# 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen

The 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen (第74回NHK紅白歌合戦, Dai Nanajūyon Kai Enu Eichi Kei Kōhaku Uta Gassen) was the Reiwa 5 edition of NHK's New Year's Eve TV special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2023. The show was broadcast live from NHK Hall. The Red Team won the contest.

## Events leading up to broadcast

On September 27, NHK released the broadcast times. The show would start at 19:20, and wrap up at 23:45 (JST), with a 5-minute break for the latest news. On October 6, NHK announced the hosts, who would be Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Kanna Hashimoto, Minami Hamabe, and Kozo Takase. Additionally, this year's theme was stated to be "Borderless: New Year's Eve That Transcends and Connects", that would mark the beginning of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the first television broadcast in Japan.
For the first time since 1980, no artists belonging to Smile Up, Inc. (formerly Johnny & Associates) were scheduled to appear on this edition of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen. This was known after the announcement of the list of participants on November 13. The absence of talent from the agency is a consequence of the juvenile sex abuse scandals from Johnny Kitagawa.
On December 4, 2023 Official Hige Dandism announced in advance that their participation song would be "Chessboard". Furthermore, the group announced that they were looking for middle schoolers for performing support. Application videos can be sent between December 4–18 on the contests official homepage.
On December 20, 2023, the guest judges and the voting method were announced. Two days later, the song titles were published. On December 26, the performance order was revealed. Atarashii Gakko would be the show opener, while Misia would do another Ootori.
Due to copyright issues, both Milet and Man with a Mission's performances could not be shown on the NHK World Premium global simulcast, as they contained scenes from the Demon Slayer anime, whose global rights belong to Muse Communication (outside Japan) and Crunchyroll (outside Asia). Instead of performances, the artist's photo was shown. 10-Feet's performance was also not shown on the same broadcast, as it used scenes from the film "The First Slam Dunk".

