Oricon Single Chart 21/5/08: Prisoner of Johnnies…

…well, a girl can dream can’t she?!?!

The big shock in this weeks Oricon charts is that Utada Hikaru’s much vaunted single “Prisoner of Love” (ohmigodthebstsongeva!!!!!11!1onelol) FAILED to make the number one spot on its release. Instead, the gold medal went to those cheeky paedo-bait from the Jimusho – Hey! Say! JUMP!

They top the list with “Dreams Come True”, while their senpais KAT-TUN are still going strong with “DON’T U EVER STOP”. A good week for Johnny to be sure.

Full list:

1. Hey! Say! JUMP – Dreams come true
2. Utada Hikaru – Prisoner of Love
3. Otsuka Ai -Rocket Sneaker/OnexTime

4. KAT-TUN – DON’T U EVER STOP
5. The Cro-Magnons – Right Beat
6. Takeuchi Mariya – Shiawase no Monosashi/Ureshikute Samishii Hi (Your Wedding Day)
7. Micro – Odore
8. 9mm Parabellum Bullet – Supernova/Wanderland
9. Sakai Masaaki – Wasure Mono/Saike na heart
10. Aqua Timez – Niji

Do You Recognise Her With Her Clothes On…?

Ok, that might be a little bit harsh…

It looks like Gillian Chung (Ah Gill) of Twins is preparing to make her return. Arguably the one who lost the most in the fallout from the Edison Chen sex scandal, the Cantopop star is clocking up the hours in training.

She is reportedly studying three types of dance, taking vocal training, practicing with an English tutor and even learning martial arts. Watch your back Edison!

She has also lost weight, which apparently has a direct correlation to her looking “prettier”. Whatever.

I’m one of those people who don’t want to see Gillian, Cecilia Cheung, Bobo Chan et al suffer indeterminabley for those raunchy photos. Yes – they were naive, even stupid. However, it’s sheer madness to suggest that any of them should retire from the public eye. Furthermore, credit has to be given to the totally innocent parties in this case – Charlene Choi, for example. Gillian’s bandmate has continued working through the media storm and kept whatever is left of Twins’ positive image alive.

Credit to to Gillian for obviously appreciating Charlene’s hard work. There is a massive debt to be paid. Let’s hope she gets the chance to fulfill it.

http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Gillian-Chung-Secretly-Training-to-make-a-comeback-spotted-looking-slim-and-hardly-eating-talk543575.html

Utada Hikaru Free Stuff!

…sort of.

If you like Utada and her new track “Prisoner of Love“, then I suggest you check out her Official Website.

You can get some wallpapers and a REALLY cool screensaver at the moment.

So go ahead and pimp your desktop – Hikki style!

http://www.emimusic.jp/hikki/download/index_e.htm

Anna Tsuchiya In Mourning

News is filtering through that Joshua Niimura, the ex-husband of Anna Tsuchiya, has died.

The Japanese star, whose highly sucessful career has encompassed singing, acting and modeling, is mourning the loss of the father of her child. Known professionally as “Joshua”, he and Tsuchiya got together when both were models. They married in 2004 but divorced two years later.

For Dream! sends our condolences to Anna and her daughter Sky. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.

http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3256

Shinhwa, So Good!

We’re almost half-way through the calendar year, and guess which Korean lovelies top the album charts so far?

That’s right, it’s the daddies of K-pop, Shinhwa! Their 10th Anniversary album, released in April is leading the way with 96,320 units shifted so far. Not bad.

In second place is Epik High’s “Pieces, Vol. One”, having sold 54, 227 copies. And don’t you just KNOW that it’s killing Tablo. After his recent outburst condeming the download culture that exists among Korean netizens (and, to be fair, the rest of the world) this is not what he wants to hear. I don’t doubt that twice as many copies of “Pieces” have been “aquired” and while Tablo is not childish enough to be concerned with oneupmanship against Shinhwa, these figues must grate…

Nonetheless, well done to Shinhwa. They’ve put the work in all these years, it’s good to see them keep going strong.

Dr. McPouty

Everyone’s favourite perma-pout is back.

Yamashita Tomohisa is set to lead the cast of a new Fuji TV production entitled “Code Blue:Doctor Heli Kinkyu Kyumei“.  The premise of the drama is “special-op” doctors who can reach emergencies quickly by helicopter, a directive that was recently started in Japan.

As well as Yamapi, ther are some other stand out names in the cast: Aragaki Yui, Toda Erika (Hana Yori Dango 2, Death Note 1 &2), Asari Yosuke (Fuurin Kazan) and Terajima Susumu (Moon Child).

I can’t say I’m chomping at the bit for this one, but we’ll wait and see…

It’s Times Like This That I Really Wish I Lived In Japan…

…for the concerts, if nothing else.

This year saw the marking of Avex’s 20th anniversary. As Japan’s biggest record company, you would expect some sort of massive showcase…and you’d be right.

This year’s a-nation line-up is hotter than ever. If you’re lucky enough to be in the area, you have your choice of artists including TRF, Every Little Thing, Koda Kumi, Otsuka Ai, Suzuki Ami, DBSK and AAA. Doing significantly fewer dates are EXILE, SEAMO and mihimaru GT. All concerts take place in July and August.

Of course, the big question is where on Earth is Hamasaki Ayumi? She may not be Avex’s brightest star anymore but she’s still their biggest name. In fact, with the exception of DBSK, she’s their their most bankable ticket-seller. So why isn’t she involved?

Although this is pure specualtion on my part, I suspect her health might be the reason. I don’t think any of us will forget Kohaku 07 in a hurry. There may be concerns over her abilty to carry off such a tour successfully. Now, I’m not really a fan of Ayu, but I can’t deny that she’s the ultimate professional. I think she could handle the strain. It’s what she does. If Avex don’t want to risk damaging her ears any more, that’s one thing. However, if they don’t want to risk their brand at her expense…they’re making a big mistake. One way or another, I don’t think we’ve heard the end of this…

Ticket info can be got at the official site (Japanese):

http://a-nation.net/index.html

Now excuse me while I just DIE from envy….!