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The story
After NHK announced the lineup for its year-end Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle) special, comedian Ito Asako brought up Juice=Juice’s exclusion during a live radio broadcast, saying, “That was the one disappointing thing.” Asako revealed she’s such a fan that she dances to the group’s song “More! Mi Amore” at home, and her comment was well received. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, reactions to her remark sparked a wider discussion comparing Spotify monthly listener counts with other popular idol groups, as well as debate over the Kohaku selection criteria themselves.
Asako on the radio
Ito Asako: “That was a bit disappointing — Juice=Juice, you know, I was totally hooked on them, on ‘More! Mi Amore.’ That song gave me so much energy too.
I don’t really get why, but it got super popular, right? Tons of people were dancing to it, and I was dancing to it too, on my own at home. So that was the one really disappointing thing.”
Source: radiko.jp / Original article here
What people said
[Spotify Monthly Listeners]
3,557,672 Macaroni Enpitsu 🈴🌟
3,000,853 Ayumu Imazu 🈴🌟
1,150,439 =LOVE 🈴🌟
*,988,140 AKB48 🈴🌟
*,870,803 CUTIE STREET 🈴🌟
*,761,567 FRUITS ZIPPER 🈴🌟
*,658,833 Nogizaka46 🈴🌟
*,532,860 CANDY TUNE
*,497,017 Momoiro Clover Z
*,476,719 iLiFE!
*,410,026 Morning Musume.
*,379,965 Chou Tokimeki Sendenbu
*,324,672 ME:I
*,287,594 ≠ME
*,286,077 Sakurazaka46
*,285,032 Monaki 🈴🌟
*,274,063 Juice=Juice 👈🚷
*,260,082 Aぇ! group 🈴🌟
23862 Morning Musume.'26
Damn, AKB's still got it
Didn't realize they still had fans
Plus last year's Kohaku ratings were high too
It's nice to have someone at Terry's level say it
There were a lot of 'that's a shame' comments on X too
That's the public getting fooled by media over-pushing them
Hasn't she posted any videos like that?
Guess she's not that into it after all
If they just capped it at one group per agency, there'd be no criticism
Juice is just the knockoff version of that
Means even with all the pushing, it still wasn't enough
Those types will abandon them the second they fall off
This year was a big step toward their next breakthrough
If they have zero hits next year, they're getting cut
Next year the fans probably won't spend much either, and they'll just push it off to the year after that
Performers: Ito Asako, Sunayama Keitaro
Wait, is that Sunayama Keitaro the K-Taro guy?
But other numerical factors meant it couldn't be pushed through overall
Well, that's just how it goes
When a big committee hashes it out, you end up with a safe, murky result
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Lineup decisions for NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen are said to be based on a combination of factors — CD sales, social media buzz, tie-in work, and more — so a group being talked about doesn’t guarantee it a spot. As noted in reply 5, something similar happened back in 2013 when Morning Musume. was left off the lineup and Terry Ito made the same kind of comment on TV; Asako’s remark this time follows the same pattern. The thread split between those arguing the ‘numbers (metrics) just aren’t there’ and those who put more weight on the fact that a well-known celebrity is a genuine supporter, with Spotify monthly listener comparisons cited as evidence of the popularity gap between Hello! Project groups. Worth keeping in mind: since buzz or live-show turnout alone doesn’t directly translate into a Kohaku slot, the opacity of the selection process tends to produce these ‘why weren’t they picked?’ reactions.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Big-name comedian says on live radio: ‘They announced the Kohaku lineup but it’s a shame Juice=Juice isn’t in it. I don’t get why, it was so popular’“.
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