The 2022 73^rd edition of Kohaku Utagassen was rather disappointing and boring in many respects. After three years the show returned fully to NHK Hall as an in-person event and it seems as if the organizers have lost the notion of what such event should entail. With plain and simple stages that looked rather cheap and a lack of overall thematic coherence, this year’s Kohaku left a lot on the table for further consideration. It was the first time I felt that the show was long and that it was becoming painful to watch.

Let alone the lack of brilliance in the framework of organization, the artists were once again part of the void that is proven to have become difficult to fill in the Japanese music scene. In the end the White team won but it seemed to me that is not that they really won, they lost less.

The only interesting performances that showed some real talent this year were:

• In the Red Team: Ryokushaka, Milet, Sekai No Owari, Aimer, Sakamoto Fuyumi, Ai Myon, Superfly,
• In the White Team: Saucy Dog, Vaundy, Hikawa Hiyoshi

Everybody else were the usual suspects who have been part of the show for longer than 50 years in some cases. And people who sing the same songs year after year for no particularly important reason apart from them not having other songs.

If ever I was expecting that living with Covid was going to return something much better, I have been caught by surprise with an event that will not make it to the history books. Or if it does, it would do so as a clear example if involution.