This year's Red and White Song Festival, the red group's host will continue to be Wada Akiko, who even the parents of the Iwahashi family think is "a person from long ago."
Even after last year’s limelight, this year’s success is still endless.
To be able to remain at the center of the Red and White Song Festival as a has-been veteran singer requires not only masterpieces and qualifications, but also a close relationship between herself and the forces behind her and NHK.
As for the host of the white group, it is Kayama Yuzo, known as "Wakadaisho".
Wakadaisho means young general, and Kayama Yuzo is older than Wada Akiko and has a first-class status in the industry. The name Wakadaisho comes from the "Wakadaishou Series" movie he starred in when he was young.
A total of eighteen films have been made, and they are very popular. It is a series of movies as well-known as "Abashiri Extraterrestrial" and "The Story of Torajiro". It is the golden age of Japanese movies, and we are extremely passionate about this endless series of movies.
Before becoming a movie star, Kayama Yuzo first became popular as a singer. He had already appeared on the Red and White Song Festival in 1961 and was the earliest male guitar solo singer in Japan. The "Wakadaisho Electric Guitar" series was created just for him.
Image tailor-made.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when film companies promoted stars, they used this method of tailoring actors' images to allow screenwriters to write scripts, and then mass-produced films that changed the script.
So Sayuri Yoshinaga, the top student, made a lot of innocent movies, while Takakura Ken, who has a rough appearance, was in a lot of dramas every day.
In a sense, the reason why Japanese movies are so dead now is that the root of the problem was already laid in its golden age.
…
The Red and White Song Festival is a grand event. This year, the red and white groups will compete twenty-one times. There are also several bands that will perform at once. Coupled with the busy staff running around, the entire backstage is still crowded.
The combinations are mainly concentrated in the white group. This year's white group has changed to a group battle route, and almost one-third are band groups.
Johnny, who is increasingly enjoying the benefits of forming a group to fight, sent all the groups to participate in the battle this year, including Hikaru Genji, who has shone brightly this year and become a phenomenon-level idol.
The popularity of this idol group has swept across the country. Whether it is record sales or their own popularity, they are the well-deserved number one this year.
Just because they always wore roller skates to dance during stage performances, this year, children all over Japan followed suit and learned roller skating. As a result, the sales of roller skating doubled, and the performance of roller skating classrooms also increased significantly.
Had it not been for Masahiko Kondo's Grand Awards scandal, which forced Johnny's to announce its permanent withdrawal from awards in the form of judges deciding the winners, this year's Record Awards would have definitely gone to Genji Hikaru.
They are all teenagers. They originally had a chance to win the most prestigious music award in their country, but they had to withdraw due to the fault of their predecessors. The teenagers often said bad things about Kondo Masahiko in private.
As the only two well-known male solo idols in the society, Kondo Masahiko is on the verge of being eliminated in the industry, and Tahara Toshihiko is supposed to have released a hit single "Hold Me Tight, Tonight" this year.
The Red and White Song Concert was originally a certainty.
However, Tahara Toshihiko appeared in the Kohaku Utakai for six consecutive years from 1980 to 1986. Last year in 1987, he was eliminated from the Kohaku Utakara because he was less active as a singer who focused on filming and had no popular works.
So, this year, in order to avenge his elimination from the Kohaku Uta Club last year, when NHK began to announce the debut list, Tahara Toshihiko played a show-off and slapped him in the face, announcing that he had graduated from the Kohaku Uta Club, implying that he didn't want to attend last year.
Being rejected by NHK made it impossible for NHK, which had already reserved him, to get off the stage.
Slapping the face feels good for a while, but without those two brushes, it will be very uncomfortable to hit it hard.
According to NHK's usual petty style, Tahara Toshihiko was naturally happy to issue a banning order and "graduate from NHK" and bid farewell to all NHK programs after being so disgraced by the TV station.
The spot he vacated was filled by the male Douhu group who also belonged to Johnny.
The emergence of the male Douhu group made Shinichi Iwahashi admire Johnny Kitagawa's vision and business acumen in his heart.
The predecessor of this band was formed as early as 1984. In 1986, before their official debut, they had their own title show.
It is said to be a band form, but the standard is more like a performance of extracurricular activities, an idol group wearing the skin of a band.
