"Japan's Best Impersonator Champion Will Be Decided Tonight! The Annual Impersonation Championship Serious Battle," in which 20 groups that won nationwide auditions will compete in a singing impersonation contest, will be broadcast on Fuji TV's "Saturday Premium" slot (Saturday 9pm) on November 23rd. Actor Shinohara Ryoko will appear as a special MC, and for the first time in 27 years she will team up with main MC Imada Koji as host rather than a comedy skit.
This time, seven past champions will be taking part. In addition to last year's champion Nana Nana, 2012 summer champion Miracle Hikaru, Beauty Kokubu, who has won three titles, 2017 champion Ehara Masahiro, 2019 champion impersonation comedy duo Double Name, 2020 champion Matsuura Kodai, 2021 champion Aramaki Yoko, and JP, who has made a name for himself with his talkative impersonation, will be participating. Former member of "A.B.C-Z", Kawai Fumito, will also be participating for the first time.
The lineup will include classic songs from the Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa eras. The preliminary round will be divided into five blocks, A, B, C, D, and E, and the group with the highest score (1st place) from each block will advance to the final round. In addition, as a loser's bracket, the top two groups with the highest scores from 2nd place and below in all blocks will advance to the final. With only seven spots left for the final round, the contestants will be battling at a high level from the preliminary round onwards.
The contestants and the songs in the preliminary round are as follows (titles omitted, in alphabetical order):
▽Megumi Akatsuki "Going Over Amagi/Sayuri Ishikawa"▽Yoko Aramaki "Get Hot/Maki Ohguro"▽Masahiro Ehara "Come Here/Kocchi no Kento"▽Ikuto Kawai "SHAKE/Takuya Kimura SMAP"▽Kintaro. "Sad Whistle/Misora Hibari"▽SARI "Feeling Refreshed/Moritaka Chisato"▽JP "Woman's Path/Miya Shiro and the Pinkara Trio"▽SHINOBU "Graduation Photo/Arai Yumi"▽Double Name "LOVESONG/CHAGE and ASKA"▽NASUMI "Illumination/B'z"▽Nanaminana "FACE/globe"▽Hariya Kikuko "Let It Go~As It Is~/Matsu Takako"▽Beauty Kokubu "By the Time of Christmas Carols/Inagaki Junichi"▽Hoikenta "Long Night/Matsuyama Chiharu"▽Matsuura Kodai "Hot Gaze/Safety Zone"▽Mr. Shachihoko "Mazinger Z/Mizuki Ichiro"▽Miracle Hikaru "More, more.../Shinohara Ryoko"▽Yakami Kazuki (OverTone) "Walking with you/Novelbright"▽Yoyoyochan "Lulu/Ado"▽Let's Go Yoshimasa "Aoba Castle Love Song/Sato Muneyuki"
The judges are the following (titles omitted): Sakai Masaaki▽Kataoka Tsurutarou▽hitomi▽Nao (Maximum the Hormone)▽DJ KOO▽Kanda Aika▽Imai Masaki▽Takahashi Minami▽Takeda Shinichi▽Hashiyasume Atsuko
◇Comment from Imada Koji
This time, the MC for Special Shower is Shinohara Ryoko... it's really special! I'm sure the viewers will be surprised that Shinohara will be the MC. The moment Shinohara appeared in the studio, the audience erupted in excitement. Together with Shinohara, we listened to song impersonations spanning three generations, from famous songs from the Showa era to the Heisei and Reiwa eras. The overall quality was high, and there were many high scores that are hard to come by this time. I think the 2024 "Impersonation Championship" will be the pinnacle of impersonation today.
The high-pitched voice of Kazuki Yakami, who appeared for the first time, was amazing. He's not just good, but he's also a good impersonator, so I was impressed! The "face-only lookalike collection" was selected from previous lookalikes, so they are definitely lookalikes. There's a lookalike of Shohei Otani, and a lookalike of Jun Matsumoto, "Yude Jun". There's a lot to see, so please enjoy!
◇Comment from Ryoko Shinohara
I've never hosted a variety show before, so I was worried if I would be okay, but when I heard that Imada would be there, I wanted to go on (laughs). Imada helped me out during the show...I'd love to do a skit with him again (laughs). Listening to everyone's singing imitations this time, I was reminded that there are a lot of really great Showa era songs, and I also felt a little embarrassed at how closely the people being imitated pay attention to even the smallest details.
I was really happy to have "that person" sing my song. It was also fun to see announcer Tsubakihara singing, dancing and having fun next to me (laughs). What made an impression on me was how similar NASUMI's impersonation was, and how amazing Nana Nana's singing voice was. It made me think I need to study singing too. With great singing voices and laughs, it's really well worth a watch, so please do come and check it out!
