Utacon
 |
| Utacon | |
|---|---|
 Current logo from the program as of March 09, 2011 | |
| Also known as | Song Concert (NHK World Premium) |
| Genre | Music |
| Presented by | Shōsuke Tanihara Nonoka Akaki |
| Starring | music concerto (Live music) |
| Composer | Takahiro Kaneko (Music director) |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| No. of episodes | 157 (as of April 14, 2020) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 46 Minutes (Normal Time) 73 Minutes (Specials) |
| Production company | NHK Enterprises |
| Original release | |
| Network | NHK General Television NHK World Premium TV Japan (North America) Syndication (United States) |
| Release | April 12, 2016 – present |
Utacon (うたコン) is a Japanese weekly music show produced by NHK, airing on Tuesdays at 19:30 JST from April 12, 2016. The show replaces NHK Kayou Concert and Music Japan.
About the Show
Utacon presents a range of music artists from Enka and J-Pop at NHK Hall in Tokyo every week, to continue in the spirit of NHK Kayou Concert (which ended on March 15, 2016) as well Music Japan (which ended on April 4, 2016. at 01:30 JST). It also airs worldwide, through NHK World Premium at 10:30 UTC, broadcast at the same time as the show's appearance on NHK-G).
To target all audiences, including traditional 60's-70's music (which was the viewing target of the now-defunct "Kayou Concert") NHK aims at the so-called "rejuvenation" of the performers, singers and music, together with the "Enka popular song" and "J-pop" styles. The program aims to become the "center of the Japanese music scene". Utacon also incorporates a relay from around Japan, making the music show a unique live experience. As was the case with "NHK Kayou Concert", the program is usually performed in front of a live audience at NHK Hall in Tokyo, but on last week each month it is performed live from NHK Osaka Hall.
The program is typically 45 minutes in length, but the premiere episode was 73 minutes long, and featured Ikimonogakari, Tatsuya Ishii, Sayuri Ishikawa, Yukino Ichikawa, Midori Oka, AKB48, Chris Hart, Saburo Kitajima, Ayaka Hirakawa, Fuyumi Sakamoto, Akira Fuse, Keisuke Yamauchi, Il Divo and Sumire.
Starting from April 2019, the show will air every tuesday at 19:57 JST, with variety show "Sarameshi" preceding Utacon.
In March 2020, the show started to be produced without a public audience, in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19, with artists performing in remote locations. On March 9, 2021, the program debuted its new graphics and visual identity.
Staff
- Presenters
- Shōsuke Tanihara
- Naoko Hashimoto (NHK Announcer, 2016 – 2017)
- Tomoko Kogō (NHK Announcer, 2017 – 2019)
- Chieko Katayama (NHK Announcer, 2019 – 2020)
- Nonoka Akaki (NHK Announcer, 2020 – present)
- Production Company
- NHK Enterprises
- Live Orchestra
- music concerto