Flying over the bubble era

Chapter 987
Shinichi Iwahashi came to Osaka this time to meet with people from Yomiuri TV and Osaka Cable Broadcasting.

The end of the year is not only the month of ending, but also the month of summary, so everything is turbulent.For the entertainment industry, the TV station needs to prepare special programs, and the record list needs to count the sales of this year, so as to present awards to outstanding singers this year.

Of course, this year's topical and popular singers gather together, and the ratings of the live broadcast are also highly anticipated.

Since October, the Red and White Song Club has successively announced the singers participating in this year, and the organizing committees of various major awards have also begun to make preparations.

This year is a year for bands to explode. There are rookie bands who have just debuted for a few years and quickly became popular. band--

For example, the southern stars who released the famous song "The Fruit of Real Summer" this year.

On one side is the explosion of the band, and on the other side is the further decline of the idol.Idols with good performance this year, whether it is Hikari GENJI, Shizuka Kudo, or the duo WINK... none of the idols with good performance debuted this year.

Among the male idols, Johnny’s new group SMAP launched this year, only ranked second in the highest ranking of their debut single. By the end of the list, they had just sold 18 copies. Far from it.

It's not even comparable to the makeshift Heike faction, and it's even less qualified to be compared with the male fighting group who had a good time when they debuted.

Since the successful launch of Toshihiko Tahara, Masahiko Kondo, and the Junior Team, Johnny has dominated the field of male idols.At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the industry to have male idols who are not Johnny's.

It can be said that Johnny's power has grown, and conversely, it can also be said that Johnny's idols have affected the audience's aesthetics. Star fans began to equate male idols with Johnny's image.

If other firms want to launch male idols again, they must either be ingenious or follow Johnny.However, the former needs to have the ability to re-change the audience's aesthetics, while the latter needs to be more than Johnny's... In this case, why not just go to see Johnny's?
Kitagawa Hiroshi's debut strategy, whenever he debuts a single, he must pursue "one blockbuster", and must win the weekly chart.Therefore, no matter how it is arranged afterwards, the debut single will definitely help find a well-known songwriter, prepare a good song, and promote it with great fanfare.

As a result, when he made his debut at SMAP, his ambition of "winning the championship for his debut single" was broken.It’s not just that, after the debut single, the group’s second single was released immediately, and it just ranked No.5 in the first week of its debut.

As soon as this result came out, the media that had restrained themselves during the SMAP debut finally couldn't hold back, and there were bad-mouthing voices, and Johnny had to dispatch public relations to suppress this voice for the time being.

After all, it hasn't been a whole year since the group debuted, they just released two singles, and their future has not yet been decided.If you sing too much bad news, it will affect the impression of the group in the public.

Of course, if you want public relations, you need to manage it. For the media, the relationship with big firms is "cat and mouse".

Kitagawa Hiroshi placed high hopes on this group before their debut, hoping to sweep away the haze of the failure of the Heike faction's debut.

It is unknown to the outside world what Kitagawa plans to do next.Iwahashi just pretended not to know about SMAP's debut performance, and continued to train those young trainees slowly according to the agreement with him.As for when those youngsters will arrange the show on the ground, and when they will start planning their debut, these are not within the scope of Iwahashi Shinichi's consideration.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the relationship between him and Johnny is based on receiving money to do things.

Among male idols, no matter how bad SMAP is, it still has 18 singles.When it comes to female idols, it can be said that the whole army is wiped out. For a whole year, no decent newcomers appeared.

Although the popular idols who debuted in the past few years still maintained their high popularity this year, however, a real idol who attracted as much attention as in previous years did not appear. After the list of concerts was announced one after another, the fact that "the era of idols is over" became an irrefutable fact.

From this point of view, SMAP's poor debut performance is also related to the fact that the times have passed.

However, even if the debut performance was not very good, Kitagawa Hiroshi won a spot for SMAP in this year's Red and White Song Concert, allowing the group to appear in the biggest music program of the year.

The Johnny's family has a big business and great influence, and there are places reserved for it to appear in the annual Red and White Song Concert.

To be precise, the Red and White Song Club arranges a number of enka singers, idols, and bands to appear every year, and each of them has a number of places that different forces can get.

GENZO has been in the limelight this year, and the three bands in their hands have performed very well, but the production team of the Red and White Song Club only gave two spots.Even two places are an exception for small companies.

