Behind the scenes of ‘One Million Star’

On the surface, Stars (星光傳奇), a movie that tracks the fortunes of One Million Star (超級星光大道) pop idol competition contestants, seems nothing short of a commercially calculated attempt to exploit the popularity of a show that took Taiwan’s entertainment industry by surprise last year.

In all fairness, the well-executed documentary, which follows the second season’s hopefuls’ pursuit of fame and fortune, is smooth and pleasant to watch and technically proficient. Glances of the players’ offstage lives save the film from descending into a hollow publicity vehicle — just — and reinforce the plebian fantasy that any Tom, Dick or Harry could be plucked from obscurity and catapulted to fame and fortune.

Second-season champion Yuming Lai (賴銘偉) is portrayed as swinging between the traditional and the contemporary as a rocker, medium and member of a divine dancing Eight Generals (八家將) troupe.

Rachel Liang (梁文音) steals the show as an orphaned Aborigine, as does Gina Li (李千娜), for being a young single mother of two.

By underscoring the importance of dreams, hope, family values and friendship to the show’s appeal, the movie readily positions itself as an auxiliary product of a successful showbiz commodity.

The documentary’s producer, Chan Jen-hsiung (詹仁雄), said the contests’ power to move audiences lies in the honesty and innocence that the young aspiring singers exhibit.

Veteran producer Wang Wei-chung (王偉忠) concludes that the show’s success comes from the contenders’ unreserved displays of emotion.

Unfortunately, the documentary fails to take a more cerebral look at the mechanisms behind the TV program’s popularity and, therefore, leaves the One Million Star phenomenon largely unexplored.

By the final scenes, the seemingly endless group hugs and tears are enough to wear down even the most cynical of viewers. The formula is a winner, even if the film is not.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Behind-the-scenes-of-One-Million-Star-talk528476.html

Top 5 Mandarin Albums (Apr 4-10)

April 4 to April 10
Album chart compiled from G-Music (www.g-music.com.tw), based on retail sales

1 Kenji Wu (吳克群) and Write a Poem for You (為你寫詩) with 4.72 percent of retail sales
2 One Million Star 2 (星光二班) and The Brilliance of One Million Stars (星光燦爛) with 3.32%
3 Eason Chan (陳奕迅) and The First Eleven Years (然後呢1997-2007跨世紀國語精選) with 2.52%
4 Compilation (合輯) and Hip-hop Best (嘻哈寶典) with 1.65%
5 Utada Hikaru (宇多田) and Heart Station with 1.62%

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Top-5-Mandarin-Albums-Apr-4-10-talk528472.html

Mother Says Anita Mui Mentally Impaired When She Signed Will

Dying Hong Kong pop icon Anita Mui was suffering from an illness that might have left her mentally impaired when she signed her will, a news report said Thursday. The singer-actress, who died of cervical cancer in 2003 at the age of 40, was diagnosed with an illness of the central nervous system a day after signing her will in hospital.

Mui's mother, Tam Mei-kam, is challenging her daughter's will drawn up less than a month before Mui's death, which left her monthly payments of 70,000 Hong Kong dollars (9,000 US dollars) out of a multimillion-dollar fortune.

The will left two properties to her close friend, designer Eddie Lau, and gave money to nephews, nieces and a Buddhist charity.

Doctors testifying at Wednesday's High Court hearing confirmed Mui was suffering from hepatic encephalopathy and displayed interrupted speech, dizziness and a dull mental state.

One of the doctors, Peter Teo, who witnessed the signing of the will on December 3, 2003, diagnosed her with the illness the following day, the South China Morning Post reported.

However, he said he believed Mui was mentally capable of making a will until she fell into a coma on December 24, six days before her death. The hearing in Hong Kong's High Court continued Thursday.

Mui's mother claimed that her daughter did not have the mental capacity to draw up a will in the days before her death and wants it declared invalid, which would entitle her to the entire estate.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Mother-Says-Anita-Mui-Mentally-Impaired-When-She-Signed-Will-talk528465.html

Nicholas Teo will hold concert at Suntec City on May 31st

（Singapore）Nicholas will bring his concert over to Suntec City after concluding his first ticketed show in Malaysia. "From Now On Live in Singapore" will occur on the 31st of May at Suntec Convention Hall 6 at 8pm.

