I remember when the Kohaku opening song was always a special event, but this time around, it really seemed like they just started it like any other show…. anyway, here’s some highlights that caught my fancy…King & Prince Hey Say Jump- More than listening to the songs, I was trying to see who I KNEW from these acts as I always see their credits whenever i’m watching dramas!
Hinatazaka46 and Sakurazaka46...LOL, until i looked up the program, I didn't even realize these were two different acts performing, thought they just did a costume change. AHAHAHA
Little Glee Monster returns with their sweet vocals....
Oh WOW, Who ARE these guys? Zany and loud costumes aside (which looks like a deck of cards vomited on them), Junretsu sounded just terrific- reminded me of 70’s acts like Four Leaves with their cool harmonies!
Gotta say, I was ASTOUNDED when they met up with some lady and I realized it was Tomoe Shinohara! Somehow, I expected her to look exactly the same forever! 
Ahh, she was so freakin’ hilarious back in the day, glad to see she is doing well as a designer, for, of all people, Kaori Kozai, the newest “Lady on a 25 foot scaffolding act”
I always thought Fuyumi Sakamoto was the coolest singer ever, and her latest appearance doing a Keisuke Kuwata song just reaffirms it- look at her- she looks like a freakin’ superheroine!!!
SLAY QUEEN
There was a scene in “Yellow Submarine” where roses bloomed all over the head Blue Meanie and that looks like exactly what happened to Kis-My-Ft2, who look like they’re wearing curtain drapes. And still doing that Hikaru Genji rollerskate thing.
Yoshimi Tendo once again giving us this years “ Matsuri” song!!! And what would matsuri be without taiko drums?
Masashi Sada with a very “FNS Kayosai” backdrop.
Nogizaka 46. I noticed that unlike a lot of other “big member” acts, they gave a lot of the girls individual screen time. How many of these girls are actresses I know, I wonder.
Why does Masayuki Suzuki always look like he's performing in blackface, LOL. It’s like he’s still in “Rats and Star” mode….
Disney interlude, where I was amazed to see Fumi herself absolutely KILLING it on the vocals. HUH! Never knew she was such a talented vocalist!
Itsuki Hiroshi- very interesting perf with clips of his appearances through the years~
NiziU: To quote Leonardo Dicaprio: “You had my curiosity ... but now you have my attention!”
JYP’s original J-Pop girl group sounds an awful lot like their K-Pop contemporaries TWICE. Very catchy stuff!!!
Me: “HEY! Is…is Fukuyama actually THERE for a change???”
I am pretty surprised that Perfume has endured for so long with the exact same formula for all these years! But these gals look and sound pretty much the same as they did since their debut all those years ago!
Babymetal looks like Perfume’s ne’er do well younger sisters.
Flashback performances from past years. IYO! IYO! IYO!!! She’s so adorable here!!!
Then a Go Hiromi "then and now" perf. Very cool seeing the elder Hiromi singing classics “Otoko Onnanako” and “Yoroshiku Aishuu”
Then the obligatory NHK Asadora promo with Hana Sugisaki dropping in to talk shop…
Hey, that actor from Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is a singer????? Who knew!
Arashi beamed in from somewhere, probably Johnny’s own year-end extravaganza...
A special ‘2020” song and then “Happiness” to lighten the mood , LOL!
Explosive performance from LiSA, wonderfully THEATRIC!!!
YOASOBI in one hell of a library…
Kanjani 8 showing that despite being down to 5 members have lost none of their goofiness!
(Cringe watching Nankai Candies dude and the other celebs trying to dance along with a song they don’t look like they even know, LOL.)
After LiSA’s eccentric perf, iI was expecting Sheena Ringo to go for broke with the nuttiness, instead what we got with Tokyo Jihen was an extremely cool jazz fusion mix! Still eccentric as ever, though!
Interesting symphonic take of the classic X-Japan song “Endless rain” with various performers and Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen
Still one of the most powerful vocalists, Shiho of Superfly, though I still can't get past a Japanese woman calling herself such…
Hahaha, when I saw the program for the Kohaku, I actually thought there was gonna be a Mr. Children Documentary, LOL. But no, "Documentary Film" is the name of the song.
Sayuri Ishikawa singing her signature Amagi-goe. I would be amazed if she were to sing any of her other songs, but I guess she sticks with the heavy hitters!
Gen Hoshino doing another one of his family friendly tunes. Somehow, thought he was gonna break out “Koi” again, just because.
Oh my, Hikawa Kiyoshi went full Super-Sentai!
Then morphed into TM Revolution...
...and THEN Toshi of X-JAPAN!
Next Seiko Matsuda, and how come they didn’t do that thing like they did with Hiromi Go and showa montage of HER past performances?
Yumi Matsutoya with a decidedly odd song with Yuming and a bunch of comedians, LOL!
The SURPRISE of the night: Koji Tamaki singing Den’en, the first song I ever knew from him, from the 1995 drama COACH, one of the earliest j-dramas I ever saw!!!! Tamaki singing with all the passion he ever had, backed by full orchestra! TOO COOL!
Next up is Masaharu Fukuyama and the million dollar question: is he actually THERE or not??? I mean, he appeared onstage earlier, but….
Hm, OKAY, confirmation! Gotta say, wasn’t 100 percent sure until this wide shot:
When it was announced MISIA was gonna close the Kouhaku, I was like, Um…OK? But after seeing this HUGE performance, gotta say it was a FINE closer indeed!
Wrapping Up the show, it was odd not having the obligatory "audience vote" ball toss thingy, but what REALLY startled was seeing all those empty seats in the closing shot!
Still, another fine show, hopefully next year they'll get those seats filled up and they can do the Red and White right!!!