Stardust Revue 40th Anniversary: 108 Songs East and West Bonno Live

I bought the Stardust Revue 40th Anniversary: 108 Songs East and West Bonno Live (Blu-ray).

Saitama was at Saitama Super Arena on June 4, 2022.
Osaka was at Osaka-Jo Hall on June 11, 2022.

These two concerts are on a 4-disc Blu-ray set.
The total recording time for both performances is a massive 12 hours.

Today, I will write about this live Blu-ray.

The "Stardust Revue 40th Anniversary: 108 Songs East and West Bonno Live" held in "Saitama" and "Osaka" in June 2022.

It contains 116 songs, and there are only 8 duplicate songs performed at both venues. In other words, excluding duplicates, you can watch 108 songs on this Blu-ray.

Actually, one song (Meguriaete Yokatta) is not counted, but if you count it, there are 118 songs recorded, with 109 unique songs.

The 8 duplicate songs are as follows:

Bokura no Honno
Sugar wa Toshigoro
Ora ga Chinju no Muramatsuri
Twilight Avenue
Mokuren no Namida (acoustic)
Yume Densetsu
Ai no Uta
Konya Dake Kitto

Comparison with Stardust Revue Karaoke Ranking

In the article below, I wrote about the top 124 karaoke songs for Stardust Revue.

The karaoke ranking is a ranking of songs that everyone is singing. Therefore, it can be considered a ranking of popular songs and favorite songs.

The 108 songs on the live video I purchased this time are roughly the same number of songs. So, I wondered if the songs from the karaoke ranking were mainly performed, and I looked into it.

Below, the karaoke ranking numbers are filled in by searching for any rank from 1st to 124th. Blank spaces are songs that were not in the top 124 list.

Surprisingly, contrary to my expectations, out of the 108 songs, only 66 songs (61%) were in the karaoke ranking.

In other words, it means that 42 songs (108-66=42) were chosen for the setlist that wereoutside ofthe 124 songs that everyone is singing.

124 Karaoke Ranking Songs

The following is a list of songs selected for the 108 Earthly Desires Live out of the 124 songs in the karaoke ranking. Songs with a colored background were not selected.

What we can learn from this data is that only 62 out of 124 songs (50%) were selected. Even so, the higher the ranking, the more likely they were to be selected. However, especially for those ranked 100th or lower, almost none were selected.

No, wait, it's strange that these songs are popular but weren't chosen for this ranking in the first place...

Stardust Revue YouTube Channel

I enjoy playing Stardust Revue songs with my friends and uploading them to YouTube. Currently, 33 songs are recorded. The songs selected are ones we like or want to sing. I checked how many of our selected songs appear in the 'Karaoke Ranking' and the '108 Earthly Desires Live' setlist.

Since there are 170 unique songs when combining the 124 karaoke ranking songs and the 108 Earthly Desires Live songs, I thought all 33 of the songs we chose would be included.

However...

Surprisingly, only 16 out of 33 songs (48%) were in the karaoke ranking, and only 13 out of 33 songs (39%) were in the 108 Earthly Desires Live setlist; both were less than half.

Things to consider from this data

I started my analysis with the common assumption that 'karaoke rankings should consist of hit songs.' My premise was wrong.

While karaoke rankings tend to have hit songs at the top, they also seem to include songs that are loved and easy to sing.

Come to think of it, Stardust Revue doesn't really have hit songs to begin with. Furthermore, they don't have songs that are easy to sing. Therefore, in the case of Stardust Revue, it's likely not a hit song ranking, but a ranking of songs that are loved and songs that are liked.

A karaoke ranking is a ranking of 'songs being sung,' not 'songs people want to hear,' after all.

Hit songs can be ranked objectively based on CD sales and YouTube view counts. However, favorite songs vary depending on individual preferences. It is very difficult to rank them using subjective indicators.

In the case of Stardust Revue, the top 20 or so of the 124 karaoke ranking songs are likely standard tracks. However, I think the rankings from 20th to 124th, and even down to around 200th (which aren't on the ranking), are very close.

What are hidden gems?

I wrote an article about hidden gems.

Personally, the 'masterpieces' that I think are great songs are, without exception, neither in the karaoke ranking nor performed at the 108 Earthly Desires Live. They are truly 'hidden gems.'

What are hidden gems?

I think Stardust Revue has many "hidden masterpieces." There might be as many "hidden masterpieces" as there are fans. After all, a "hidden masterpiece" is defined as a song that you like and that others don't know.

I think of finding a "hidden masterpiece" as discovering a buried treasure. However, a treasure that no one can find isn't really a treasure, is it? Because if it were a treasure, it should sell for a high price, but it hasn't sold at all.

Even so, I intend to keep it as a treasure for myself.

By the way, this is the live Blu-ray I bought↓