etoile (エトワール): "star" in French

The opening song in a parade. The etoile is most often a solo sung by a musumeyaku but may be performed by an otokoyaku in some cases. Also, the etoile is not exclusively a solo — it can be a musumeyaku-otokoyaku duet or, very rarely, sung by a small group of stars.

A star chosen to sing an etoile is often a talented and prominent singer within the troupe — some musumeyaku with strong voices may be chosen to sing an etoile even when they are underclassmen. Sometimes, however, the etoile is used to feature a star who is retiring in that performance.


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