For the sake of upcoming event, Nicholas has been diligently working out at the gym and demanded himself to be in best shape and offering outstanding performance during the concert. Aside from fine profound dance performances, he does not mind attempting sexy styles to show one's results from tough training. Having a debut concert here, Nicholas will be delivering quite a number of K-songs including 《寂寞邊界》"The Edge of Loneliness"、《痛徹心扉》"Wound in the Heart"、《北極星的眼淚》"Tears of Polaris"、《我真的以為》"I Really Thought" and《錯了再錯》"Mistake After Mistake". It will surely let Nicholas' fans to have an unforgettable musical journey.

Tickets are priced at RM156、RM225、RM295 and RM365. For further information, please dial hotline 02-63485555 or visit website: www.sistic.com.sg。

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Nicholas-Teo-will-hold-concert-at-Suntec-City-on-May-31st-talk528430.html

Ariel Lin Willing to Cut Hair For Lover

Ariel Lin's wish of cutting her hair short will come true! A long time ago one after another of advertisements, she would have to keep the long hair look, now accepting the idol drama "Wild Rose 野玫瑰", she can naturally cut it like Yoon Eun Hye or Maki Horikita's cute image.

Ariel is the new favorite of advertisements, each time filming the ads, even though the merchants didn't request it in the contract indicating "can't cut short hair", but there is: "don't do too big of a change." Ariel personally really loves changes in hairstyle, but it's always limited by manager Xiaoyu.

Taking on the filming of new drama "Wild Rose", Ariel's dream is spoken. In the drama she loves a guy too much, but that person actually leaves, so with the pain decides to change herself to become him, with saying another word agrees to take the hair down: "just cut it."

Ariel's earlier preferred artist worker, seems to be far from any action, family and relatives are also not giving up on introducing her potentials, sometimes it would be during family gatherings, they'll bring to her to "matchmake". But those that know Ariel well know that the type she likes is the muscular Daniel Wu, all of the guys her relatives bring are all too honest, will never have sparks.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Ariel-Lin-Willing-to-Cut-Hair-For-Lover-talk528402.html

TKA Rumoured Drama Become Real ~ Jiro & Rui Sha Over?

Jiro Wang rumoured to have good feelings for Ukraine beauty Rui Sha(Larisa) after filming, Rui Sha yesterday didn't respond, but she emphasized that Jiro is really smart, warm, is the type she likes, idol drama "They Kiss Again" work crew also privately disclosed: "of course there's something, but hearing it already ended." But Jiro's manager Chenhuiying says: "chaotic saying (bullshit)!"

Jiro and Rui Sha are close, they've been rumoured quite a while, people in the industry have said it's because of the drama promotions, but there's also wind saying Jiro actually likes Rui Sha, but because of the pressure stress from the company, at then end it was gone.

Rui Sha's posture, figure is excellent, lately she's become popular, many brands and functions have been knocking at her door, never thought yesterday it was disclosed that she had once married 4 years ago, it lasted 3 months and it ended. Yesterday she said to the reporters, after reading the report she cried sadly becuase this marriage relationship was very short lived, something she really doesn't want others to know about.

But once the topic changed to Jiro, Rui Sha couldn't help but smile, she first started speaking in a circle (taichi) about Jiro as a friend, and are lovers in the drama, but once the reporters said: "Didn't you go to his home?" She said: "Aiyo, he is frugal...but I can't say bad things about him la, he won't be happy."

Rui Sha admits she is a person that can focus in a relationship very easily, if the other person is bit more romantic; then it'll get her heart. But she says again" "can we continue dating, I am picky about guys." Including the person must love her enough, smart, considerate, respectful, warm, can't be jealous for no reason, and have to care for her father and mother, if Jiro wants to win the girl, he has to meet all these criterias.

