JapanToday.com reported:

Actress Aya Ueto, 23, won an award at the 37th Best Dresser Awards held by Japan Men’s Fashion Unity at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka.

Ueto wore a Versace cream dress about which she said: “I thought it suited my age and it gave me energy.” When asked when she will be wearing a wedding dress, she emphasized: “Not for a while.

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Mainichi Daily News reported:

American opera singer John Ken Nuzzo was arrested on suspicion of stimulant possession late last month, police have revealed.

The 42-year-old tenor and resident of Tokyo’s Ota-ku stands accused of violating the Stimulants Control Law.

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JapanToday.com reported:

DJ OZMA announced he will be retiring from the entertainment world at the end of this year, at his “Urgent Important Press Conference” held Thursday. He also announced his intentions to become a producer.

“I debuted in Taiwan back in March 2006, and since my peak at the Red and White Singing Contest at the end of that year, things have been going slowly downhill, and I feel I’ve reached my limit,” he said.

Asked about what he will do in the future, he said: “I want to be involved in the production of good artists and put out some good tunes. I’d also like to travel a bit next year.”

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In a recent column of “Televiews” for the Daily Yomiuri, Wm. Penn wrote:

Scandal (Sundays, 9 p.m., TBS) is the best new drama series on air this quarter. It has a fast-moving, intelligent script by Yumiko Inoue. The dialogue, acting and fashions are great. The lives of the nine principle characters are intricately interwoven. And with just four episodes to go, viewers still have no clear idea how this mystery will end.

The bigger mystery is why the series has plummeted off the Video Research Co. ratings radar. It should be a tough competitor. Yet, it is dangling dangerously near the single-digit ledge and not even in the drama top 10.

Perhaps, the complex and sophisticated Scandal just didn’t appeal to the 6,600 households nationwide that get to decide what TV the nation likes. Yes, Video Research sampling data regularly comes from just 600 homes each in the Kanto, Kansai and Nagoya regions (monitored for two-year periods) and 200 homes each in 24 other regions of the country (monitored for three-year periods).

Tracking TV preferences began in the United States with the Nielsen ratings in 1961. By December, 1962, Japanese TV and advertising companies had created their own version–Video Research.

Detailed information on just how their statistical sampling is done is available in the Internet edition of the company’s very informative TV Rating Guide Book at www.videor.co.jp/rating/wh/index.htm.

Ratings can be the key to the long life or quick disappearance of individual programs. But what can the data also tell us about the networks? How are they sharing the dwindling TV pie and where do their current strengths lie?

For insight, I turned to www.videor.co.jp/data/ ratedata/top10.htm, where Video Research each week makes available the top 10 ratings winners in seven major categories (news, education/information, sports, animation, drama, music and miscellaneous variety).

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Japantoday.com reported:

Singer Ayaka, 20, on Wednesday joined in a concert of Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Powter, 37, in Harajuku as a surprise guest. In the concert for 300 specially invited fans at Astro Hall, Ayaka appeared on stage and sang “Bad Day” and other songs with Powter.

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With the slipping viewership, organizers of the NHK New Year’s Eve Red-White Battle is trying different things this time around for its 59th Year.  Despite having 53 performers (compared to last year’s 58), the artist featured in the special is much varied.

This year will feature American enka star Jero who promised his grandmother that he will perform at Kouhaku Uta Gassen now a dream come true.  Also, performances by SMAP, TOKIO, Tohoshinki, SPEED, Kumi Koda, Ayumi Hamasaki and many other top tier artist.

But the biggest surprise during the announcement was that Mr. Children will be performing at the event.  For years, organizers have been trying to bring popular bands such as Southern All Stars, B’z or Mr. Children to the special to no avail but with Mr. Children to perform at Kouhaku is special.  SMAP leader Masahiro Nakai and actress Yukie Nakama will co-host the program.  The two were hosts back in 1996 and coincidentally, the two are starring in a new movie together.