However, despite his limited level, Kitagawa could sense that the band's popularity was rising and supported them in building up their popularity as "band idols" before their official debut.
Wait until this year, the band will shine in Japan, and they will make their debut at the right time. Their debut results are also very good, and they win the championship in one fell swoop. Otherwise, they will not get the opportunity to appear in red and white.
However, although the Male Douhu Group claims to be a band, they play the instruments so-so and sing songs provided by other songwriters. Therefore, no one in the industry, especially the band industry, takes them as a real band.
's band.
This year, bands have made a big splash in Japan. The Red and White Song Festival includes DreamseTrue, which represents the talent show band Tianguo, as well as the male Douhu Group, an idol performance band, and the pop band Thecheke, which once had a fierce battle with Nakamori Musouna on the charts. There are also tmwork and
A band that made its official debut like Bakufu Slump.
However, except for DreamseTrue, a mixed-gender band, the other bands are all-male members representing the white group.
No matter what they look like on the outside, orthodox bands always look down on band idols like Johnny in their hearts, but they have a very good impression of DreamseTrue, who came from a talent show.
The band idols who look down on Johnny are not so much the orthodox bands who think they are superior to their idols, but the professionals who look down on the half-full amateurs.
As long as you are strong, you will gain respect. This is a truth that you have understood since you were in the underground music circle.
However, red and white are different and belong to different lineups. There is no chance to meet during the rehearsal. If they do meet, they can only say hello in a hurry.
DreamseTrue is the only mixed male and female band in this red and white concert, so when they were waiting backstage, Shinichi Iwahashi and Nakamura had to accept that they were the only two men in the red group.
reality.
In order not to be thought that I was in the wrong group, I had to follow Miwa-chan closely.
The backstage was busy, and while waiting for the rehearsal, familiar singers could chat for a while. For debutants like them, apart from greeting others politely, they could only talk to themselves.
At this time, the advantages of combination are revealed.
It is wrong to say that he has no acquaintance. When Nakamura was a recording studio musician, he once played a concert musician for Koizumi Kyoko. Although Koizumi Kyoko did not remember such a musician, the musician never forgot the cute world.
The invincible Koizumi Kyoko kept mumbling about her great achievements as a support musician.
As for Shinichi Iwahashi, he has many acquaintances backstage.
Fuyumi Sakamoto, with her cute bun face, didn't notice that she was being peeked at by the giraffe man. She was engrossed in peeking at Sayuri Ishikawa in front of her. She was very excited and shy like a fan when meeting her idol, wanting to get close but not daring to get close.
Rushing.
This is also true. Fuyumi Sakamoto is Sayuri Ishikawa's biggest fan. She joined the industry because she wanted to meet Sayuri Ishikawa.
Sakamoto Fuyumi debuted in 1987, and she was able to make her debut in the next year, which is inseparable from the cultivation of her teacher Inamata Kanzaki.
Inomata Kanzaki was very optimistic about her. Before her debut, she took her with her to meet the big names in the industry every day. After her debut, he spared no effort and personally wrote songs for her to protect her. He loved her as much as he loved his own daughter.
The last time I met Sakamoto Fuyumi, she was still following Inomata Kanzaki, working as a driver and bag-carrying girl. In just one year, she became a rising star in the entertainment industry who was selected for the Kohaku Utakara.
Shinichi Iwahashi also transformed into a giraffe man that no one recognized.
A year later, everything changed drastically.
Even if they are face to face backstage now, as long as Iwahashi Shinichi does not take off his hood, Sakamoto Fuyumi will not think that there is an acquaintance of hers here.
…
In addition to acquaintances whom he couldn't recognize face to face, there were also acquaintances who made him lose his vest.
At his suggestion, up-front agency went to negotiate with Sony and mobilized Minami Saori to come back and perform in this red and white song concert.
NHK is really as expected, hoping that Saori Minami and Chisato Moritaka will sing "17" together to create a buzz about old and new people sharing the same stage.
Saori Minami, who wrote a letter to express her gratitude to the producer because her youth reappeared in the public eye, would never agree with this approach of old and new acting on the same stage.
She didn't even need up-front agency to persuade her to give up singing "17 Years Old". She made it clear that the condition for her comeback was not to sing "17 Years Old" but to sing her other masterpiece "色つく街" (色つく街).
colorful street market).
