Kouhaku Uta Gassen 2012 live blog

Okay, I will have a live blog of this and JCD following. Because Kouhaku will have acts I will not care for I will probably have more time to write for it and I will even try screen grabs, we shall see how that goes though.

Unfortunately did not find a stream until a good way into the program. But at least I got to see the Disney collaboration.

While their segment was really short Kanjani8 made sure to live up to their reputation for laughs. Pairing them will Goofy of course makes perfect sense.

And it looks like they want to cram as many people on this stage as possible. But I am sure this was not the first nor will it be the last they will do something like this.

Also to note found another stream that looks to be in much better picture quality so I have switched to that.

The morning drama Jun to Ai gets promoted with cast so we get to see Hasegawa JunKazama Shunsuke, and of course it get pointed out that he's Johnny's. He's looking pretty nice and I think he is the next from Four Tops to gain a good amount of fame.

One of the things I love about Kouhaku are the over the top sets and performances. The enka singers excel at this such as the long dress here.

Probably because I am not a fan I did not realize that Nishino Kana had such an upbeat song. I've always thought of her as a ballad singer primarily.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it again I am not sure how I feel about Arashi's suits here. I guess if anything they are set to stand out and be remembered.

Kinda love how Kouhaku idol-baits people into watching some of the enka performers. The AKB48 girls here do look lovely though.

Ayaka was one of the acts I was looking forward to. Hajimari no Toki is such a fitting song for her to perform. And I love this stage, simple yet eye-catching.

Her current look reminds me of Utada Hikaru in her Heart Station-era though.


And sorry for not thinking of it earlier but if you want to catch the live stream here is the link to the one I am using: http://ja.justin.tv/anninoshi#/w/4469767088/4

Since it is the news break went to watch the NYC performance that I missed earlier. I loved the Haina! part of it.

And I was seriously impressed with whatever technology they used to make it look like they had Junior stairway to heaven going on.

When the news is over it should be K8 time!

Well that was a ton of fun though the stream quality was not the best all the way through. Give me a bit more and I will spam with performance screen caps.

And here we are. They performed Naniwa Iroha Bushi and Musekinin(sp?) Hero.

And of course it is TOKIO up next so I did not have enough time to sort the caps. Oh well, the issues of live blogging. And the reason why the JCD one will have no screen caps. I don't want to miss much of that.

TOKIO sang KIBOU and of course I loved it. But that is probably mostly out of my love for the group in general.

Loved Perfume's stage. They really looked like they were giving a true concert performance with the level of tech used.
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AKB48 and I spot NMB48's Sayaka! And AKB48's! But only could screen cap the former. I guess another reason to find the torrent for this later.

Love how they worked in the first costume change.

And AKB48 seem to have the making words out of people corner covered well. Especially when you consider this is just all the 18+ members of the groups.

Lolz at Nakai having to correct the saying of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's name.

Also she seems to have gotten the monster part of Fashion Monster down right.

This outfit looks rather normal for her though. But it works and that is one puffy skirt.

Arashi do their talk and performance of Furusato.

Looks like we get the start of the live feeds from around the globe. And we start off in Portland, OR, USA. Kinda nice to have someone in my timezone.

K8 gets to be with TOKIO as special supporters for an enka performance.

Nice to see Sakamoto Fumi still being boss.

Hey, Arashi got out of the ugly blue suits finally. To get into ugly blue and red ones.

At least those didn't last long and these look much better.

The tech they used looked tight. I was not sure about it when they began to talk about it in the news reports but it made the performance worth watching for sure.

A short tribute to the greats of Japanese entertainment that passed this year. RIP Mori Mitsuko.

Seeing Wada Akiko get teary eyed made me do the same. Really powerful performance.

MISIA's performance looks epic before it has even begun.

And it lives up to the promised epicness, especially those notes at the end. MISIA is a real treasure of an artist and I am so glad she was worked into the program this year.

I figure I won't bother to screen cap EXILE as they aren't bothering to perform anything new. Seriously guys, you have more than one song and it would be nice if you performed them and not this one over and over again.

Looks like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is not the only fashion monster on the show tonight.

Massha of course being live streamed in even though he's just down in Yokohama.

I keep wondering how they plan on cleaning up all that fake snow after this performance while watching it. But at least it looks really impressive.

