Reborn Japan for entertainment

Chapter 246
The Japan Record Awards is a music award with a long history. In the Showa era, it has always been the benchmark of Japanese music awards.

However, after the 1987th Record Awards in 29, this music awards ceremony, which once had an audience rating of 50%+, flopped in a straight line and became a music award that has been questioned.

This series of TBS crying and fainting in the toilet has always started from the 1987th Record Awards in 29.

That year, there were so few people competing for the grand prize.

Akina Nakamori, who is about to win three consecutive championships, is in full swing; Hiroshi Itsuki, who has won two major awards, is a major performer; there is another one, Masahiko Kondo, who has entered the candidate list thanks to the influence and support of female votes.

Oh, at that time, Nakamori Akina and Kondo Masahiko were still in a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship. . .

With Akina Nakamori clearly supporting her male ticket, in fact, the grand prize is a war between two men.

Masahiko Kondo and Hiroshi Itsuki.

However, in the cruel world above the physical body of the Japanese music industry, singers make a living by sales, and the eternal theme of sales is also inseparable from the big and small lists.

If the record doesn't sell well, it's naturally hard to get other people's approval.

The singers who won the Record Awards were basically ranked in the top of the major music charts in terms of sales of singles or albums that year.

Far away is Akina Nakamori.

Just like in the two years of 1985 and 1986, when Akina Nakamori dominated the music scene, she also relied on two singles that ranked second in the ORICON annual chart, and successfully achieved two consecutive record awards.

Nearby are Kiyoshi Sakamoto and Kumi Koda.

In the 2004th Record Awards in 46, Kiyoshi Sakamoto won the award-winning single "Hitomi をとじて", which ranked No.1 in the ORICON annual list; and in 2005, although Kiyoshi Sakamoto released his solo single "I'm Yours" , "Toilet Paper ~拝启十五の君へ~", and the single "PLANET" released by THE SUN band, occupied the top three on the annual chart, but lost to the new generation of sexy singer Koda Kumi Ji.

However, the award-winning Koda Kumi, the award-winning single "Butterfly", also ranked in the top ten in the annual list; moreover, Koda Kumi's total record sales in 2005 reached an astonishing 300 million copies !

Second only to Sakamoto Kiyoshi, it is ranked second in the singer's annual record sales list!

In addition, in terms of influence and exposure back then, Sakamoto Kiyoshi was also slightly inferior.

Therefore, in the 2005th Record Awards in 46, Koda Kumi defeated Sakamoto Kiyoshi and won the award, which is well-deserved.

but.

It is such a music award that depends on sales. In 1987, at the 29th Record Awards, a singer who ranked 35th in the annual list and sold only 10,000+ singles successfully won the Record Awards. Controversial scene!
This directly caused the fairness and authenticity of the Record Awards to be greatly questioned.

This singer is Masahiko Kondo of Johnny's.

Generally speaking, after winning the Grand Prize, there will be a small increase in sales.

If it is great, after winning the award, the winning single may sell another 10,000+ copies.

However, Masahiko Kondo, the misnamed grand prize winner, only sold a thousand copies of his winning single "The Fool" after winning the award. . .

It can be seen how unpopular TBS's move to award the grand prize to Masahiko Kondo at that time was, and even consumers didn't pay the bill.

As for the award-winning results of that year, people of later generations have summed up two different views.

One is that, as the favorite of the three consecutive champions, Nakamori Akina took the initiative to give up the possible three consecutive champions, and used his own resources and abilities to help Kondo win the award.

The second is that the judges of the Record Awards thought that "how can a woman win three times in a row", so they decided to let the so-called "spouse" Masahiko Kondo of Akina also win a grand award, which contributed to "happy everyone".

However, no matter how you look at it, such a reason will be criticized.

The worst impact was that after Kondo received the award, the fairness of the Record Awards was questioned, and the ratings dropped all the way, never reaching 20% ​​again.

The most authoritative and longest-standing award in the Japanese music industry gradually flopped like this, never to return.

Although there have been years that have been questioned, there is no doubt that 1987, the 29th record award, is such an important turning point.

This is also one of the important reasons why the current reputation of the Record Awards is still not very good.

However, Kiyoshi Sakamoto still took this award as his own goal, not because of the long history of this record award, nor because of its authority, but because of the "three-in-a-row" record award. Very tempting words.

He thought about a question in his heart, that is, how can he be called the king of the Japanese music scene?Or what about the first brother in the music scene?

As far as he knows, there is only one singer who has won the Record Awards for three consecutive times since the establishment of the Record Awards.

She is the first sister of the Japanese music scene, Ayumi Hamasaki!
From 2001 to 2003, Ayumi Hamasaki won three consecutive awards at the Record Awards, becoming the first solo singer in history to win the record awards three times in a row!
In 2003, she also sold 1740 million records, beating the previous record holder ZARD's 1724 million, and became the female solo singer with the highest total record sales in Japan.

