Shock as YOASOBI’s Idol is excluded from the Japan Record Awards Grand Prix

The organizers of the Japan Record Awards have decided to exclude YOASOBI’s Idol from its Grand Prix nominations, sparking shocked reactions that one of 2023’s biggest hits has been left out in the cold.  

Released back in April, the song Idol by YOASOBI is the main theme of the Oshi no Ko anime. It soon became a big hit both in Japan and overseas- surging to the top spot on the Billboard Global chart (excluding the US) in June. In October, it became the fastest song to surpass 500 million streams on Japan’s Oricon music chart. At the time of writing, the official posting of the music video on Youtube has garnered over 393 million views.  

The Japan Record Awards is the country’s major music awards show, held annually around the end of each year since 1959. Organized by the Japan Composers Association, the show’s biggest award is the Grand Prix. Grand Prix winners are chosen from a selection of ten songs and artists selected for the Excellent Work Award. 

YOASOBI’s Idol seems to be a sure winner for the Grand Prix this year, considering its impact and popularity. However, the Japan Record Awards organizers have chosen to exclude the song from the Excellent Work Award nominations, thus preventing the song from getting the Grand Prix too.  

It has been pointed out that the hit song has “adult themes” and “a dark side to its lyrics.” It could be that the Japan Record Awards organizers worried that nominating the song for the main prize could damage their reputation- as the eventual Grand Prix winner is seen as symbolic of the Japanese music released in that particular year. As written in the awarding guidelines on the Japan Record Awards official site, the Grand Prix is presented to outstanding songs that “are strongly reflective and representative of the year.”

Idol’s lyrics are written from the perspectives of an obsessed fan and a singer. They portray the almost-stalker like behavior of the fan with repeated questions such as “What did you eat today?,” What is your type of guy?” “Do you have a partner?”. Then the lyrics switch to the adored singer’s perspective where she sings about how her image is all lies (“Keeping everything about my secret deep inside, ‘I’m in love with you,’ my career is built on such lies”). Although the Japan Record Awards has awarded its top prize to songs with adult oriented lyrics before, the lyrics have been more subtle. It may be that Idol’s lyrics are a little too direct, and their subject matter might remind people of past scandals involving idol groups. 

However, the awards show has nominated YOASOBI member Ayase for the Best Composition Award for the same song, and YOASOBI for the Special International Music Award. Despite this, many commentors on X were still not happy with the song not being in the running for the Grand Prix.