## Artist lineup

Key :
* Debuting artists
* Returning artists
* Special performances
List of 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen performances :
| Red Team | Red Team | Red Team | Red Team | White Team | White Team | White Team | White Team |
| Order | Artist | Appearance | Song | Order | Artist | Appearance | Song |
| First half ||||||||
| Fox Capture Plan – "Grand Opening" ||||||||
| 1 | Atarashii Gakko! | 1 | "Otona Blue" | 2 | JO1 | 2 | "Newsmile" |
| — | — | — | — | 3 | Masayuki Suzuki | 6 | "Megumi no Hito" |
| 5 | Perfume | 16 | "Fake It" | 4 | Stray Kids | 1 | "Case 143" (Japanese version) |
| 7 | Yoshimi Tendo | 28 | "Dōtonbori Ninjō" | 6 | Strawberry Prince | 1 | "Suki Suki Seijin" |
| 9 | Ryokuoushoku Shakai | 2 | "Character" | 8 | Tatsuya Kitani | 1 | "Where Our Blue Is" |
| 10 | Sakurazaka46 | 3 | "Start Over!" | 11 | Jyunretsu | 6 | "Datte Meguri Aetanda" (NHK+ version) |
| 12 | Ano | 1 | "Chu, Tayōsei" | 13 | Be:First | 2 | "Boom Boom Back" |
| 14 | Juju | 2 | "Toki no Nagare ni Mi o Makase" | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | NiziU | 4 | "Make You Happy" | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Le Sserafim | 2 | "Unforgiven" (Japanese version) | 17 | Keisuke Yamauchi | 9 | "Koi Suru Machikado" |
| 18 | Nogizaka46 | 9 | "Ohitorisama Tengoku" | 19 | Hiromi Go | 36 | "2 Oku 4 Sen Man no Hitomi" (Breaking SP) |
| 20 | Milet | 4 | "Koi Kogare" (with Man with a Mission) | 21 | Man with a Mission | 1 | "Kizuna no Kiseki" (with Milet) |
| 23 | Kaori Mizumori | 21 | "Hyūga Misaki" (Kōhaku Domino Challenge SP) | 22 | Seventeen | 1 | "Fallin' Flower" |
| Hama Iku (Ryūichi Hamaie and Erika Ikuta) (1) – "Beat De Tohi" ||||||||
| — | — | — | — | 24 | Yo Oizumi | 1 | "Ano Sora ni Tatsu Tō no Yō ni" |
| Second half ||||||||
| 26 | Fuyumi Sakamoto | 35 | "Yozakura Oshichi" | 25 | Mrs. Green Apple | 1 | "Dancehall" |
| 27 | MiSaMo | 1 | "Do Not Touch" | 28 | 10-Feet | 1 | "Dai Zero Kan" |
| NewJeans (1) – "OMG", "ETA", and "Ditto" medley ||||||||
| Disney 100 Years Special Medley Kanna Hashimoto and Minami Hamabe – "Someday My Prince Will Come" Yo Oizumi, Motoki Ohmori (Mrs. Green Apple), and Le Sserafim – "Under the Sea" Koichi Yamadera, Sakurazaka46, and Stray Kids – "Friend Like Me" Erika Ikuta – "This Wish" Kōhaku Yushi no Minna-san (Ano, Sayuri Ishikawa, Jyunretsu, Masayuki Suzuki, Mrs. Green Apple) – "It's a Small World" ||||||||
| 30 | Ringo Sheena | 8 | "Marunouchi Sadistic (Sasuga ni Shogyōmujō-hen)" | 29 | Official Hige Dandism | 4 | "Chessboard" |
| — | — | — | — | 31 | Yuzu | 14 | "Beautiful" |
| Queen + Adam Lambert (1) – "Don't Stop Me Now" ||||||||
| — | — | — | — | 32 | Hiroshi Miyama | 9 | "Donka Zaka" (7th Road to the Kendama World Record) |
| 34 | Superfly | 7 | "Tamashii Revolution" | 33 | Gen Hoshino | 9 | "Life" |
| 35 | Ran Itō | 1 | "Candies 50th Anniversary Kōhaku SP Medley" | — | — | — | — |
| Yoshiki (14) – "Endless Rain ~ Rusty Nail" ||||||||
| TV Broadcasting 70 Years Special Project: Terebi ga Todoketa Meikyoku-tachi Pocket Biscuits and Black Biscuits (2) – "Yellow Yellow Happy" + "Timing" Hiroko Yakushimaru (3) – "Sailor-fuku to Kikanjū" Akira Terao (3) – "Ruby no Yubiwa" ||||||||
| 36 | Ado | 1 | "Show" | — | — | — | — |
| 38 | Aimyon | 5 | "Ai no Hana" | 37 | Elephant Kashimashi | 1 | "Ore-tachi no Ashita" |
| 40 | Sayuri Ishikawa | 45 | "Tsugaru Kaikyō Fuyugeshiki" | 39 | Masashi Sada | 22 | "Cosmos" |
| 42 | Yoasobi | 3 | "Idol" | 41 | Fumiya Fujii | 6 | "True Love" "Shiroi Kumo no Yō ni" (with Hiroiki Ariyoshi) |
| 44 | Misia | 8 | "Kōhaku Special 2023" | 43 | Masaharu Fukuyama | 16 | " 'Hello' ~ 'Sōbō' Kōhaku Special Medley" |
Notes
* ↑ Suzuki previously participated once as member of Rats & Star.
* ↑ It was the group's seventh participation if included four times of former Keyakizaka46.
* ↑ Member Sakura previously participated once as HKT48, and thrice as AKB48.
* ↑ Erika Ikuta previously participated seven times as member of idol group Nogizaka46.
* ↑ The members of MiSaMo have previously participated 4 times as members of Twice.
* ↑ Sheena previously participated twice as member of rock band Tokyo Jihen.
* ↑ Itō previously participated thrice as member of idol trio Candies.
* ↑ Ado previously participated the 73rd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen as Uta, a character from One Piece Film: Red.
* ↑ Member Hiroji Miyamoto previously participated once as soloist and once for special show
* ↑ Fujii previously participated nine times as member of the Checkers.

## Voting
### Voting method

As in the previous years, the winning team is determined via a 3-point voting system. This voting system includes judges vote, attendance vote and television voting. The winner of these votings receives one point per voting won.
While the jury members and the attendance at NHK Hall are only able to cast their vote once the television voters are able to vote up to five times depending on for how long they are watching the show.
The vote can be cast via remote control if the receiver is connected to the internet. Due to a rule change revolving around the jury vote where the judges are divided into two groups consisting out of four people each it could be possible that the result may be remis for the first time in the show's history.

### Judges

On December 20, 2023, the eight members of the guest jury were announced. The jury consists out of following people:
* Haruka Kitaguchi — Sports athlete (Javelin throw)
* Shingo Kunieda — former Wheelchair tennis player
* Masato Sakai — Actor
* Machi Tawara — Lyricist and Poet
* Shinobu Terajima — Actress
* Nobuhiro Terada — former Ballet dancer, art director of National Ballet of Ukraine
* Bakarhythm — Comedian
* Yuriko Yoshitaka — Actress

### Results

| Voting method | Results | Results | Points |
| Voting method | Team Red | Team White | Points |
| Guest judge voting | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Audience voting | 1.453 | 883 | 1 |
| Viewership voting | 3.943.182 | 2.457.277 | 1 |
| Winner | RED TEAM | RED TEAM | 3-0 |

### Ratings

According to Kanto region viewers, the show had the worst ratings overall with 29% in its front part, and 31.9% in its back part, compared to the 73rd edition, which had 35.3%.