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72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
Also known as	72nd NHK Red & White Year-End Song Festival
第72回NHK紅白歌合戦: Colorful〜カラフル〜
Genre	Music, Variety, Special
Created by	Tsumoru Kondo
Directed by	Yukinori Kida
Presented by	Haruna Kawaguchi Yo Oizumi Mayuko Wakuda
Starring	Shunichi Tokura
Judges	Kasumi Ishikawa Kaya Kiyohara Eiko Koike Kentaro Sakaguchi Mami Tani Kōki Mitani
Ending theme	"Hotaru no Hikari"
Composers	Takahiro Kaneko Tsunaki Mihara
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
Production
Production location	Tokyo International Forum
Running time	265 minutes
Production company	NHK Enterprise Inc.
Original release
Network	NHK-G NHK World Premium TV Japan
Release	December 31, 2021 (2021-12-31)

The 72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (第72回NHK紅白歌合戦, lit. 'The 72nd NHK Red & White Song Battle') was the 2021 (Reiwa 3) edition of NHK's television special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2021, live from the hall A of Tokyo International Forum (Tokyo, Japan), and broadcast in Japan through NHK General Television and NHK Radio 1, and worldwide through TV Japan (US only) and NHK World Premium. Yo Oizumi, Haruna Kawaguchi & Mayuko Wakuda served as show hosts. The Red team won this event.

About the show

This year's edition took place on Tokyo International Forum, since the usual venue, NHK Hall is currently undergoing renovations, to be done in time for the 73rd edition (2022). Starting this year, there will be no longer separate hosts for the Red and White team. Instead, the hosts will share duties with the general host, encouraging the performers, regardless of their gender. The theme for the 72nd edition is "Colorful", based on an idea of "I want to make the world as colorful as possible on the last night of 2021". The new logo for the show is also introduced: it is a gradient image that goes from red to white.

This was the first edition in two years to be held with an audience, with a certain number of spectators. After 50 appearances (the last being in 2020), Hiroshi Itsuki announced that he will not participate in this Kouhaku during a concert held on October 17.

Once again, Shunichi Tokura conducted the choir in the closing song "Hotaru no Hikari".

On December 25, Seiko Matsuda, who was scheduled to participate in the event, announced that she would withdraw from the event due to the sudden death of her daughter Sayaka Kanda.

On December 27, the performance order was revealed. LiSA and Hiromi Go will open the show, while Masaharu Fukuyama and MISIA (who makes her second consecutive Ootori) will repeat their closing acts from last year. Rehearsals took place from December 28 until the morning of the live show.

Due to copyright reasons, LiSA's performance from her song "Homura" could not be shown on the NHK World Premium broadcast (due to the use of scenes from the anime Demon Slayer), with only the artist's photo, in this case, LiSA, being shown.

Artist lineup

 Debuting artists   Returning artists   Special performances 

SONGS PERFORMED ON MEDLEYS

• Tomoyasu Hotei: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity", "Sayonara Seishun no Hikari"
• MISIA: "Ashita e", "Higher Love"

ADDITIONAL MUSIC

• "Ode to Joy" - Composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven
• "Next Episode" - Shiro Sagisu (from Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)
• "I Can't Help Falling in Love" - Performed by Hi-STANDARD (Original by Elvis Presley)
• "You've Got a Friend" - Performed by Carole King

Guest Performers

• Midories
• Ryunosuke Kamiki - Aoi voice actor
• Fumi Nikaido - Ki voice actress
• Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra - Dragon Quest music performers
• Takayuki Yamada - Dragon Quest VTR narrator
• Natsuki Hanae - Tanjiro Kamado voice actor
• Megumi Ogata - Shinji Ikari voice actress
• Megumi Hayashibara - Rei Ayanami voice actress
• Yuko Miyamura - Asuka Langley voice actress
• Kotono Mitsuishi - Misato Katsuragi voice actress
• Fumihiko Tachiki - Gendou Ikari voice actor
• Yoko Takahashi - Performer on "A Cruel Angel's Thesis"
• Kendama Chiba-chan, Kendama Heroes 2021, Taiyu Shoinji, Zuu Mandrake, DJ KOO, Fuku Suzuki, Mook - Kendama players on Hiroshi Miyama's performance
• Azuma - Flower artist on Yuzu's performance
• Fuu Hanataka - Hiroshi Miyama VTR narrator
• Kreva, Miyavi - Guest performers on Sayuri Ishikawa's performance
• Osaka Toin High School Symphonic Band - Guest musicians on Yoshimi Tendo's performance
• Nobuyoshi Kuwano, Yoshio Sato - Members from Rats & Star, guest vocalists on Masayuki Suzuki's performance
• Hayato Sumino - Piano on Mone Kamishiraishi's performance
• Hitori Gekidan - Reprising his role as a control booth technician from the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

Voting System

This year, the 3-Point System was used again. One point is given from the six judges, another one from audience in TIF, and last one from the viewers. The team with at least 2 points is declared winner of the 72nd edition.

References

1. "Yo Oizumi, Haruna Kawaguchi & Mayuko Wakuda to host the 72nd NHK Kouhaku Utagassen". TokyoHive.
2. "Hosts Named for "72nd NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen"". Arama Japan.
3. "松田聖子　紅白歌合戦出場を辞退　NHKが発表" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon.

• NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen events
• 2021 in Japanese music
• 2021 in Japanese television