Jaseroque

David Attenborough is a very nice guy who makes good TV.

But I got to see him siiiiiiing so I'm happpppyyyyyyyy

Honestly I thought they deserved it this year. They had a few more really outstanding acts than the ladies. But they both had really good stuff (and a few duds).

Annnnnnd.... WHITE TEAM TAKES ALL

Everyone singing Hikari no Hotaru to finish up.

Everyone is on stage for the end. Monkey is still here looking dapper in a brown suit. One of the wonderful enka ladies is in a red kimono with an entire plush toy horse on her head.

The audience in the hall had been asked to switch their lightsticks to red or blue depending on their vote to get an idea of the way the vote might be trending. The young thing next to Masako Nozawa had to help her with hers. I feel it was trending white, but hard to tell.

Oh! A surprise bonus song! From a lady they're calling "the eternal idol", her 25th Kohaku. Her voice is still SURPRISINGLY young..! She's also doing the wedding dress thing though.

She's good, she's really good, but after Mrs Green Apple, as the last act...? Well, it's not a LETDOWN, anyway...

Oh that was joyful. And it was so nice that Misia wasn't carrying the end of the program for the first time in such a while. And jeez that dude has range.

They said they wrote this song with the concept of making everyone in Japan happier, which, you know? We could do with that? Straightforward to the point of oversimplification, but I think that's okay right now when everything feels so complicated.

OH, of course the last act is Mrs Green Apple. Finally there's a proper final act that isn't Misia, or Misia doing the final act from the second last position. They should do very well.

Yay they finally talked to Masako Nozawa again. I am satisfied. Just before the last song.

Metal flrs.

Holy cow her dress is made entirely of metal flowers.

Oh good they move under pressure, it's just very shiny plastic! I was like "can she put her arms down without doing herself damage" for a minute there.

Misia is ONCE AGAIN finishing up for team red, though this year team white is delivering the last song.

They're having to fill time while they put together the staging for it, so I'm expecting something BIG.

I was worried they'd have post-earthquake footage in the background, but it's like, slomo landscapes and galloping horses.

Oh wow I just realized that he's one-upped the lady with the keyboardist singing along, one of his violinists is singing along, just for his own enjoyment, WHILE playing.

Now we're having a song about earthquakes. Is this the "trigger Shasta" part of the program or....?

Also it's another aging male rocker who's too cool for the theater.

Oh, going into the serious emotive stuff. A guy who wrote a song about a tree that survived the Nagasaki bombing -- like was really right in the middle of it -- and is still growing.

... like a SHARK.

I WAS VERY EXCITED OKAY.

He's not performing live but he's doing a lot with it. Like, uh, riding a car shaped like a car.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I THOUGHT KENSHI YONEZU WASN'T GOING TO BE HERE THIS YEAR

Oh they DO have a full organ in this year's setup! I thought I heard it earlier! She's playing the grand piano, has an entire backing choir and violins and an electric guitar and an entire organ.

One of the originators of jpop, did the opening and ending for Kiki's Delivery Service which is absolutely what's important to me but it looks like she was hugely impactful on jpop in general... She's 71 and her voice hasn't entirely lasted the distance, but she's still got something.

Enka and mochi.

Ishikawa Sayuri and her beautiful hairpieces will never let me down.

She's performing with an actual full orchestra this time. They've had to put her in one of the second stages to fit them all.

She is, indeed, not letting me down.

Enka lady, save me!

Oh help he went terribly off-key on the last note.

He's being very very Facial Expressions about it too. Back to hanging out my washing I think.

A guy who started on Kohaku 60 years ago, the footage is black and white!

Oh no, but he's singing My Way.