At the beginning of the century, Ayumi Hamasaki was said to be invincible in the world, and he was in the limelight for a while. He was also known by the public as the first sister of the Japanese music scene and the symbol of the singer.

And Sakamoto Kiyoshi also determined his future direction after seeing Ayumi Hamasaki.

If Sakamoto Kiyoshi wants to become the king of the Japanese music scene, or even the first brother, according to Ayumi Hamasaki's model, at least he must become the second solo singer to win the record award three times in a row.

Or take THE SUN band and become the first group in history to win three consecutive record awards.

Moreover, he has to become the male solo singer with the highest total record sales in Japan. Only in this way can he be widely recognized by the public.

As for the highest total sales volume of group albums, THE SUN should not be able to reach it.

After all, the number one is the more than 7000 million copies of the old band B'Z. . .

With such numbers, even the band THE SUN, which sells 200 million records every year, may take at least 35 years to catch up.

this novel. . .It will definitely not be written for that long, so I can wash up and sleep.

However, it is still possible for Kiyoshi Sakamoto to become the male solo singer with the highest sales volume of records.

Interestingly, the current record sales of the highest individual male singer, the top three, No.3 is Kiyoshi Sakamoto's teacher, Masaharu Fukuyama.

On top of Fukuyama Masaharu's 1876 million, Makihara Noriyuki's 1983 million and Nagabuchi Take's 2038 million.

In other words, Sakamoto Kiyoshi must first defeat his teacher, step on his teacher, and continue to move forward to the throne of the male solo singer's number one record sales.

From a numerical point of view, it seems difficult to surpass, and the times are different. Against the background of the general decline of the global record market, Kiyoshi Sakamoto's way of catching up seems to be in the foreseeable future. . .

but.

Sakamoto Kiyoshi yelled out his own different voice in the face of the surging trend of the times!

"I'm a reborn! Even if it's impossible, as long as I try my best, it will definitely be possible!!!"

However, Kiyoshi Sakamoto, who was a trend-setter of the times, was born when the Japanese record market began to decline.

As of December 2006, in just two and a half years, Kiyoshi Sakamoto's total sales of his personal records have reached an astonishing 12 million copies! ! !

You know, he only released three singles and one album!

The current Sakamoto Kiyoshi can be said to have taken a solid step on this road that is destined to be full of thorns.

Moreover, if the 620 million record sales of THE SUN are included in him, his total record sales have reached a terrifying 1470 million! ! !

Such a number can already make Kiyoshi Sakamoto one of the 50 highest-selling record sellers in Japan!
Therefore, Kiyoshi Sakamoto has every reason to believe that as long as he keeps walking along this road, he will be able to see the peak of the Japanese music scene, and what kind of beautiful scenery it is. . .

The road to becoming a king begins with this recapture of the Record Awards!
There are still a few days before the Record Awards, and Kiyoshi Sakamoto already knows who his biggest opponent this year is.

Still those two, familiar names.

The one who beat him, the sexy diva, Koda Kumi!
Kiyoshi Hikawa, known as the "Prince of Japanese Enka World"!

Leaving aside Kiyoshi Hikawa, the savior of the Japanese enka world, let's take Kumi Koda as an example.

Kiyoshi Sakamoto believes that it is possible for her to win the award, but it is not great.

Because, in Japan, a society where men are superior to women, no matter how good and dazzling Koda Kumi was in 2006, it is unlikely that she won awards in a row last year.

After all, she is not Ayumi Hamasaki at the beginning of the century. . .

What's more, there are THE SUN band led by Kiyoshi Sakamoto, and Kiyoshi Hikawa, two powerful enemies, are watching covetously. . .

Therefore, Sakamoto Kiyoshi's deep eyes were placed on the man Hikawa Kiyoshi.

In Japan, enka, a national quintessence that the Japanese are proud of, is not only an art form that keeps up with the times, but also a deep-rooted sense of retro. However, with the development of popular music, the Japanese enka industry is also facing challenges. crisis, and even signs of gradual decline.

Hikawa Kiyoshi, who came into being as the times require, is the new generation of performers in the entertainment industry.

He also entered last year, and was among the list for the final competition for the grand prize.

However, like Sakamoto Kiyoshi, he lost to Koda Kumi.

And this year, like Kiyoshi Sakamoto, he is making a comeback.

With his enka single "One Sword"!
And Kiyoshi Sakamoto brought THE SUN's "Lei" and his comeback song, "ひまわり" (Sunflower), and Kiyoshi Hikawa will collide head-on again on the stage of the Record Awards!

Holding the record award invitation letter tightly in his hand, Kiyoshi Sakamoto muttered to himself.

"If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight!"

(End of this chapter)