Surrounding this year’s lineup for NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen, sports tabloids usually run ‘lock-in’ reports naming acts ahead of the official announcement — but this year those reports have been notably absent, fueling speculation on the 5ch ‘Hello! Project’ board. Thread posters pointed to AiScReam, which was reported as locked in for the 2025 (76th) show only to be left off the final lineup, as well as Kōhaku regulars like Nogizaka46 and SixTONES who’ve appeared before with no advance reporting at all. Opinions split on this year’s big draw, Juice=Juice: some read the silence as a bad sign for their chances, while others chalked it up to unusually tight information control.
What people said
1AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:52
If there's been no reporting at all by this point, that pretty much confirms they're not getting in, right?
4AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:54
This year's big draw, Juice=Juice — there's no way they'd let that leak.
7AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:56
Honestly, feel bad for whichever groups already have 'lock-in' reports out at this point.
8AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:56
True that
Why tho
Dunno though (a stock Kansai-comedy punchline — "true that / but why? / dunno though") lolololololololol
9AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:56
The textbook example of a group that got 'lock-in' reports but then didn't actually appear is AiScReam, from the 2025 (76th) Kōhaku.
AiScReam
Oct 20: Sports Nippon reports they're locked in for their first appearance
Nov 14: Name missing from the official lineup announcement
Nov 15: Sports Nippon reports a possible add-on appearance
In the end, they never appeared on Kōhaku
10AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:57
'Lock-in' reports are just something the sports papers make up on their own anyway.
11AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:58
Sports papers run rumors, so sometimes they're right and sometimes they're not — still more reliable than your average rumor though.
17AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:04
Re: #11
Wait, is the Nishikawa one fake too?
12AnonymousNov 10, 2026 17:58
Groups and artists for whom no advance 'lock-in' reports could be found ahead of the 2025 Kōhaku.
* Nogizaka46
* ILLIT
* ORANGE RANGE
* Junretsu
* TUBE
* Number_i
* Vaundy
* BE:FIRST
* Mrs. GREEN APPLE
* SixTONES
* Kenshi Yonezu
* back number
27AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:17
Re: #12
There's no shortage of those, huh.
29AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:20
Re: #12
Seems like it's mostly the women's acts that get 'lock-in' reports.
13AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:03
Isn't it just that nothing leaks unless the talent agency spills the beans?
22AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:06
Huh, didn't know back number was on Kōhaku last year.
25AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:16
Judging by how relaxed the members seem, they must've already been told.
26AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:16
If they don't drop at the same time as Cutie Street (キュースト, a shortened nickname for CUTIE STREET), forget it.
Juice=Juice is the biggest long shot of all, so if there were a real lock-in leak, the info would come out before anything else.
28AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:18
If they're appearing, their spot in the lineup means the leak would come out before Cutie Street's, wouldn't it.
32AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:30
Where are these 'lock-in' reports even coming from?
Over on Ōkami ("Wolf," a 5ch gossip/rumor board), I've only heard about CUTIE STREET.
33AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:31
59AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:40
Re: #33
Miruku was on last year.
37AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:33
Places that don't get 'lock-in' articles are either first-timers or people who show up every single year — if Juice=Juice were locked in, it'd be the first thing reported.
38AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:35
No way it's Match (Toshihiko Tahara) and Akina (Nakamori) lol
Though that doesn't mean that slot's going to Juice either.
39AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:35
This thread's amazing
Everybody's just making stuff up.
41AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:35
Re: #39
Yeah, everything except the official announcement is just guessing.
45AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:36
Re: #39
Isn't speculating until the announcement half the fun though?
42AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:36
Are we seriously debating sports-tabloid gossip here?
44AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:36
Full of people who only follow the Ōkami board and have no clue.
54AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:39
Re: #44
Oh really?
Then enlighten us lol
58AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:39
Re: #44
Worst reply in this whole thread.
46AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:36
DA PUMP wasn't confirmed until the day of the show.
47AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:37
Because Friday the 13th is when Jason gets locked in.
49AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:37
Same-day announcements are reserved for regulars and the big names, right?
50AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:37
Right now we're just in the phase where people want to make it look like Juice=Juice isn't happening after all.
53AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:38
Probably not happening, going by this
First-timers usually get left out of the reports anyway.
56AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:39
What's the point of 'lock-in' reports that aren't even official.
60AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:40
AI info is nothing but mistakes.
62AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:42
Re: #60
Your organized summary is accurate. In particular, for the 2023 and 2025 cases in question, this matches instances where no individual exclusive 'lock-in scoop' report from the sports papers appeared before the official announcement.
63AnonymousNov 10, 2026 18:43
Re: #60
Huh? You seriously think they're getting in?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Every year, before NHK makes its official announcement of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen lineup — typically in late November — it’s become routine for sports tabloids to run their own ‘lock-in’ reports based on independent reporting. These aren’t comments from the performers themselves or from NHK, though; they’re speculative articles based on reporting from industry sources, so some years they’re accurate and some years they’re not. In fact, at the 2025 (76th) Kōhaku, AiScReam was reported as locked in at one point but then didn’t appear in the official announcement, while on the flip side, regulars like Nogizaka46, SixTONES, and Kenshi Yonezu have appeared plenty of times with little to no advance reporting. The thread was split on how much trust to put in these ‘lock-in’ reports, with some treating them as well-grounded rumors and others dismissing them as close to fabrication by the sports papers.
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