Saori Minami herself was so insistent, and she was the ancestral idol whose comeback was limited to only one day. NHK took a step back, and finally decided that Saori Minami would appear as a special guest who does not belong to the red team or the white team.
The Red and White Song Festival has always had this practice. In addition to Red and White, some special program planning will be done separately, or the big singers who will appear will be assigned a role of "cheer team". Although they do not participate in Red
Bai Duo, but for their sake, the audience can vote for the side they are responsible for cheering for if they like them.
Nansha Zhi became a special guest, so naturally, Chisato Moritaka, as the "talker", successfully received the invitation from the Red and White Song Festival to sing this re-arranged song "17 Years Old" that belongs to this era.
Ordinarily, Chisato Moritaka didn't know that the giraffe man was her former producer. However, as they passed each other in the aisle, she saw Miwa-chan and Nakamura-san, and she suddenly felt familiar.
During the recording of the first single of the transformation, when Shinichi Iwahashi took him out to find inspiration, he took himself to the recording studio in Yoyogi.
Not only did she work as a part-time girl in the recording studio all afternoon, but Shinichi Iwahashi also treated her to dinner in the evening. The person she worked with and had dinner with that day was not only the lead singer of dreamsetrue, but also the always smiling Nakamura-san?
Remembering the identities of Miwa Yoshida and Masato Nakamura, Chisato Moritaka stopped, turned around, and looked at the giraffe man.
The members of the band were facing away from her. Chisato Moritaka was led everywhere by Shinichi Iwahashi not only once or twice, but always following him. Looking at his back and profile, now she couldn't see his face, only his figure, which made her feel very strange.
picture.
Sentaka Chisato looked at the giraffe man's back but hesitated.
She wanted to say something to the giraffe man, but she was timid and worried that she was the wrong person and that it would cause trouble to Shinichi Iwahashi.
At this moment, she saw Nan Saori walking towards the band. The three members of the band greeted her, and she returned the greeting to them.
…
Minami Saori is thirty-four years old this year, which is the best age of her life.
Seeing her up close in the audience, I felt that she was radiant and charming, and I could tell at a glance that she had a happy married life.
The Giraffe Man was too conspicuous in the background. Nan Saori spotted him at a glance and walked over specifically to say hello to the Giraffe Man and his band.
Her husband, Noribu Sasayama, had photographed the album cover for the band. At that time, he had seen the true face of the Giraffe Man and knew that under the hood was a producer with the same surname as Shin Iwahashi.
After returning home, he told Minami Saori about the incident, and after a little inquiry with Sony, he was able to confirm that the two Iwahashi were the same person.
Saori Minami is a senior, and the band quickly greeted her.
She accepted the greeting and returned the gift to the band members. After returning the gift, she did not leave immediately. Instead, she asked the giraffe man: "Excuse me, can I take a photo with you?"
The question was asked as if the giraffe man was a big star and she was a little fan.
However, no one would be surprised to make such a request to the only giraffe man in the backstage.
This is no different than pestering a mascot at an attraction for a photo.
Saori Minami married a photographer and became her wife, and she was influenced by it. When she came to the rehearsal this time, she brought a Polaroid camera in her suitcase, thinking that if she met an acquaintance from her idol days, we could take a photo together.
Now, when Minami Saori mentioned this, Iwahashi Shinichi agreed, and the manager immediately went to get the camera.
Then, we took a group photo backstage at the Red and White Song Concert.
"Thank you for your hard work, Producer-san."
After taking the photo, Nan Saori whispered to Iwahashi Shinichi. The two of them were close to each other, so they were not afraid of others hearing.
"ah."
Iwahashi Shinichi was startled for a moment, a little surprised.
Unexpectedly, when I met Nan Saori for the first time, she would take off my vest.
But after thinking about it for a moment, I felt that it was expected. With her identity, and the member of her family had collaborated with the band, it was easy to find out who the Giraffe Man was.
After losing his waistcoat, Shinichi Iwahashi remained calm and politely greeted Nan Saori again.
To onlookers, it was just a routine courtesy after taking a group photo.
I thought that the matter would end here, but unexpectedly, Minami Saori suddenly suggested, "If you don't mind, can I invite Senri-chan to come over and take a photo of the three of us?"
