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AKB48, Shokotan, Leah Dizon to Join Kōhaku Uta Gassen
posted on by Egan Loo
Kōhaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle), the New Year's Eve singing contest that is Japan's most viewed music television program, is planning to open this year with three acts popular with otaku: AKB48, Shōko Nakagawa, and Leah Dixon. If the plan goes through, it will be the first Kōhaku appearance for all three acts.
According to unnamed sources within the Japanese public broadcaster NHK that spoke with the Sankei Sports newspaper, the organizers of the 58th incarnation of Kōhaku are negotiating with the three acts' management teams to have them start the Red Team's musical lineup. The plan is to have the three acts begin with a medley, with each one singing parts of their own songs separately. Their performance will end with all three acts combining together to sing anime songs popular in Akihabara, Tokyo's so-called otaku "mecca."
AKB48 is a 48-member female idol group, divided into three teams, that performs in its own theater in Akihabara. Shoko "Shoktan" Nakagawa is a self-described otaku personality who has acted in live-action series, voiced anime roles, and sang anime theme songs. Leah Dizon is an American-born celebrity who first came to Japan as a model before breaking into music this year with three hit singles.
The North American television channel TV Japan regularly carries the Kōhaku program during New Year's.
Source: Sankei Sports via Tokyograph
