Enka singer Hiroshi Miyama appeared at the rehearsal for the 76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, held at the NHK Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo on December 29th. Miyama spoke about his enthusiasm for the Kendama Challenge, which has become a tradition at the Kouhaku.
This year's event is titled "Sake Akari - The Road to the 9th Kendama World Record," and aims to break the record of 129 consecutive people successfully completing the Kendama challenge, beating last year's record of 128 people.
During the rehearsal, the first host to try out, Hiroyuki Ariyoshi, made an unexpected mistake. Miyama recalled that it was "the most shocking moment of the year."
Miyama's advice to Ariyoshi was, "The most important thing is to use your knees. The basic principle is to lift with your knees and receive with your knees. If you maintain a calm, patient, and never give up mentality, I think it will go well. I hope you will take a look at this comment."
The theme of the 76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen is "Connecting, Connecting, New Year's Eve," and it will be hosted by Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Haruka Ayase, Mio Imada, and announcer Naoko Suzuki. It will be broadcast from 7:20 pm to 11:45 pm on December 31st (with some news breaks).
