Despite these earlier speculation from the Japanese media hyping the participation of KARA, Big Bang and SNSD in Japan's annual music ceremony, the official NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen line-up was released today and it is confirmed that Big Bang, KARA and SNSD are not invited this year. Korean media reported that Big Bang would officially be attending but that was proven to be false.
Well... there’s always next year! The full line-up as below.
RED Team:
* aiko
* Angela Aki
* Ikimono Gakari
* Sayuri Ishikawa
* Kana Uemura
* AKB48
* Miyuki Kawanaka
* Kumiko
* Kumi Koda
* Natsuko Godai
* Sachiko Kobayashi
* Fuyumi Sakamoto
* Yoshimi Tendo
* DREAMS COME TRUE
* Mitsuko Nakamura
* Kana Nishino
* Ayumi Hamasaki
* Perfume
* Ayaka Hirahara
* Nana Mizuki
* Kaori Mizumori
* Akiko Wada
WHITE Team:
* Arashi
* Hiroshi Itsuki
* HY
* EXILE
* NYC
* Yuzo Kayama
* Saburo Kitajima
* Hiromi Go
* Kobukuro
* SMAP
* TOKIO
* Hideaki Tokunaga
* AAA
* Kiyoshi Hikawa
* FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
* Masaharu Fukuyama
* flumpool
* Takashi Hosokawa
* Porno Graffiti
* Shinichi Mori
* Yusuke
* L’Arc~en~Ciel
The popular group Arashi (嵐) will be in charge of the White Team, while actress and pianist Nao Matsushita (松下奈緒, 25) will be in charge of the Red Team. This shall be the first time for either of them to serve as a Kohaku host. A total of 44 artists have been invited, with an even split of 22 on the Red Team and 22 on the White Team. 5 of them will be making their first appearance on the show.
News- Announcement of NHK 61st Kouhaku Uta Gassen list of participants
速报-第６１回紅白歌合戦出場者
Source: KBS Korea
