[SEJL]

post any relevant news about anyone, and anything relating to Jpop

[SEJL]

JPOP NEWS

Wentz Going Global
Popular all-rounder Wentz Eiji (20) is to make his "world" debut as a model. A regular on the variety show circuit and local fashion magazines, over the last year he has found a new level of success as one half of the acoustic pop duo WaT. Also an actor, he was recently at the Cannes Film Festival where he caught the eye of an editor from a top French fashion magazine. Wentz will appear in the October issue of the magazine Jalouse. He made his modelling debut at the age of four and later became a regular on an NHK kid's show. At the age of nine, he appeared on the famous New Year spectacle "Kohaku Uta Gassen" as a backing dancer for pop starlet Moritaka Chisato. He formed WaT with Koike Teppei in 2002, and the duo performed on the streets of Tokyo for three years before landing a recording contract with a major label. They have won two major newcomer awards this year. Though he is the second son of a Japanese mother and German-American father, he's got a lot of mileage from the fact that he's the only one in the family who has little to no English ability.

• The pop artist most young people would like to have perform at their wedding is Fukuyama Masaharu. He was followed in a recent survey by rock group Mr. Children and pop duo Dreams Come True, a particularly popular choice among females. The fourth most popular choice is Amuro Namie and crooner Hirai Ken is fifth. A bit quiet for the last couple of years, singer/actor Fukuyama's continued appeal was confirmed when his recently released new single "Milk Tea" entered the Oricon charts at No.1. June 15, 2006

Source:http://www.japan-zone.com/news/

[SEJL]

SMAP news for those who care

SMAP's Bigger Bang
Japan's No.1 pop group are going back on the road again. And when the boys of SMAP go on tour, it's a very big deal. Starting at the Sapporo Dome on July 30, they'll perform 21 shows at eight major venues across the country, playing to over a million adoring fans in all. Almost half that number will be attending the eight shows planned for three venues in the Tokyo metropolitan area - National Stadium and Tokyo Dome in the capital and Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. One of the biggest tours ever planned in Japan, it's sure to make the five-member band's new album - due for release in July - one of their best sellers yet and extend their record streak of consecutive No.1 hits.

• The NHK broadcast of Japan's opening game at the World Cup reached a peak audience rating of 61.2%. The average rating for the 3-1 defeat to Australia was 49%, though with the game also shown on NHK's satellite channels and at stadiums and sports bars across the country, the actual numbers were quite a bit higher. The 49% figure is higher than the 43.4% for the World baseball Classic final win over Cuba in March but lower than figures from the last two World Cups. Over 10 million households in the Kanto region were tuned in to the event despite the 10pm kickoff time. As the game entered the second half with Japan leading, fans probably expected to head to bed in a jubilant mood. But three goals conceded in quick succession left many supporters facing a depressing trip home.

• Former Fuji TV announcer Ariga Satsuki (40) and Wada Kei (53), a commentator with the network, have ended their 4-year marriage. It was revealed yesterday that the couple filed for divorce in mid-May. Ariga retains custody of their 3-year-old daughter.

• Singer Hirahara Ayaka (22) finished off her national tour yesterday with a show at the Nippon Budokan. She performed her smash hit debut song "Jupiter" accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra that included her father, Hirahara Makoto (54), on sax. She also gave the 8,000 fans their first chance to hear her upcoming double-A side single "Voyagers/Kokoro", due for release on July 19. June 14, 2006

Sourcehttp://www.japan-zone.com/news/

[Tubster68]

# Artist // Single // Sales
2 Kanjani8 // Osaka Obachan Rock // 170,257
3 Yamashita Tomohisa // Daite Señorita // 84,539
4 Fukuyama Masaharu // Milk Tea // 31,585
5 Teshima Aoi // Therru no Uta // 24,441
6 Koda Kumi // Koi no Tsubomi // 22,975
7 Goto Maki // Glass no Pumps // 22,180
8 Nakashima Mika // All Hands Together // 18,474
9 Angela Aki // This Love // 14,446
10 Van Tomiko // Flower // 14,342

The first one is B'z with their single "Splash" released on 2006-06-07, with a sales of 270,535.

EDIT: Got this from Wiki ^_^

[Tubster68]

Got this from Wiki.

KAT-TUN

The group name came from the first letter of each of the members names and the boys often seat themselves accordingly during interviews. The pronunciation is supposedly close to the english word "cartoon" (or kah-toon). Officially the leader is Ueda Tatsuya though Kamenashi and Akanishi often take the leading positions. The group was formed in 2001 by Kinki Kids member Domoto Koichi and they worked as his backup dancers before moving on to singing and performing on their own. For five years they performed during concerts and on TV but did not have an official debut. However, in February 2006 it was announced that the group would debut on March 22nd with their single Real Face and album Best of KAT-TUN. Real Face sold 754,234 copies in its first week, surpassing the record held by Arashi for most copies of a debut single sold in the first week and giving it the current #1 position in the yearly charts.

[SEJL]

# Artist Single Sales
2 Kanjani8 Osaka Obachan Rock 170,257

EDIT: got this from Wiki

i do not like that song

[k-ko]

For those of you who don't know who Sifow is, THIS is a fansite dedicated to her.

In short, she started out blogging about her image as a "GAL" (or girl with hair lighter than her skin) and venting about how not all of them are slutty, etc. Then she released some singles from her website last year and avex soon took her up after that.

This single will be titled LOVE & PEACE and as of right now the c/w is unknown but I'll update about it when I find out any information.