page_title: 67th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
section_title: Broadcast
hierarchical_section_title: 67th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen / Broadcast
caption_attribution_description: English: Utada Hikaru live in 2006
context_page_description: The 67th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen was the 67th edition of NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31, 2016, live from NHK Hall from 19:15 to 23:45, with a 5-minute break for the latest news. This is the 28th Heisei Era edition. The broadcast schedule was announced on September 8. The Red Team won this event.
  This year's theme is: 夢を歌おう. For the last time, Masaaki Hirao conducted "Hotaru no Hikari", seven months before his passing on July 21, 2017.
context_section_description: NHK revealed on September 8 that the 67th Kouhaku will air on December 31 (Saturday), starting from 19:15 JST and ending at 23:45 JST, with a 5-minute break for the latest news. In Japan, the broadcast takes place through NHK-G and Radio 1, and worldwide by NHK World Premium. In United States, the show is broadcast through TV Japan, starting around 15:10 (Eastern Time). Viewers outside Japan can watch Kouhaku on NHK World Premium, starting at 10:15 UTC, the same time as the NHK-G broadcast.
  This year's theme is "Let's Sing a Dream" (夢を歌おう). It was revealed that the theme will remain unchanged through the 70th edition in 2019, in support of the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics. On November 12, Kasumi Arimura and Aiba Masaki were announced as the captains of the Red and White teams, respectively. On November 24, the list of program artists were announced, as well as this year's mediator,  Shinichi Takeda.
  A special showcase from this year's Taiga Drama Sanada Maru is also being planned. On November 25, 2016, SPORTS NIPPON made a prediction of who will be the "Ootori" this year. Seiko Matsuda and Fuyumi Sakamoto are strong candidates for Akagumi, while Arashi is most likely to hold Ootori for Shirogumi. Ultimately, Arashi was chosen as Ootori.
  On December 7, Tamori and Matsuko Deluxe were announced to appear as special guests. The song list was revealed on December 19. On December 21, the judges were revealed. On December 22, it was announced that "Fly into the Sun" composed by Shiro Sagisu would be used as the opening theme song. The song was written specially for the program. On December 23, SMAP officially declined their invitation to appear on Kouhaku. The performance order was announced on Christmas Day. Rehearsals started on December 28.
  On December 31, the festival was broadcast live. The ball system was used for the first time in three years, and the winning team was Red team (9 balls against 6 White team). After Yoshimi Tendo's performance, viewer votes showed that Red team was in the lead with 444,495 vs 374,460 votes White. However, by half-time, White team had gained a significant lead with 1,435,175 vs 922,066 votes for Red. Final results showed that White team had won the viewer vote (4,203,679 White vs 2,527,724 Red) and venue vote (1,274 White vs 870 Red), garnering 4 balls. However, Red team won 9 guest judge votes vs 2 for White, bringing the final balls to 9 Red vs 6 White, culminating in Red team's victory. Red team captain Kasumi Arimura received the championship flag from the hands of guest judge Masao Kusakari.
  With the 2016 victory, Red Team has accumulated 31 wins, while White Team continues with 36 victories.
caption: Hikaru Utada, first time on Kouhaku
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