Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ is a Japanese music variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 on Fuji Television

Fuji Television

is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....

 hosted by the comedy duo Downtown

Downtown (owarai)

is a Japanese comedy duo from Amagasaki, Hyōgo consisting of and . Formed in 1982, they are one of the most influential and prolific kombi in Japan today...

, which consists of Hitoshi Matsumoto

Hitoshi Matsumoto

, or Matchan as he is commonly known, is a Japanese comedian best known as the boke half the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Masatoshi Hamada...

 and Masatoshi Hamada

Masatoshi Hamada

is a Japanese comedian best known as the tsukkomi half of the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Hitoshi Matsumoto. His nickname is Hama-chan , and is married to Natsumi Ogawa...

. It is a very popular show with comical hosts who like to pick on their guests. An episode usually consists of live performances (of recently released songs) from popular artists, chat segments and other fun and games.

Many famous singers such as Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...

, Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

, Utada Hikaru

Utada Hikaru

, known by her stage name Utada in America and Europe, is a Japanese-American singer, song writer, arranger, and producer. Since the release of her Japanese debut album First Love, which went on to become the best-selling album in Oricon history, Utada has had three of her Japanese studio albums...

, and Namie Amuro

Namie Amuro

is a Japanese R&B and pop singer, entertainer, and former actress who at the height of her popularity was referred to as the "Teen Queen" and the title "Queen of Japanese Pop Music". Born in Naha, Okinawa, Amuro debuted at the age of 14 as an idol in the girl group Super Monkey's...

 have performed almost all of their singles on this show. Japanese rock artists such as Glay

Glay (band)

Glay is a rock/pop band from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan formed by guitarist Takuro and vocalist Teru in high school in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also composed songs using elements of different styles such as reggae and gospel...

, X Japan

X Japan

is a Japanese heavy metal band founded in 1982 by Yoshiki and Toshi. Originally named X , the group achieved their breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood...

, Alice Nine, The Gazette, Nightmare

Nightmare

A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror...

, Gackt

Gackt

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and author. Usually referred to by his mononymous stage name, he is known for his career as a solo artist and as the former vocalist for the defunct visual kei rock band Malice Mizer....

, and L'Arc-en-Ciel have also been on the show performing their hit singles as well as playing games with the hosts. All bands signed under Johnny & Associates

Johnny & Associates

is a talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962. Johnny & Associates trains and promotes groups of male idols, collectively known as , in Japan.-1962–1989:...

 have also appeared on the show as guests and have performed their latest hit songs. South Korean boybands Big Bang

Big Bang

The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...

, TVXQ

TVXQ

TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...

 and girl group Kara (band)

Kara (band)

Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media . The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara (Hangul: 카라, Japanese: カラ, often stylized as KARA) is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara...

 have also appeared on the show.

Music Mixture

In this quiz game segment, four or five teams of one or more individuals try to guess songs as they are played four at a time. (As each song is correctly guessed, they are eliminated from the mixture.) Each song has a descending point value, from 40 for the first song guessed to 10 for the last.

The game is played in four rounds, with the final round determining the winner in one of two ways through a random draw. The "NG" variation has one of the four songs in the final rounds taking away 100 points from the individual/team who guessed it. The "Lucky" variation is exactly the reverse: one of the final round songs gives 100 points to the individual/team who guessed it.

Telephone Box

In this interview segment, guests are interviewed over a telephone in an English-style phone box.

Rainichi-In

This interview segment focuses on non-Japanese artists that have a loyal following in Japan, such as Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo

Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...

 and Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

.

Hoshi no resutoran (The Star Restaurant)

This segment is a combination interview/cooking show: a chef from a restaurant selected by the guest(s) as his/her/their favorite restaurant cooks for that guest and Downtown. One notable example of this is when X Japan

X Japan

is a Japanese heavy metal band founded in 1982 by Yoshiki and Toshi. Originally named X , the group achieved their breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood...

 co-founder Yoshiki noted the Shibuya

Shibuya, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....

-based restaurant La Rochelle as his favorite place.

The restaurant's owner/head chef, Hiroyuki Sakai

Hiroyuki Sakai

is a well-known Japanese chef who specializes in French cuisine. Sakai is most famous for being the second, and last, Iron Chef French on the Japanese television show Iron Chef, first appearing at the beginning of 1994 and continued his appearance in shows over nine seasons...

, came on the show to cook a special dish for Yoshiki.

Other competitions

Miscellaneous competition segments have also occurred over the show's run, many of which started rivalries between Downtown and guests. One such example is a 1999 billiards

Billiards

Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...

 competition between entertainer Masaharu Fukuyama

Masaharu Fukuyama

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, actor, radio personality, and photographer from Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture. He is the best-selling male solo artist in Japan. He is a member of entertainment company Amuse, Inc. and is known for his low, deep voice. Among fans, he is...

 and Hitoshi Matsumoto

Hitoshi Matsumoto

, or Matchan as he is commonly known, is a Japanese comedian best known as the boke half the popular owarai duo Downtown alongside Masatoshi Hamada...

, which led to a Iron Chef

Iron Chef

is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1992, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended...

battle between the two.