All because of you, I haven't slept in so long...

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Rainie Yang relied on “Devil Beside You” and “Miss No Good” to gain high fame and high popularity overseas, she announced that in January next year she will be entering the Japanese pop music, Japanese version of “ai mei (ambiguous)” will be the first issue of digital singles, to help the idol singer to lead the charge, older generation idol Eason Chan has also personally encouraged, making her very flattered.

( video clip of her performing ai mai/rest of article )

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finally a japanese debut for her, since she's always talked about how she loves jpop, hope everything goes well. i don't think this was posted?

Kumi Koda, 27, will perform a “2009 Kohaku Koda Special” together with her younger sister misono, 25, for the first time on NHK’s 60th annual New Year’s Eve special, “Kohaku Uta Gassen” (Red and White Song Contest).

Koda will first sing her single “Lick Me,” and then welcome misono on stage. The pair will perform the Oricon chart-topping duet, “It’s all Love!”

Koda said she was looking forward to her last performance on stage in 2009. The show’s chief producer, Keisuke Inoue, said: “I hope they both rock ‘Kohaku.’”


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FURANO, Hokkaido (Kyodo) A rapid-service train collided Monday night with a snowplow working on the railway line at JR Furano Station in Hokkaido, causing minor injuries to 12 people, Hokkaido Railway Co. and Furano police said Tuesday.

( More under cut )

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It was reported that Japan's annual end of the year program, Kouhaku, will have a memorial segment for artists who passed away this year. As one would probably expect, they will be including a Michael Jackson tribute.

The ones doing said tribute: SMAP.

Well, we already know what big Michael fans they are. The collective brick they shat when he made a surprise appearance on SMAPxSMAP is great proof of that. Also, leader Nakai had the special honor of being the only Japanese talent invited to the L.A. premiere of This Is It. There's no mistaking SMAP's heart will definitely be in the performance.

However, a lot of people are speaking up saying OH HAAAAALE NAW to NHK's decision. For them, SMAP isn't good enough. They've been making comments like, "SMAP can't do Michael's dancing" and "This is Kouhaku not SMAPxSMAP" and other remarks about their singing/dancing skills.

Their performace will be a medley, which is said to include Thriller, Beat It, and other Michael hits.

Source: uwasako.livejournal.com/60782.html

What do you think? Can SMAP pay a respectable tribute to MJ?

Kanjani∞ first ever to monopolize #1-#3 on weekly charts! Yokoyama: "I'm extremely happy"
7-member group Kanjani∞'s unprecedented 3-day consecutive release of 3 singles, has achieved sales that led to them taking the top 3 spots in this week's charts, making it the first time ever that any artiste has achieved a Top-3 monopoly in the weekly singles or albums charts. With this, they have also broken the record of artistes who have had two of their singles/albums in the Top 2 in one week (8 artistes have achieved this feat for singles including Matsuda Seiko, Southern All Stars, L'Arc~en~Ciel etc.). Member Yokoyama Yuu commented, "To be the first to get the Top 3 spots for a 3-day consecutive release, I am extremely happy".

This 3-day release started with the release of 'Gift~Shiro~' on the 23rd (117,000 copies), then 'Gift~Aka~' on the 24th (114,000 copies) and 'Gift~Midori~' on the 25th (114,000 copies). Compared to the singles that were released on Wednesday the 23rd, 'Gift~Aka~' and 'Gift~Midori~' spent 1 and 2 days less on the charts respectively, yet still managed to set records at the end of the week, this is the result of the degree of their popularity.




EXILE's latest release 'Aisubeki Mirai e' has broken through the 1-million barrier in its 4th week of sales, the 3rd album to do so in 2009
EXILE's newest album 'Aisubeki Mirai e' released on the 2nd of December, has recorded 1,077,000 copies in sales after 4 weeks of release, successfully breaking the 1-million mark. This is the 3rd album to break the million-mark in 2009 after Arashi's Best-of album 'All the Best! 1999-2009' (released in August) and GReeeN's 'Shio, Koshou' (released in June). For original albums, it broke the record of 'Shio,Koshou', which took 27 weeks to break the million-mark. Also, for EXILE themselves, it's their first release in a year (since 'EXILE BALLAD BEST' released in December 2008) to break the million-mark.

( This week's Oricon Single/Album/Music DVD Charts )

Source: 1, 2

Akasaka Akira, a former member of now-defunct all-male pop idol group Hikaru Genji, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly using illegal stimulant drugs, police said.

Akasaka, 36, is still in a probation period of three years for the sentence of 18 months in prison given in November 2007 for possessing stimulants in violation of the Stimulants Control Law. According to the Chiba prefectural police who made the latest arrest, Akasaka is suspected of using stimulants from mid-December to Monday in Tokyo and its vicinity.

He debuted in 1987 as a member of Hikaru Genji. After being fired by his management agent Johnny's following his initial arrest in October 2007, he has been working as the manager of a restaurant.

Tuesday's arrest is the latest addition to a list of recent drug- linked scandals in the country's entertainment industry, most notably one involving Sakai Noriko, another former pop idol who was found to have used stimulants.

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kewl dance interlude kuu...

Source: AiCherie Official Blog and Twitter: Aicherie

Singer and gravule idol Ai Cherie is busy in Tokyo currently working on her debut album. Ai Cherie has revealed that she is collaborating with the extremely talented likes of Thelma Aoyama, Sphere of Influence and Jin (the Korean MC) for her debut album. Ai Cherie’s debut CD/DVD single, “Kiss Kiss” were well received and her first full length album seems to be much anticipated. Known in Japan mostly for her gravule work in such magazines as “Young Animal”, “Asahi Geinou”, “Shuukan Asuki”, etc… Ai Cherie has quickly gained a following due to her sweet nature and devotion to her fans, which can be witnessed through her constant blog (AiCherie Official Blog) and Twitter (Twitter: AiCherie) updates. With such talented people behind her, she’s sure to be a hit musically as well.



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Just had to post this because I don't see enough news about her and when I heard she was working with Thelma Aoyama I was like omg, squeeeee, this is gonna be good! And because really, could she be any cuter? The answer: no!

Singer Crystal Kay has landed her first role in a drama series. She will be playing a hacker in the NTV drama Hidarime Tantei EYE (Left Eye Detective), which starts January 23, 2010.

( Read more... )

source: mainichi.jp

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NARITA – Susan Boyle, the Scottish spinster whose talent show performance catapulted her to global stardom, arrived in Japan Tuesday to perform on a New Year's Eve music gala watched by millions.

Boyle waved cheerfully to fans as she was escorted through Narita airport east of Tokyo, declining a request by television networks to give an impromptu song on the spot.

( Read more... )

Source: www.youtube.com/watch