Conversely, if it was an enka singer's record company, it might be able to give five places in one go.

The performance of the idol market this year is not very good, and the decline of the enka market is also visible to the naked eye.In the past few years, idols and enka singers competed for the list and competed for awards.Over the past few years, both of them have gone downhill almost at the same time.

The only difference is that once an idol dies, he will be abandoned by NHK, but enka singers have always been guests of NHK.

In the same way, the form of popular rotation and idol may have a new life one day, but enka singers who need to abide by the rules will only become more and more obsolete.

NHK gave GENZO two places to play, and Iwahashi Shinichi resolutely left one for ZARD first.Not for anything else, but to fulfill the small goal I set for myself backstage at the Red and White Song Contest last year: to find a few companions for Nakamura, who was in the red group with Meihejiang, and himself.

A man is a man who walks the talk.

In the backstage of this year's Red and White Song Festival, you can call the musicians from ZARD to form a group to play games.

Another spot for the Red and White Song Club was given to BOLAN.As for THE BLUE HEARTS, on New Year's Eve, the band made an early reservation to sing at the Hibiya Outdoor Public Hall for four hours, celebrating the new year with the fans at the scene.

There is no such thing as two peaches killing three scholars.

In itself, THE BLUE HEARTS is a punk band, and it would be weird to ask them to behave like a family on New Year’s Eve. If Shinichi Iwahashi really gave them the spot, then NHK will [-]% ask for repeated orders and not allow the band to be on stage. Make trouble.

These few members of the band, although they don't reject being on TV, and they also participate in TV promotions after their debut, but they obviously have no interest in going to the Red and White Song Club.

The New Year's Eve plan at the Hibiya Outdoor Public Hall was made by the band members together.Iwahashi Shinichi left a lot of autonomy to the band. After the members discussed it, they went to Iwahashi Shinichi to report.A few months in advance, the venue for the performance was pre-booked.

Considering that it is a live performance, the singer can do anything when he sings to his heart's content.Especially a band like THE BLUE HEATRS.Therefore, for the New Year's Eve New Year's Eve concert, the number of staff was hired by half more than usual.For singers, if there is an accident in the auditorium at the concert, it must be a heavy blow, so they must be well prepared.

This year's Red and White Song Festival, Iwahashi Shinichi will go out with Miwa-chan and Nakamura-san.Needless to say, Akina Nakamori will also appear.

This is also very good, right to spend New Year's Eve together on New Year's Eve.

……

Iwahashi Shinichi arrived in Osaka in the afternoon, and went to socialize with the person in charge of Yomiuri TV and Osaka Cable Broadcasting in the evening.Eat first, then go to clubs and drink flower wine.

The production strength of Yomiuri TV is animation, and the "Yomiuri TV" that a certain Shinigami elementary school student visits every now and then is this one.However, Shinichi Iwahashi socialized with them, not to discuss the production of animation.

Yomiuri TV and Osaka Cable Broadcasting are the organizers of the Kansai All Japan Cable Broadcasting Awards.As the name suggests, the Cable Broadcasting Awards counts the on-demand rate of songs that are on-demand through the cable broadcasting system in the Kansai region throughout the year. There are no judges to point fingers, and only the final statistics are used.

Kansai is related to the "All Japan Cable Awards" in Kansai, and Kanto is related to the "Japan Cable Awards" in Kanto. It is jointly organized by the National Cable Music Broadcasting Association (All Music Association) and TBS TV station.

These two cable awards were held at about the same time. The reason why they were held separately was that Osaka Cable Broadcasting, the largest cable broadcasting company in Japan, did not join the Quanyin Association. Therefore, when the Quanyin Association launched the Cable Awards, Osaka Cable Broadcasting did not participate. Instead, they turned around and cooperated with Yomiuri TV, and started a new "All Japan Cable Broadcasting Awards".

There are two cable awards in Kanto and Kansai. The Kanto Awards select songs that are broadcast by cable through the All Music Association, and the Kansai Awards select songs that are broadcast by cable through Osaka Cable Broadcasting.

Compared with the two cable awards, the Kansai awards are stricter in terms of selection. After all, the awards are held a little later. Even if they want to compete with the Kanto side, they will do well Extra care.

