J-pop duo Yoasobi gave the 74th edition of NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” its standout moment — and a prime example of what the show needs to do in modern times.

Near the end of the New Year’s Eve music bonanza, Yoasobi performed its 2023-defining hit, “Idol.” The duo went big with their performance, inviting nearly every other act considered an “idol” on the “Kohaku” lineup up on stage with them. This included compatriots such as Sakurazaka46 and NiziU, as well as South Korean acts Seventeen, Stray Kids and NewJeans.

It was a clever move. The performance underlined the show’s theme of “Borderless” by bringing artists from J-pop and K-pop together, offering an optimistic moment of two nations intersecting. Yoasobi served up the night’s best performance.

Yet, as tends to be the case with anything in the social media age, what was supposed to have been a kumbaya moment between two nations’ entertainment industries got twisted in their respective comments sections. Plenty of people from all over the world weighed in on how much they loved it, but it didn’t take long for negative voices to emerge, getting an algorithmic push on X (formerly Twitter).

Some K-pop fans complained about how their favorites had been reduced to backup dancer roles, which then morphed into a view embraced by the broader Korean fandom. Others in this sphere celebrated it as an example of how dominant K-pop is, a view that eventually found its way into The Chosun Daily. Some Japanese users made the same observation, albeit in an angrier way. The performance, coupled with a separate NHK special about the global appeal of J-pop and K-pop, riled up many Japanese X users, who lamented the volume of K-pop on “Kohaku,” their treasured national showcase for Japanese talent (and Queen with Adam Lambert ... and Cyndi Lauper ... and, oh yeah, any number of non-Japanese acts over the years). Won’t somebody think of the enka legends?!

To a large degree, the online reaction to the “Idol” performance was a simple reminder of how joyless certain social media platforms have become as they emphasize negativity — a great reminder to think about using them less in 2024! It also offered the perfect summation of what “Kohaku” is now: not so much wholesome year-end programming but more of a spectacle hungry for viewer reactions.

The irony of the entire “Idol” conversation is that “Kohaku” delivered the most viral and talked about entertainment moment of New Year’s Eve despite the show itself recording its worst ratings ever. This news led to speculation on why, with online critics once again stepping in to point to a surplus of South Korean artists or remind everyone that for the first time in decades NHK chose to omit any acts connected to the former Johnny and Associates talent agency in the wake of last year’s scandal.

Let me join the masses with this take: “Kohaku” is no longer a ratings success because the monoculture is “dead”; entertainment has fragmented.

In the Showa Era (1926-89), people were stuck at home with relatives and only four TV options to choose from. Today? We can fire up Netflix, log on to YouTube or gripe with X posters on our smartphones. We can engage with the content we want whenever we want, which is one of the reasons the Starto Entertainment (ex Johnny’s) group Snow Man broke livestreaming records with its “Kohaku” counterprogramming on YouTube.

However, much like the Grammys or the Olympics, “Kohaku” still matters — as a symbol. The ratings might dip (or more people might watch the show online afterward), but as evidenced by the Yoasobi set, people still love to celebrate, opine and complain about what was presented to the masses. Add a dash of geopolitics and you’ve got a spectacle fit for the social media age.

Whatever you thought of it, Yoasobi didn’t just deliver on the performance, it offered a pretty good argument for “Kohaku” to continue.