Honestly I'm not too surprised at MM not being invited. At this point, it's what I'm used to.
How long until Kouhaku is just another TV show for AKB-related groups, which happens to feature SMAP, Wada Akiko, and assorted enka singers?
The interesting thing for me is that about 1-2 months ago, Up-Front scheduled new year's eve countdown concerts.
Did they have some advance knowledge that no H!P acts would be invited? Or were they just contingency planning?
The whole thing reminds me a bit of when Pink Lady turned down their Kouhaku invitation in the 70s and tried having their own competing new year's eve show.
They weren't invited back for at least 10 years.
According to wiki, "The songs and performers are examined by a selection committee put together by NHK. The basis for selection are record sales and adaptability to the edition's theme."
That definitely sounds like there's room for personal agendas of the selection committee members, so I wonder if there was anything that happened?
That said, K-pop acts are pretty much out
just for being Korean.
This show claims to be a popular music singing contest, but make no mistake, there's got to be tons of politics going on.
And regarding E-girls, all I know is that Takechan is a big fan of them:
【E-girls】E-girls vs Smileage『ぷっ』すま