So today I watched my first JE Countdown. At first I thought it was too short but by the end I was kinda glad about it.
Now I didn't expect much. I'd even say I expected it to be bad but I couldn't imagine how bad it was going to be. Frankly it made me a little depressed.
I heard that this year's line-up was kinda poor. Looks like all the popular crowd like SMAP and Arashi went to Kouhaku or other places leaving the Countdown to T&T, Kinki Kids, NEWS and all the younger bands. KAT-TUN made a brief appearance like some kind of elite with their new song but didn't participate in the usual medley of 56 songs. They were pretty good though, among the rest.
Also ex-NEWS members Yama Pi and Uchi showed up. Yamashita looked pretty good though even more android-like than before. But his singing was do goddamn awful I was surprised. I mean he was never good at it but in NEWS he seemed to do a decent job but today he was terrible, really. But then he was by far not the only one. I actually can't remember who looked like they could sing. It was pitiful.
NEWS participated in quite a few songs often mixed with other bands but overall I think they did well. Tegoshi, what the fuck did you do to your hair? It looks awful. But of course he kept making lewd faces at the camera and even said a few words before Chankapana. I really wish he'd act more natural. Shige on the other hand looked quite radiant and made those puppy eyes at the camera. Uff.
Best part: that time at Kibou Yell (where the lyrics contain the word ‘back’) Shige put his hand gently on Tegoshi’s back while Massu just shoved Koyama hard. Twice. It was really funny.