Yoshida has such a lovely kimono on. I love that she is getting all kinds of recognition this year after winning gold yet again at the Olympics.

SMAP up. And they give a solid performance from them, so yes some painful singing moments.

Will be switching over to JCD shortly, with hopefully a stream that will work. We shall see.

It's voting time and I think I won't chance another screen cap as I search for the best JCD stream.

And the winner is WHITE TEAM!

And I will be switching over to focus on JCD now.

Oricon Yearly Ranking 2012

Oricon has finally put up the yearly charts for 2012 for the top 100 singles and albums.

Top 100 singles (Johnny's focus +)

1. Manatsu no Sounds Good - AKB48
2. GIVE ME FIVE! - AKB48
3. Gingnam Check - AKB48
4. UZA - AKB48
5. Eien Pressure - AKB48
6. Wild at Heart - Arashi
7. Face Down - Arashi
11. Your Eyes - Arashi
12. Nagiichi - NMB48
13. Virginity - NMB48
14. Junjou U-19 - NMB48
15. ER - Eight Ranger (Kanjani8)
16. WANNA BEEEE!!!/Shake It Up - Kis-My-Ft2
17. Kitagawa Kenji - NMB48
18. We never give up! - Kis-My-Ft2
19. Ai deshita - Kanjani8
20. Chankapaana - NEWS
21. Ai no Beat - Kis-My-Ft2
22. Super Delicate - Hey! Say! JUMP
25. SHE! HER! HER! - Kis-My-Ft2
27. Aoppana - Kanjani8
33. Moment - SMAP
36. MONSTERS - The MONSTERS
37. Sakasama no Sora- SMAP
39. Fumetsu no Scrum - KAT-TUN
44. TO THE LIMIT - KAT-TUN
45. Ai, Texas - Yamashita Tomohisa
46. Boku no Hanbun - SMAP
54. Kawatta katachi no Ishi - Kinki Kids
55. Lady Diamond - Sexy Zone
57. LOVE CHASE - Yamashita Tomohisa
66. Haina! - NYC
67. SEASONS - Akanishi Jin
68. Sexy Summer ni Yuki ga Furu - Sexy Zone
72. Wonderful Cupid/Garasu no Mahou - NYC/Nakayama Yuma
75. Ue kara Mariko - AKB48


Top 100 albums (Johnny's focus +)

3. 1830m - AKB48
4. Popcorn - Arashi
15. 8EST - Kanjani8
16. Kis-My-1st - Kis-My-Ft2
19. GIFT of SMAP - SMAP
36. JUMP WORLD - Hey! Say! JUMP
45. NEWS BEST - NEWS
47. CHAIN - KAT-TUN
55. Gravity - Domoto Koichi
71. one Sexy Zone - Sexy Zone
72. Ero - Yamashita Tomohisa
86. Japonicana - Akanishi Jin
87. shamanippon -lakachinotohi- - Domoto Tsuyoshi


Oricon yearly ranking charts (Japanese)

Kohaku 2012 List (Johnny's focused)

The full list of performers for the 2012 Kohaku New Year's program has been announced. The Johnny's that will be performing are of course the already announced Arashi, who will also be the hosts for the White Team on the program, and Kanjani8, who will be on the program for the first time.

The other Johnny's are all returning acts, SMAP, TOKIO and NYC.

Kohaku OHP (Japanese)

I have to say that I am rather surprised to see NYC returning. I guess they will continue to exist to be a Kohaku group at least. But I had assumed with Kanjani8 being on the show that they would have given up their spot to them. Guess that was not the case in the end. I can only assume they will be performing Haina! for the show, which actually seems to be a fitting song for the program, IMHO.

For the female idols it is no surprise that AKB48 will be there, but their sister group SKE48 will be performing on their own as well instead of tagging along to be back dancers for AKB48. I will expect the other sister groups to be involved as well so that AKS and Johnny's can duke it out for which will have the performance with the most performers on the stage at one time again this year.

It had been rumored that there would be on Korean acts this year and if I am not mistaken that has proved true. At least the usual Korean acts that have had spots on the show are not returning this year, Tohoshinki, KARA and Girl's Generation. I guess this is another sign that the Hallyu wave is on the decline in Japan.

