| Alt Name: | 72nd NHK Red & White Year-End Song Festival |
| Native Name: | Japanese: 第72回NHK紅白歌合戦: Colorful〜カラフル〜 |
| Genre: | Music, Variety, Special |
| Creator: | Tsumoru Kondo |
| Director: | Yukinori Kida |
| Presenter: | Haruna Kawaguchi Yo Oizumi Mayuko Wakuda |
| Starring: | Shunichi Tokura |
| Judges: | Kasumi Ishikawa Kaya Kiyohara Eiko Koike Kentaro Sakaguchi Mami Tani Kōki Mitani |
| Endtheme: | "Hotaru no Hikari" |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Location: | Tokyo International Forum |
| Runtime: | 265 minutes |
| Company: | NHK Enterprise Inc. |
The was the 2021 (Reiwa 3) edition of NHK's television special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2021, live from the hall A of Tokyo International Forum (Tokyo, Japan), and broadcast in Japan through NHK General Television and NHK Radio 1, and worldwide through TV Japan (US only) and NHK World Premium. Yo Oizumi, Haruna Kawaguchi & Mayuko Wakuda served as show hosts.[1] The Red team won this event.
This year's edition took place on Tokyo International Forum, since the usual venue, NHK Hall is currently undergoing renovations, to be done in time for the 73rd edition (2022). Starting this year, there will be no longer separate hosts for the Red and White team. Instead, the hosts will share duties with the general host, encouraging the performers, regardless of their gender. The theme for the 72nd edition is "Colorful", based on an idea of "I want to make the world as colorful as possible on the last night of 2021". The new logo for the show is also introduced: it is a gradient image that goes from red to white.[2]
This was the first edition in two years to be held with an audience, with a certain number of spectators. After 50 appearances (the last being in 2020), Hiroshi Itsuki announced that he will not participate in this Kouhaku during a concert held on October 17.
Once again, Shunichi Tokura conducted the choir in the closing song "Hotaru no Hikari".
On December 25, Seiko Matsuda, who was scheduled to participate in the event, announced that she would withdraw from the event due to the sudden death of her daughter Sayaka Kanda.[3]
On December 27, the performance order was revealed. LiSA and Hiromi Go will open the show, while Masaharu Fukuyama and MISIA (who makes her second consecutive Ootori) will repeat their closing acts from last year. Rehearsals took place from December 28 until the morning of the live show.
| White Team | ||||||||
| Order | Artist | Appearance | Song | Order | Artist | Appearance | Song | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First half | ||||||||
| 1 | 3 | "Akeboshi" | 2 | 34 | "2 Oku 4 Senman no Hitomi (Exotic Japan)" | |||
| 4 | 2 | "Take a Picture" | 3 | 1 | "Neko" | |||
| 6 | 2 | "Nagaredama" | 5 | Keisuke Yamauchi | 7 | "Yūrakuchō de Aimashō" | ||
| Colorful Special Segment: Nippon Zenkoku Ōmisoka no Yoru wa Colorful ni | Yoasobi, Midories and Ao to Kii – "Tsubame" | |||||||
| 7 | Awesome City Club | 1 | "Wasurena" | 8 | 3 | "Make Me Better" | ||
| 9 | 3 | "Kimi Shika Katan" | 10 | Junretsu | 4 | "Kimi ga Soba ni Iru Kara" | ||
| 12 | 26 | "Anta no Hanamichi" Brass Band SP | 11 | 2 | "Mascara" | |||
| 14 | 1 | "Yoake o Kuchizusametara" | 13 | 1 | "Real Face" #2 | |||
| 16 | 2 | "Fly High" | 15 | 4 | "Koi Furu Tsukiyo ni Kimi Omou" | |||
| 18 | 19 | "Ii Hi Tabidachi" | 17 | 1 | "Inochi ni Kirawarete Iru" | |||
| 19 | 1 | "D.D." | ||||||
| Ken Matsudaira – "Matsuken Samba II" | ||||||||
| Second half | ||||||||
| Colorful special segment: Asu e no yūki o kureru uta Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra – "Overture" & "And To The Legend..." from Dragon Quest LiSA – "Homura" from Yoko Takahashi – "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" from Neon Genesis Evangelion | ||||||||
| 20 | 4 | "Aldebaran" | 21 | 10 | "Re:Live" | |||
| 22 | 1 | "Promise the Star" | 23 | 7 | "Ukiyo Gasa" 5th Kendama Sekai Kiroku e no Michi | |||
| 24 | Dai Hirai | 1 | "Stand By Me, Stand By You" | |||||
| Ketsumeishi – "Life Is Beautiful" | ||||||||
| 25 | 14 | "Polygon Wave" | ||||||
| 26 | Millennium Parade × Belle | 1 | "U" | 27 | 2 | "Yoake no Uta" | ||
| 28 | 7 | "Kikkake" | ||||||
| Colorful special segment: Nippon zenkoku ōmisoka no yoru wa Colorful ni | Takashi Hosokawa – "Bōkyō Jonkara" and "Kita Sakaba" | |||||||
| 29 | 33 | "Yozakura Oshichi" | 30 | 1 | "Kirari" "Mo-Eh-Yo" | |||
| 31 | 2 | "Gunjō" | 32 | 4 | "Megumi no Hito" 2021 Kōhaku ver. | |||
| 33 | 12 | "Niji" | ||||||
| 35 | 3 | "Till I Know What Love Is (I'm Never Gonna Die)" | 34 | 7 | "Fushigi" | |||
| 36 | 2 | "Tentai Kansoku" "Nanairo" | ||||||
| Masashi Sada – "Dōkeshi no Sonnet" | ||||||||
| 37 | 2 | "Ryokushu" | ||||||
| 38 | 2 | "Woman (W no Higeki) Yori" | ||||||
| 39 | 44 | "Kaji to Kenka wa Edo no Hana" "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki" | 40 | 22 | "Uta wa Waga Inochi" | |||
| 41 | 1 | "Saraba Seishun no Hikari" (Kouhaku SP) | ||||||
| 43 | 6 | "Ashita e" | 42 | 14 | "Michishirube" | |||
This year, the 3-Point System was used again. One point is given from the six judges, another one from audience in TIF, and last one from the viewers. The team with at least 2 points is declared winner of the 72nd edition.
| Votes | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guest Judges | 0 | 6 | ||
| T.I.F. Audience | 1110 | 1000 | ||
| Viewers | 2.189.150 | 1.956.996 | ||
| Winner | ||||