Fahrenheit earlier with double the payment fees renewed a beverage contract, the four good looking guys when to Kenting to film the ad, enjoying the sunshine, beach, but the four always concerned of their hair style, even riding a bike they didn't forget to protect their hair, went all out spraying hair spray, but once they saw the swimming pool; the four all sunned out, immediately jumped into the water for a water fight long forgetting their hair style problem.

Filming the ad for 4 days in Kenting, Fahrenheit totally released themselves, and they even competed to see who's kite can fly higher. At the end because Jiro ran too quickly passing by Calvin, the Kite's line cut over Calvin's ear; leaving a scar, to play Aaron also held back the old knee pain to run back and forth on the beach.

But the most memorable to Fahrenheit was the ever amazing broad vast communication of fans watching for 24hours, causing them not only to just work, but almost being locked up in their room only. This time the fans not only supervised them the whole time, even staying at the room that is adjacent to Fahrenheit's room, knocking the door each day, "watching fort" surveillance of Fahrenheit's every move, causing Fahrenheit to only be able to look at the sea and sigh.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/TKA-Rumoured-Drama-Become-Real-Jiro-and-Rui-Sha-Over--talk528357.html

100-Day Olympic Countdown Theme Song Released

Bai Yansong (L), renowned host with Beijing-based China Central Television, and Taiwan entertainer Lin Chi-ling together host the release party for "Beijing Welcomes You," a song celebrating the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games, April 17, 2008. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

The theme song for the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games was released on Thursday.

With lyrics by Hong Kong's Lam Jik and music by Xiao Ke of the Chinese mainland, the song titled "Beijing Welcomes You" is expected to be a successful follow-up to the theme song for the one-year countdown celebration.

"We are ready," said Zhao Dongming, director of the cultural activities department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympics (BOCOG).

According to Zhao, more than 100 entertainers including Jackie Chan lent their voices for the studio recording of the song.

Beijing plans to hold a spectacular gala to mark the 100-day countdown on April 30 and more than 10,000 local citizens are expected to take part in a marathon on the day.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/100-Day-Olympic-Countdown-Theme-Song-Released-talk528352.html

Joe Cheng releasing pictorial book; dream of baring all

During [TKA] everyone was shocked about Zheng Yuan Chang taking his clothes off, and in the near future he will have another shocking move too. He plans to release a pictorial book at the 2nd half of the year; about the measurement of his baring, he said that there’s no limit.

Zheng Yuan Chang who is the main lead in the series [Honey and Clover], will be aired on 25th of May, Zheng Yuan Chang said that, 5 years ago, 525 was also the day when [The Rose] first aired, such a coincident, and he hope the rating will receive 5.25 as well. Lately he has been busy working out and swimming, hoping to become a muscle guy, and get ready to release his pictorial book at the second half of the year, he laughed and said that he used to hope to have a bare all pictorial book when he’s 25 years old, and now he’s already 26 and still hasn’t have those pictures taken yet; so he has to work hard on it.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Joe-Cheng-releasing-pictorial-book-dream-of-baring-all-talk528314.html

Sohu Hong Kong Taiwanese spring idol drama: idol spring contest, queer and likeable

The performance of idol drama in spring 2008 did well. The ratings for "They Kiss Again", "Fated To Love You" and "Bull Fighting" is like a ratings relay race. When a good drama ends, another drama immediately receives the baton and snatch the ratings. "So I'm Not Handsome", "Wayward Kenting" and "Fated To Love You" (Translators note: There should be a mistake here, it should be "Wish To See You Again") plays edge ball. Their storylines are not outstanding but the drama includes beautiful sceneries in Taiwan, and with popular idols as leads, have their own strengths.

1. One black horse: "Fated To Love You"

Recommendations points: ☆☆☆☆☆













SET's previous "Ying Ye 3+1" ends in disappointment and causes a lot of drama fans to adopt a wait and see attitude towards SET's productions. However "Fated To Love You" that started airing in March becomes a black horse and resume SET's ratings legend. Chen Qiao En who usually plays roles of wild girlfriends successfully change her image and portrays a sticky note girl ------ a conformable and gentle administrative junior staff. Their functionalities are small but indispensable like sticky notes that can be torn easily. The unremarkable girl gets lucky and married into a rich family because of a one night stand. Therefore a series of light-hearted and humorous love story begins. The drama is warm and romantic, and with the handsome Ethan Ruan and Baron Chen as escort, the ratings skyrocket and becomes this season's most heavily anticipated drama.