2nd half of year predictions, debuted groups

Well summer has come and the year is about half way over now. The first half had some big surprises, both good and bad and mostly unpredictable. Hopefully the rest of the year will be calmer and things can start getting back to normal as things can get for Japan. I'll just be covering debuted (or officially set to debut) groups as I'm sure I'll get long winded about the Juniors.

SMAP looks like they'll manage as they always have the rest of the year. They're still one of the most popular Japanese artists and will keep busy with variety programs, dramas and movies. I can see them either releasing another single or a new album before the end of the year to keep their 20th anniversary celebration on track. Very few artists reach that hallmark, especially idol groups so I can't see Johnny's not wanting to do something for it for one of their top groups.

TOKIO has enough regular work they will continue doing. I am hoping though they will finally release an album before the end of the year. As they've already done a concert for this year I doubt they'll do another, though if they do release a new album they may tour next year.

Like the rest of the older groups Kinki Kids really doesn't seem all that affected by the first half of the year. Koichi has Endless Shock to keep him busy and I'm sure Tsuyoshi will find something for him to do. They also have a single coming up in a couple of weeks so they'll have their single for the year. Wouldn't be surprised if they do the usual tour in Winter so they'll have the Tokyo Dome for Countdown like usual.

As they haven't released a single this year I'll predict that V6 will release one before the end of the year. Though I don't see them doing much else. Usually I would assume they would have a tour still, either as a full group or one of the sub-units, but it doesn't look like there will be as many concert tours this year as there usually are and I can see them being one of the groups that will not be making their usual yearly tour.

Being one of the top groups more or less ensures that Arashi will continue to have the kind of releases they would usually. Which can be seen with the fact they have a concert DVD and a studio album coming up to be released over the summer as well as a tour lined up to take them through to early next year. I'll predict they'll have at least one more single that will be released, maybe two, before the year ends.

Tackey & Tsubasa are hard to guess about what will happen with them. The only thing that seems certain with them are the musical productions they keep themselves busy with. Release-wise I wouldn't be surprised if we don't anything more from them, together or as soloist.

I'd guess that we'd get at least a single from NEWS before the end of the year. I know there was a rumor for one for a July release but unless it ends up being late July I don't see that being more than a rumor. But as Yamapi's solo concert winds down and if Kanjani8 doesn't have anything lined up anytime soon I can see a single for the group being released in the next few months.

Kanjani8 have had a good year so far, despite all things. They're ending a string of single releases and I can see them putting out either another single or an album near the end of the year. I'm also sure we'll be seeing them do another winter tour so they can have the Kyocera Dome again for Countdown.

Poor KAT-TUN. This year was supposed to be their 5 year anniversary celebration but it doesn't look like things are turning out well for them. While I can see them keeping things up with releases they have had their concert tour canceled. I can see them releasing one more single and then an album before the year is out but they'll have to wait for 2012 to tour again.

Hey! Say! JUMP looks to be slowly getting back to some sort of regular release schedule. They're still hampered a bit with having to share members with NYC but they've been doing better with balancing the two groups. With any luck we'll get one more single from them before the end of the year or at latest early 2012. They're also one of the lucky groups that will be able to tour this year and have SUMMARY over the summer. It'll be interesting to see if they'll do the usual winter tour this year.

I don't see any new releases for Akanishi Jin until after he finishes filming for the 47 Ronin movie. And if anything it'll probably be another Japanese single.

Kis-My-Ft2 is probably the other group that's been most affected by the earthquake. They've had their debut single pushed back to sometime this summer and personally I'm going to guess it'll be sometime in August at this point. The tie-in to the Ikemen Desu ne drama will be a help though and make August the ideal month as then there will be anticipation built up from the drama for the release and the single should get a sales boost every time an episode airs once it has been released. Luckily they still have their tour and it seems to still be on schedule. I can see them getting at least one more single out before the end of the year and maybe we can finally get a concert DVD from them if not this year but next year.

And I guess I'll stick NYC here as well. I think it's possible for them to release another single before the end of the year but honestly they've already released something this year so they don't really need to and they can just use Yumetamago to be their end of year song.

And that about rounds everything up for the debuted groups.

Because it's not Johnny's if it isn't recycled.

I was searching through clips of the Johnny's groups of the 80s and 90s when I found this clip and noticed something familiar about this group, Shibugakitai, and the more recent group NYC.



