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2nd Seiyū Red and White Contest Cancelled Due to COVID-19
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Staff announced on Monday that the second annual Seiyū Red and White Singing Contest is cancelled. The event was scheduled to be held on May 2 at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall. Staff chose to cancel the event in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and recommendation from the Japanese government.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in seven prefectures on Tuesday, including Kanagawa prefecture.
Contests staff released a statement that said, "I wish you all the best and hope that this situation will end as soon as possible."
The idea behind the competition started with a casual Twitter post made by voice actor Jouji Nakata. He floated the idea of a voice actor version of the annual contest and was surprised with how much support he received from fans.
Nakata thanked the performers and fans for their support, starting that he is "pissed off at that Corona bastard".
The competition is modeled after NHK's annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen ("Red and White Song Contest") that pits two teams of female singers (the red team) and male singers (the white team) against each other. The program is a New Year's Eve tradition.
This year's event would have included performances by Kikuko Inoue (Oh! My Goddess, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!), Ai Orikasa (Sakura Wars, Tenchi Muyo!), Hiroko Kasahara (DNA², Magic Knight Rayearth), Sumi Shimamoto (Maison Ikkoku, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind), Rie Tanaka (Strike Witches, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed), Noriko Hidaka (Ranma 1/2, Little Witch Academia), Kazuhiko Inoue (Natsume's Book of Friends, Naruto Shippūden), Tomokazu Seki (Fate series, Full Metal Panic!), Shunsuke Takeuchi (King of Prism: PRIDE the HERO, STARMYU), and Ryūsei Nakao (Dragon Ball Super, One Piece).
[Via Nijimen]