Performers for this year’s Kouhaku Uta Gassen are:

Red team

aiko
Thelma Aoyama
Junko Akimoto
Ayaka
Angela Aki
Ikimonogakari
Sayuri Ishikawa
Ai Otsuka
Miyuki Kawanaka
Girl Next Door
Kumi Koda
Natsuko Godai
Sachiko Kobayashi
Fuyumi Sakamoto
SPEED
Yoshimi Tendo
Mika Nakashima
Natsuko Nakamura
Ayumi Hamasaki
Perfume
Yo Hitoto
Ayaka Hirahara
Ayako Fuji
Fujioka Fujimaki and Nozomi Ohashi
Kaori Mizumori
Akiko Wada

White team

Masashi Akikawa
Aqua Timez
Hiroshi Itsuki
Exile
Saburo Kitajima
Takeshi Kitayama
Kimaguren
Yusaku Kiyama
Kobukuro
Jero
Shuchishin with Pabo
SMAP
Toho Shinki
TOKIO
Hideaki Tokunaga
Kiyoshi Hikawa
Ken Hirai
Akira Fuse
Porno Graffiti
Kiyoshi Maekawa
Kenichi Mikawa
Mr. Children
Yutaka Mizutani
Shinichi Mori
Naotaro Moriyama
WaT

Image courtesy of Sankei Sports

The following promotional for people to purchase their tickets for Ayumi Hamasaki’s “ayumi hamasaki PREMIUM COUNTDOWN LIVE 2008-2009 A” concerts on December 30th and December 31st.

Image courtesy of Avex Entertainment, Inc.

JapanToday.com posted the Kouhaku Uta Gassen 2008 performers list, they are:

The 53 singers and groups are traditionally divided into Red (women) and White (men) teams in the program held every New Year’s Eve. NHK said this year’s theme is “The power of songs. Ties between people.” NHK said it hopes the varied lineup of guests will expand the base of its viewers. This year marks the 59th time the program will be held.

Red team

aiko
Thelma Aoyama
Junko Akimoto
Ayaka
Angela Aki
Ikimonogakari
Sayuri Ishikawa
Ai Otsuka
Miyuki Kawanaka
Girl Next Door
Kumi Koda
Natsuko Godai
Sachiko Kobayashi
Fuyumi Sakamoto
SPEED
Yoshimi Tendo
Mika Nakashima
Natsuko Nakamura
Ayumi Hamasaki
Perfume
Yo Hitoto
Ayaka Hirahara
Ayako Fuji
Fujioka Fujimaki and Nozomi Ohashi
Kaori Mizumori
Akiko Wada

White team

Masashi Akikawa
Aqua Timez
Hiroshi Itsuki
Exile
Saburo Kitajima
Takeshi Kitayama
Kimaguren
Yusaku Kiyama
Kobukuro
Jero
Shuchishin with Pabo
SMAP
Toho Shinki
TOKIO
Hideaki Tokunaga
Kiyoshi Hikawa
Ken Hirai
Akira Fuse
Porno Graffiti
Kiyoshi Maekawa
Kenichi Mikawa
Mr. Children
Yutaka Mizutani
Shinichi Mori
Naotaro Moriyama
WaT

SMAP leader Masahiro Nakai and actress Yukie Nakama will co-host the program.

Japantoday.com reported:

Public broadcaster NHK on Tuesday unveiled the list of singers who will appear on its year-end music program, “Kohaku Uta Gassen” (Red & White Singing Contest). African-American enka singer Jero, who had been saying in interviews all year that it was his fervent wish to receive a coveted invitation, was selected only nine months after he appeared on the music scene here.

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JapanToday.com reported:

SMAP leader Masahiro Nakai and actress Yukie Nakama will host the 59th Red and White Singing Contest on New Year’s Eve, it was announced at a press conference Monday. It will be the fifth time and third year in a row for Nakai to chair the White Team, and the third time and first in two years for Nakama to chair the Red Team.

The pair last co-hosted the show together in 2006. Last year, Nakai led the White Team and Tsurube Shofukutei, 56, a rakugo performer and comedian, led the Red Team.

“I hope people don’t mistake this as some kind of promotion for our new movie,” Nakai insisted. He was referring to “Watashi wa kai ni naritai,” a movie starring Nakai and Nakama, which opened on Nov 22, a day for couples in Japan. Nakai went on to say: “Nakama and I made a great couple that day. I don’t want to have any kind of couple’s argument on New Year’s Eve, but I want to fight hard and lead my team to victory.”

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