2. Leading actors relay: "Bull Fighting", "They Kiss Again"

Recommendations points: ☆☆☆☆

Spring dramas' fight for No. 1 is not obvious. All the television stations gauges the situation and seeks the best time to launch their productions. Therefore at every period there is a drama that rules the ratings without much competition.















The first to receive good reviews and ends in glory is Hebe, Mike He and Lee Wei's "Bull Fighting". The many basketball performances in this drama uses the tricks of players like Michael Jordon as reference, this alone is enough to attract attention. The love triangle in the drama is a killer method used to win over viewers. Lee Wei's protectiveness towards Hebe in the drama lies between that of elder brother and lover and is the dreamy love that every young girl longs for.














When "Bull Fighting" ends, "They Kiss Again" breaks though the ranks and receives the ratings championship. Even though the first series is excellent, and the pairing of Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin pleases the audience, the television station still chooses to air the drama during the period where there are not much competition. The drama continues to tell a pure and innocent love story. The marriage life of the clumsy pretty girl and the genius handsome lad is the biggest selling point of this drama.

3. Storyline not strong, sceneries support: "Wish To See You Again", "Wayward Kenting", "So I'm Not Handsome"

Recommendations points: ☆☆☆

The performance of "Wish To See You Again", "Wayward Kenting", "So I'm Not Handsome" is standard and did not break through the convention of idol dramas. But this three dramas is full of Taiwanese local favor and even cooperates with tourism bureau, so the sceneries is definitely worth watching.














"Wish To See You Again" is the most watchable among the three dramas. Vic Zhou and KingOne performance well in the drama. Ken Zhu's role is plain and does not offer much room for expansion. Vic Zhou's acting skills has changed in the drama, in particular his eyes resembles Tony Leung and is worth noting.
















"Wayward Kenting" is even more like a tourism film, the drama seeks local favor. Taipei's youths encounters setbacks in their love lives and careers, so they come to Kenting to search for the Shangri-La of their dreams. The simple lifestyle and the primitive scenery seduce them and they do not want to return to the busy city.














"So I'm Not Handsome" is a purely comic drama and brainless in tone, causing you to laugh non-stop. The drama targets the school life where the young people find true love amidst the comedy. It's more unconventional, so people who not like this kind of drama do not need to watch. Michael's Zhang performance in the drama does not stand out. However, JJ Lin who acts as the lead Xiao Zhuang in the drama is kind and devoted in love, winning him a lot of popularity.


source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Sohu-Hong-Kong-Taiwanese-spring-idol-drama-idol-spring-contest-queer-and-likeable-talk528298.html

Jay Chou drags Aaron Kwok into it, gets batmobile

Jay Chou is worth about 500 million, but he maintains his principle of "Listening To Mother's Words", all the money he makes he gives to his mother to deal with, he can only think about investing or buying houses to sell but he can't do any of them. In order to persuade his mother to let him buy a new car, he dragged in Aaron Kwok and Jordan Chan as examples, at least he got his dream custom made "Batmobile" sports car, he happily revealed that he may get the new car by May, by then he doesn't rule out that it may make an appearance in his new MV.

Popularity attracts buyers, commercial companies see Jay Chou's charm, they've hired him to be spokesperson for an online game, yesterday he was promoting it with Ann An, Novia Lin and other models. At present Jay Chou has as many as 9 commercial spokesperson roles, his spokesperson fee is at least upwards of TW$20 million, if you estimated with an average of 30 million, his fees in total could be over 270 million.

Jay Chou's money making skills are excellent, but he said: "The best way to take care of finances is to give it to mother, savings account, buying mutual funds or buying a house." Even though his mother's way of handling finances is very conservative, but he said: "Mother's scared that if I casually invest I might get cheated."

