Last year, there were five Johnny's groups performing at Kohaku: SMAP, Arashi, Tokio, Kanjani8 and NYC. But this year, it'll be only four groups to perform: SMAP, TOKIO, Arashi and Kis-my-ft2. It is said that for some time now, Kis-my-ft2 has received the favors of SMAP manger, Ms Michi Ijima to co-star and to perform alongside with SMAP which has lead to Kis-my-ft2's rapid growth in popularity with appearances in many CMs and dramas.
For this year's Kohaku, NHK wants SMAP Nakai Masahiro to be the host again. And Iijima with her great influence on TV stations, bartered to have Kis-my-ft2 appearing with SMAP on the show.
As for the open performance on Kohaku, NHK will fill it with a K-pop group maybe SNSD or Tohoshinki.
Source: entameblog