At the beginning, when ZARD was debuting, there was a national funeral, and Shinichi Iwahashi prepared a countermeasure, which was to focus the promotion on Kansai.Thanks to the blessings of Kansai people who do not take the locust seriously, ZARD has successfully passed the hurdle of debut, and its subsequent development has also been very smooth.

Also because the debut promotion started from Kansai, the band has formed a considerable relationship with Kansai. ZARD is very popular in the Kansai area. The lead singer, Kamaike Sachiko, has a much higher recognition in Kansai than in Kanto. The band’s on-demand rate in Kansai has also remained high all year round. The band’s debut single "Go Forward" , is the karaoke repertoire of Kansai girls.

And this year, ZARD has reserved the grand prize of the All Japan Cable Broadcasting Awards.

The Disc Awards are based on comprehensive influence, while the Golden Disc Awards are based on actual sales.The selection criteria for the Cable Awards is the number of on-demand broadcasts.What is popular on the record sales list may not be popular on the on-demand list.And vice versa.

During dinner in the evening, the person in charge of Osaka Cable Broadcasting also praised ZARD to Iwahashi Shinichi, "ZARD is the most popular in the shopping street in Osaka."

Yanqiao Shinichi replied modestly, "Our ZARD is thanks to everyone in Kansai."

Although this statement is a bit flattering, it is indeed the truth.Similarly, the reason why Kansai people love ZARD so much is probably a little bit of pride that "this band started with the support of Kansai people".

To some extent, several members of ZARD can be regarded as "Honorary Citizens of Osaka".

Half of flattery, the other half of sincerity, Yanqiao Shenyi said, it sounds extraordinarily sincere.Hearing such words, the person in charge couldn't help but smile heartily.He suddenly mentioned, "Pu Chi-sang seems to be a photo model."

Iwahashi nodded, "That's right." From the very beginning, the company has never kept tabs on Sachiko Kamachi's experience as a photo model, and this matter is not a secret among the public.

The person in charge praised, "You actually selected such a lead singer from among the photo models, you really belong to me."

Being complimented in reverse, Iwahashi Shinichi also laughed.

"It's said to be the eye of wisdom... This is the eye of wisdom." The person in charge said, "After seeing ZARD, I couldn't help but want to encourage Yan Qiao-san to show her hand again, and choose a girl from the Kansai side. The newcomer comes out."

Yanqiao Shen smiled, and followed up with the words, "I really want to go to the step of selecting newcomers here in Kansai, and when the time comes, I will be grateful to you for your care."

With the help of ZARD, I won the Kansai Cable Broadcasting Grand Prize, and I came to contact the people from Osaka Cable Broadcasting and Yomiuri TV. Iwahashi Shinichi is planning to set up a sub-label here in Osaka.

"Take care, of course take care." The person in charge promised, "I'm waiting to see Yanqiao-san's 'Golden Hand' skill."

It's hard to say how much you can trust the words at the wine table, but after all, the talk went smoothly.The record company will expand its scale next year. If it really wants to set up an office here in Osaka and discover new people here, then it will have to visit the person in charge several times in person.

With ZARD as his trump card in Kansai, Shinichi Iwahashi felt somewhat confident.Among other things, if Sachiko Kamachi is willing to nod to participate in the program broadcast by Osaka Cable, she can exchange corresponding resources for other newcomers.

At the beginning, when the band first debuted, they had to use DREAMS COME TRUE performances as a condition to exchange resources. Now that ZARD has grown up, it has become the object that the younger generations rely on.

In addition, there is also the Sheran Q that he "picked up" in Osaka Castle Park. Since it is a band with all members from Kansai, when it comes to debut, there must be a lot of promotion in Kansai.

……

After dinner, the group went to the club to drink again.After leaving the dining table, the person in charge stopped talking about business matters, and Yanqiao Shenyi knew it well, so he stopped there.

The hostess in Osaka and the hostess in Tokyo are like two styles, whether it is makeup or speech.Shinichi Iwahashi, a guest from Tokyo, the more he arrives, the more he understands it.

Thinking about this, he felt interesting in his heart, and his face was also cheerful.

At this time, I heard the person in charge of Yomiuri TV say, "...I would like to be a regular customer at Mrs. Ogami's place."

Yanqiao Shenyi turned his face away, the person in charge was bragging to the hostess.

(End of this chapter)