Even though sometimes Jay Chou will tempted when he sees sample houses, but when he wants to get his mother to come look he's always refused, instead when it's his agent Yang Jun Rong who likes the look of one, his mother will come out and look at it, Jay Chou said helplessly: "She thinks I'm a child, I don't see things accurately."

The money is hard earned, of course he has the right to enjoy it, the way Jay Chou persuaded his mother to let him spend big was to "make her mad", he said: "I often make examples, Aaron Kwok's already bought a few cars, Jordan Chan's made a bit of money buying houses, only then did mother let me buy a car."

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Jay-Chou-drags-Aaron-Kwok-into-it-gets-batmobile-talk528229.html

After paying 10 million in debts, Ariel Lin found a new house for her family

As one of the most filial daughter in the entertainment industry, Ariel Lin is already in this industry for 7 years, but she only repaid her family's debt last year. Although she's just 25 years old, she is very matured in her thinking & her goal is to provide her mother and brother with a house so there's news that she has already decided on buying down the 33.5 million high-end building at Fuxing Road. Seems like she has finally saved enough to leave the life that she has once lived before.

According to Yi Weekly's reports, since young Ariel's parents divorced and her mother raised both her and her brother up alone. As her mother has low income, she uses her credit cards in times of emergency and because of the snowballing interest, her family landed in debts amounting to ten million. This cultivates the thriftiness in Ariel since young, when she just came into the industry, she would always bring her food home and never buys anything for herself. Until now when she became the princess of idol dramas, her pay rose from 10 thousand an episode to 150 thousand an episode but she still maintain to be a thrifty person.

As reported, Ariel repaid her family's debts at around 1 year ago and since they have been living in a rented apartment that is rather inaccessible, it makes her have the thought to buy a new house. Good friend Rainie Yang suggested that she could buy in Muzha District but Ariel insisted that the new house has to be very accessible to traffic as there's no transport vehicle in the house. It would be even better if 2 houses could be made interlinked so they could fetch grandma over to live together with the 3 of them. So there's news that Ariel's family has already secretly reserved the house over at Fuxing Road because its close to the train station and is at Taipei's liveliest north area. Furthermore 2 houses are interlinked, amounting to around 58 hectares, which is really close to Ariel's specifications.

As the previous owner has spent around 5 million renovating the house so Ariel only needs to make a few adjustments before moving into the new house. But Ariel's assistant mentioned that they have not decided whether or not to buy it, furthermore Ariel is also interested in another apartment at XinAn street, its around 60 hectares but cost around 55 million which is a huge difference as compared to Ariel's budget so its still in the midst of negotiation. No matter which house Ariel is interested in, this queen of idol dramas has successfully walked out of the life she once lived.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/After-paying-10-million-in-debts-Ariel-Lin-found-a-new-house-for-her-family-talk528198.html

Jackie Chan to Chop Down Olympic Protestors

Hong Kong kung-fu star Jackie Chan has issued a warning to disruptive Olympic protestors - if they interfere with his leg of the torch relay, he will not hesitate to strike back. The 'Rush Hour' actor will be carrying the torch when it nears Beijing, the host city for the upcoming 2008 Olympics.

The torch relay has drawn reams of protesters, bringing attention to China's human rights record and the clampdown in Tibet - with recent incidents seeing the torch extinguished. However, Chan won't be having a bar of it. He assures that he will be going "Jackie Chan style" on anyone who tries to disrupt his shining moment.

'Demonstrators better not get anywhere near me. They are doing it for no reason. They just want to show off on the TV,' he said. 'They know, "if I can get the torch, I can go on the TV for the world news".'

The actor was excited that his homeland will be hosting the Olympics, and said that the games will greatly benefit the country.

'It will provide another way for us to tell the world about Chinese culture,' added Chan.

'We are not right about everything. Things are getting better in China but we can change and are changing. We want to learn from the rest of the world as well as teach others about our ways and our culture.'

