Managed to get the entire 3 hour show from torrent at jpopsuki. It was looooong but worth the watch. Since it's the 50th anniversary of this music show, there are various "going-back in time" parts along the way. It was very exciting to see how many songs I've heard before. Also, I've wanted to learn how to make HQ screencaps for awhile now, so did a bit of self-learning today. Below are my thoughts on some of the performances and little bits and pieces of the show. Very image heavy, so be careful!!



The 3 hosts. They were annoying as hosts usually are. Something to note, V6 is sitting at the table on the right and Tokio is on the left there. The girl in pink is girlfriend to Kitagawa Yujin of the band YUZU who will appear frequently on my screencaps. Not sure whether they've actually gotten married. She is a very popular broadcaster in Japan, apparently earns big bucks too.

They recap a bit about their 50 years history. Focus your attention onto the little window down the right corner!

Okada XD

Inohara singing along XD Many in the audience sing-a-long to the songs. He is the most comical surely!

Aiba XD I don't know much about him but it's his birthday today. And his cute in his own way.

At some point, forgot when, they zoned out to SMAP who were having their concert at that moment. No caps for them. Their singing were so bad, I never finished the song. Terrible! Anyway, back to the live.

WaT is up first. At some point, I started listening to their music, then I stopped. Typical boyish singers who are not Johnnys. One of them is mixed, although he looks cuter, his face was way too pale, like Dracula! By the way, they sang quite out of tune. But bearable since they are cute boys.


GIRL NEXT DOOR next! First time seeing them although I've heard their name a few times before. The girl is pretty or maybe it's just her silky hair. But she likes to smile so that's a plus. Her singing is sorely disappointing though. She can't control her voice very well, very weak voice. I don't know how did she become a singer in the first place.


But anyway, everyone was clapping~

YUZU XD *yaay*

Sakamoto and Ken :D

NEWS got to sing in the cold. Maybe that was for the good because Koyoma had to go off-tune so badly. His hair, it's as though he accidently shaved one side!

Tegoshi was sluttier than his usual slutty self! Massu, I miss your hair but I vow to get use to it :D

Ryo was very hot *fans* but there's another cap below where he looked adorable!

After every few live performances, they would revert back to the screen and show older performances. Can't remember which decade was this from, but I love Koji Tamaki, and more so this song!

Kitagawa Yujin was singing along~ He's so cute!!

There was some duet between Koda Kumi and this guy...

He must be some important guy since he sang quite a few times throughout the show. Unfortunately, I never once sat through his entire performance. His singing is awful. He resang an English song and he's voice was barely coming through the mike.
This is my first time listening to Koda Kumi live as well. She looked quite a sweet lady as she sat there, until she started singing and doing all those fake moves. She couldn't reach the high notes at all, sang as though she was always out of breath. Can't say much about her dress too.


Arashi!! All the members looking very princely. First time listening to this song I think. Was it from the pv where they wear all white too, I remember watching a bit before getting put off by the quality. Nice song, love the hand movements too. I use to like Sakurai Sho the best but I've begun to realise he gets a bit fake at times, not sure if it's the intelligent aura he is trying to give out. This song is very Arashi though :D


EXILE!! That's the band whose albums sell by the millions. Their songs are not really my type though :(

Jero!! I found out about him through a subbed pv I randomly downloaded. He looks like a rapper...

but he is actually an enka singer (japanese traditional music type of singing). He may not be as good as them, but I was shocked~ And his dancing is pretty good, although it doesn't fit well with the song XD


PERFUME!! That's them in pink. First time watching their performance too. Caught me by surprise, I was amused... very amused, that's all I can say..

 
NEWS talk!! Oh Ryo with glasses~


Hibari Misora!! I'm glad they showed a footage of her. I love this song. It means "Like the flow of a River" and is her swan song, her last and most famous song. This was voted the No.1 song in the 20th Century in 1997. As stated on the screen, this clip was performed in 1989, which is also the year she died. Lovely song~


ZARD!! Another one of those tragic deaths, hence I remember the name of this singer well. I downloaded "Makenaide" randomly one day and liked the song. Read about her death on wikipedia. It occured in 2007 when she was only 40. She was in hospital for treatment of recurrent cancer. She liked to take walks in the morning, and one day she fell down the stairs and was discovered a little too late to be saved. Another great singer lost.


The really good performances are coming up. The thing with these music shows, where many artist congregate together, the good and horrible artists can easily be differentiated. It's such a joy as a spectator to watch singers who know their music and sing their music!

Aoi Telma (I think I've got her first name wrong XD), first time I've seen her perform though I've seen her name being mentioned frequently. Lovely song and the flute instrument accompanying the melody, there's something soothing about her voice~


Ayaka!! No one doubts her vocal abilities, although her voice is rather low, she still manages to reach the high notes with ease. I'm not very fond of jazz pieces, which I find most of the songs I've her from her to be. But this performance is definitely up in par with the best, the pianist was awesome!! She gave her everything to the music and the keys. The lyrics "okakeri I'm home/Sweet home", I like those parts very much! Also, she gives off a strong vibe. "Don't mess around, I'm here to sing properly" kind of vibe.


Good evening!! This is YUZU!!~~ I embedded their performance on a previous post but unfortunately it was removed from youtube. This is probably my favourite performance of the evening! This brought me into the world of Yuzu and their music. They've known each other since school days and started singing on the streets together. Their first single 'Natsu Iro' was released in 1998 and they've kept their street image in their songs ever since.
















V6 right after! Innochi mentioned something about the olympics, how everyone was always rushing home to watch it after work, or something like that. Okada said he wants to produce something next year but not sure what it is yet. The performance was all hearts. Really miss watching them perform this song. Innochi was all smiles because his pants had a hole XD






Around this part of the show, they started showing clips from 1990-2000 and artist like Yuzu, V6 and Arashi popped up. I made screen caps of the Arashi parts because their reactions in the small box down the right corner were very cute. I'm getting lazy now, so will skip this, forgive me. Basically, the members especially Jun, Aiba and Ohno were looking shock while staring at their selfs on screen 10 years ago. haha.. imagine their eyes wide open that kind of shock!

Mr. Children's performance was fantastic! Sakurai, the lead singer, sang with his heart out. It was as though he was trying to prove a point or send a message through the song. Or maybe he was just fed up with the frills of the night XD The images on screen behind were beautiful!




Kobukuro!! I love them.. their live singing or often better then the studio recordings. I'm not sure why, but it's the atmosphere they create with their singing as well. Those who haven't seen their pv for 'Tsubomi' please take a look at it. One of the best pv's I've ever seen in my life!



This ultra ultra famous song by tenor singer Akikawa Masafumi entitled "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" or "I'm a thousand winds that blow" which lyrics is based of the well-knowed English poem "Do Not Stand and Weep". No one is sure of the original author but it's a good poem for funerals and for coming in terms with death. This was just a clip from flashback, but I love this song, so here's the cap.
 

 
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.