I had always thought of NYC as a retro group, or at least a group that was paying homage to the groups of those decades. Their B-sides have a sound that is similar to the Johnny's groups of the 80s and 90s, which makes sense with their first single being a cover of a Hikaru Genji song. But it's a sound that has stuck with them since that single.

Finding this video also points towards NYC being styled after these older groups with the similarities of a teenage trio color coded with the three base colors. Shibugakitai wasn't the first to use this scheme either and I wouldn't be surprised that if searching through Shounentai videos I found them in those three colors.

It makes me wish I knew more about past Johnny's groups as I feel like I can appreciate NYC more because of this connection to groups of the past. They're not the only group that has such a connection either as Kis-My-Ft2 was created to be like Hikaru Genji, from the use of roller skates to having an older and younger set of members.

So I think it's rather unfortunate that there seems to be so little information about these older groups in English seeing as Johnny's has proven that while they keep trying to find ways their groups can be the first in something they are also always looking back to find what worked in the past so to try to see if it can also work in the present.

NYC New Single

Have to say I'm quite surprised to see this in my inbox but cdjapan just sent out a notice that NYC will be releasing a new single on October 20th titled Yoku Asobi Yoku Manabe.

There will be two editions for the single. The Regular Edition will have three tracks with karaoke tracks for all three songs. The Limited Edition will only have two tracks and a DVD with the PV for the title track.

Yoku Asobi Yoku Manabe [Regular Edition] / NYC

Yoku Asobi Yoku Manabe [Limited Edition] / NYC

I have to say I'm kinda surprised to see NYC releasing a single, though I feel much better about it now that Hey! Say! JUMP have released their first album. Of course I think with this release it means that the unit is going to remain as a trio. I now wonder if they will have Nakayama Yuma debut again in the future with another group though seeing as he's still being considered a Junior. But I guess time will tell about that.

HSJ & NYC - Thoughts and Frustrations

Okay, I've been meaning to write this entry for a while but then some sad news hit (or at least sad for me) and everything just seemed to jumble for a bit. Though I think maybe it was for the best as it let me re-look at the topic and really get to the heart of why I'm so frustrated with the continuation of NYC.

First off I think I really am on some level happy that NYC isn't completely over. Yes I have issues with it but honestly the main reason I like NYC is for that N. I honestly like Nakayama Yuma. I remember watching him perform a solo on what I believe was one of the 2008 Kansai Junior Shounen Club episodes and really felt that he stood out amongst the rest of the Juniors. It was then that I really took notice of him and began hoping for his success. So why the whole Nakayama Yuma w/B.I. Shadow/NYC boys/NYC is quite frankly a mess and will most likely remain so for a while, I am glad that Yuma is a part of that mess as it's one that's getting quite a bit of attention. So for the simple fact that Yuma is able to keep getting his name out there and hopefully gets more people to pay attention to him, and hopefully see his potential as I do because I know I can do without all the hate comments towards him. And that's not to say I don't like Yamada Ryosuke or Chinen Yuri, but honestly it's really Yuma that drives me to want this group in any way.

Now with that out of the way part of my frustration falls to Yuma and the fact that Johnny's is making him a part of this unit as the only Junior. It wasn't so bad when B.I. Shadow was with the group as it felt like it could be a group that could stand without Yamada and Chinen if need be, and did for the few times on Shounen Club when Yamada and Chinen weren't there. Now with it only with Yuma there is no standing as a group without Yamada and Chinen as it's just Yuma, so it's no different than him going solo. So I can't see him doing much on his own, to promote the unit, unless it's to sing Yuuki 100% for the billionth time, as I believe all the Juniors have this song memorized well enough. (I so hope they give us a break from this song soon. I like it but between Hey! Say! JUMP, NYC boys and NYC singing it for about a good year now, I'm getting tired of it.) I want to see Yuma be part of a group, a full on debuted unit that's not going to be made temporary in a month or so after their announced debut. With the promotion he gets for NYC I think he would be a good leading candidate to be a lead boy for a new volleyball unit. There really aren't too many high profile Juniors right now so building up Yuma and putting him in such a group would be a good idea, IMHO. And I think it will make a lot of fans, and even some not fans, of his happy to see him in such a group. So I hope I'm thinking in the same lane as TPTB (The Powers That Be) at Johnny's.

