Tomomi’s mumbling to Komuro at the end WAS a bit awkward…what was up wit dat?

The spirit of this Concert was the cooperation between acts to bring new and exciting versions of songs, and nothing sums up the goodwill and happy vibe of the shpow better than the collaboration between E-Girls and SKE48 joining to sing their version of “Nandetatte IDOL”, proving that the power of Idols lives on!

Of course, besides all of these aforementioned perforamnces, there were a lot of artists singing their latest songs like Arashi, KinKi Kids,even Yamashita "Yamapi" Tomohisa doing his "Summer Nude" song, but for MY money, the real heeart of this show is the duets and NOSTALGIA! Aw, this was yet another GREAT year for the FNS, and I gotta say, the Kohaku has a LOT to follow up to! Thanks for the Memories!!!

PS: I noticed that this year they FINALLY got away from showing that darn Chandelier on the ceiling every time it came back from commercials, LOL!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com