Of course that is hardly the only issue I have with NYC continuing. The biggest issue I have is how it's impacting Hey! Say! JUMP. With having to share members, and the two they are sharing are the two that get a lot of focus in both groups, especially Yamada who is treated as the front boy for both. The situation with NEWS and Kanjani8 with sharing Nishikido Ryo as a member of both groups can be made but he's not the lead for both groups. NEWS' lead is undoubtedly Yamapi. I honestly don't follow Kanjani8 to know who the lead for that group is, but I also get the feeling that there is no true lead for the group, which again takes Ryo out of the role of lead boy for either group. For Chinen in HSJ and NYC it works much like Ryo does in NEWS and K8, but the same can't be said for Yamada. Yamada already gets the lion's share of attention in HSJ and it doesn't look like that dynamic is getting changed with NYC. And I like Yamada, he got me into the original Junior Hey! Say! 7 group and has remained a favorite member of HSJ, but I don't like him enough that I want to see so much of him.

Then of course if NYC is active then it means that HSJ can't be as they aren't nearly as balanced a unit as some of the other Johnny's groups. Without Yamada, their front boy, they're not going to release anything new or it would be like NEWS releasing something without Yamapi or KAT-TUN without Kamenashi Kazuya. It's just not going to happen. Of course if Johnny's tried to level out attention a bit more for HSJ, perhaps this wouldn't be such a big issue.

Like if they could do something with Hey! Say! BEST, especially with Arioka Daiki graduating this month from high school and having the full sub-unit eighteen and over now, it should be much easier to schedule work for them if they get work. Like trying to get them more roles in dramas and/or movies, as they're the perfect ages for the high school roles that seem abundant in Japanese dramas and film. It seemed like they were going that way at first with Takaki Yuya in Gokusen but after the movie for the drama he hasn't done anything. And it seems like such wasted potential as Gokusen has been proven to be a great launching vehicle for Johnny's in the past for drama careers. And I'm really not picky who from BEST ends up being the most popular as any one of them will be helping the rest of the guys in the sub-unit just as Yamada and Chinen's popularity help give Hey! Say! 7 more attention. But in the end as long as Yamada isn't pushed so hard with the group and more attention was given to other members then I think I would enjoy NYC more, as it would no longer feel like I'm being overdosed with Yamada so much.

I'm just feeling so frustrated that I keep seeing so much potential with so many members of HSJ but Johnny's doesn't seem to be doing anything with them. And one of those people who hates to see potential go to waste.

And I also think if Johnny's waited until HSJ had an album out or even another single out I would have taken the return of NYC better. I mean they made us wait over a year and a half between singles so I think Johnny's needs to establish a trust with the fans of the group they're not going to make us wait that long again for the next cd release. So just releasing two cds with a couple of months in between would have gone a long way in doing this, IMHO. Of course having NYC releasing something does not help build that trust, as HSJ can't release something without all of their members, especially if one is their lead boy, so HSJ fans are stuck waiting once more in the hopes that Johnny's will go right back to HSJ after NYC. And I'm not sure if all HSJ fans are going to be that patient. I know I've begun to doubt whether or not I should keep with HSJ but my love for my favorites keeps me from about to stop being a fan of the group. But I'm not sure how much longer I can go on unless Johnny's proves that they will maintain both groups on some kind of regular release pattern.

So in summary, I'm happy for Yuma and will support him wherever Johnny's may throw him, though I hope he'll get a permanent group soon. I like Yamada, but having him as front boy for both HSJ and NYC is overkill for me. I think Chinen with the two groups is fine just as Ryo works out for NEWS and K8 without being overkill as they're both not the lead for their groups. I want to see more from HSJ and the members that aren't a part of NYC. And if HSJ continues to get shafted like they were last year then they just might end up losing at least one fan.

And thank you to anyone that makes it through all this. I know I'm mainly just venting so I'm not sure if anyone else will care too much about what I have to say in the matter but do hope that maybe pointing out my issues with this might help others figure out why they are unhappy with this turn of events too.

NYC new release, because Johnny's can't seem to make up their minds about Yuma?

Well I didn't get the usual notification from cdjapan about this release, kinda surprising as I had gotten the regular version of Akuma na Koi/NYC from them, but I guess that's because this isn't another NYC boys release but just a release for NYC (Nakayama, Yamada & Chinen).

But from the cdjapan listing NYC will be taking over from Hey! Say! JUMP for doing the opening and ending theme songs for children's anime series the Nintama Rantarou. So they will be covering Yuuki 100% for the opening theme while getting a new song, Yume no Tane (which more or less translates to Seed of Dreams or Dream Seed in English) for the ending theme.

The LE comes with a DVD as expected but it only lists having 'making of' footage and looking at the Johnny's net information it's footage from the song recording and photo shoot of the cd jacket.

CDJapan listing. (English)

I will warn right now I'm still in that initial knee-jerk reaction phase to this news, which includes some mixed feelings but is overall disappointed. I mean I'm happy for Yuma, as I am a fan of his, but I wish Yamada and Chinen would stick with Hey! Say! JUMP more, or at least until the group has their first album out at least.

Then there's the fact that this is listed to be only NYC and not NYC boys, which means no B.I.Shadow. Even though people complained about BIS being just back dancers I think I would prefer them to remain in the group, even as just back dancers, then to be omitted from it completely as it looks like they have been.

Not to mention the whole fact that HSJ could have had a single back in spring of 2009 for doing the theme song of the same anime series but for whatever reason didn't. So why they didn't get a single for the same thing NYC is getting a single for annoys me considering HSJ fans would have had a much shorter wait between releases if that single was released.

Honestly if it wasn't for the fact Yuma was a part of this group I would just completely pass up on this release. But thankfully even though there are two versions of the single you only need to buy one version of it to get all the songs, as it's only the two, and since I don't care for karaoke tracks I'll just be picking up the LE with the DVD.

Of course now that I'm looking at the Johnny's net listing I'm feeling a bit better about the release as it's getting listed under the special release, Johnny's Jr. and Hey! Say! JUMP sections so it's not like NYC has gotten the major debuted group treatment just yet. I hope eventually either Johnny's will give Yuma his own group soon though so NYC can be dropped, as Yamada and Chinen get a lot of attention in their primary group already so I would rather see some fresh faces get the chance to release something and of course to see HSJ just do more.

Johnny's at 2009's Kouhaku

Well midterms are still sucking most of my free time away but I'll try to finish my report in the next day or two as I will have a bit more free time. But until then to keep up with the news...

The official list for the Kouhaku program, which is a New Year's Countdown music program, has been announced recently. Like usual SMAP and TOKIO, who have been on the program for over ten years are of course returning but there are two other Johnny's groups joining the line up this year, Arashi and NYC Boys all for the white team. And for those not familiar with the program all the acts are devided into two teams, the female artists are the red team and the male are the white team and whoever gets the highest ratings collectively are the winners of the program. And I honestly can't remember the last time the red team won.

Official Kouhaku list. (Japanese only)

As many I was quite shocked to see NYC Boys on the list, as they are meant to be just a temporary unit but the more I thought about it the choice did not seem so strange. Kouhaku picks some of the top selling acts of the year to perform, so Arashi seems to be a no brainer there, and NYC Boys did sell over 200K copies of their single, which even some of the big acts in Japan don't do anymore these days. Unlike Hey! Say! JUMP, who have released nothing this year. Because I'm sure Johnny's would have had them there instead of NYC Boys if they were eligible but even if they were to release a new single in December it would be too late to have them invited. So they had to go with the closest thing, NYC Boys, IMHO.

Also this year has been a good year for Juniors, especially the younger ones and I think this is also a continuation of this. Especially in one of the articles it mentions that Juniors will be joining the group for there performance and hinted it would be the younger ones that won't be able to participate in Johnny's Countdown, so I would not be surprised at all to see Morimoto Shintarou get some screen time for this.

And then looking at the program itself, there's no denying the fact it is no longer the popular program it once was. For years the viewer numbers have been declining and less and less of the younger generation are watching, so groups that are hits with Japan's youth like Arashi, who's a hit with everyone these days, and NYC Boys who are targetted for the younger generation of the population are good choices for the program to pick to try again to reverse the declining ratings trend.

And that's about all I've come up with about this decision. I think keeping these factors in mind the decision makes more sense, but personally I think I'll be looking more forward to seeing Hey! Say! BEST all together on the Johnny's Countdown stage for the first time this year. And I hope they have a bit more of a presence at this year's Countdown than they did at the last one.