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Jackie-Chan-to-Chop-Down-Olympic-Protestors-talk528123.html

"Rivals" on KBS 2TV Kicks Off with 7.1% Viewer Rating

"Kangjeok" or "Rivals," a brand new drama series on KBS 2TV starring Chaerim and Lee Jong-hyuk, started off with a lower-than-expected viewer rating of 7.1 percent (TNS Media Korea) on April 14.

In the first episode, new bodyguards were shown going through grueling training sessions. "Rivals" competed with "Isan" on MBC (27.9%) and "I Love You" on SBS (6.7%).

According to AGB Nielsen Media Research, the viewer rating for "Rivals" on April 4 was 6.1 percent while that of "Isan" and "I Love You" were 28.4 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

The viewer rating for "Rivals" is only slightly higher than the preceding drama series "Single Dad in Love" which recorded a viewer rating of 5.9 percent in the first episode and an average viewer rating of 4.6 percent.

Meanwhile, "Unshaken," a new morning drama series on MBC starring Hong Eun-hee and Kim Nam-jin, recorded a viewer rating of 12.6 for the first episode according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. "I Still Love You," the preceding morning drama had the highest viewer rating of 23.4 percent and an average viewer rating of 16.3 percent.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Rivals-on-KBS-2TV-Kicks-Off-with-71Percent-Viewer-Rating-talk528060.html

Calvin Uses "Cake" Plan ~ DIY to Bribe Dad

"Fahrenheit" Calvin Chen personally made a cake, wishing his father a happy 56th birthday, father son relationship breaks ice!

Spreading cream was easy, piping flowers was difficult

Calvin and his father has always had distant relationship, his father is a GM of a automotive parts company, and also a lecturer at NTUST, Calvin says his father already had a good career and continued his studies after to earn his Masters, therefore his standards are very high for his only son, young Calvin would be locked in the washroom when he was bad, when he studied at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, he was beaten by his father with a bamboo, "At that time I was really mad, I was that old already and continues to hit!" Stayed in Canada for 7 years for studying, my father also never once came to see him, he even thought that his father didn't love him.







For his father's birthday, Calvin specially asked a business friend that has a cake shop, learning from scratch: spreading cream, piping flowers, and also specially chose his father's favorite Taro and Red Bean, and chose many different fruit ingredients, specially made the birthday cake. For the first time making a cake, Calvin laughed "spreading cream" is simple, it's because it's like before you shave you put on the cream, but "piping flowers" is the most difficult, after piping a few flowers that didn't form a flower, finally a flower was piped to look more like it, looking at the results, Calvin proudly says: "First time not familiar, second time close, do it a few more times then you'll see it."











Father really touched ~ Ate everything

Between Calvin and his father, the relationship has always been stubborn (Ging ㄍㄧㄥ), bringing the cake home, he cooly "man" put on the table, an said towards his father: "This is a cake I made". His mother and sister went forward to see, the whole family all had fox eye look, not believing the cake was made by the hands of Calvin.

His father was really touched, after receving a cake hand made by his son, admitting that this was the most unforgettable birthday, Calvin says: "Can see that his father really likes it, because the morning after the birthday, didn't eat his breakfast, continued to eat my cake.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Calvin-Uses-Cake-Plan-DIY-to-Bribe-Dad-talk528059.html

Opening Ceremony of "Forbidden Kingdom"

April in Beijing is not hot yet, except for the Chaoyang Park in Eastern Beijing, where the world premiere ceremony of Huayi Brother's kungfu epic "The Forbidden Kingdom" was held Wednesday night.

At the press conference on Tuesday, organizers claimed it will be the most shining show biz gala before the opening of the Beijing Olympics. So it was. Dozens of stars were invited to walk the red carpet and sign names on the promotion board.

Singers like Chinese pop duo Yu Quan, Sun Nan, Bobo, Zhang Liangying, and Shang Wenjie as well as Taiwan hostess A-Ya and mainland actor Huang Xiaoming attended the red carpet ceremony. Of course, the peak of the ceremony came as the cast members appeared. Chinese kungfu superstar Jet Li also brought his daughter in the hope of entertaining her.

Besides showbiz stars, hundreds of reporters from world's major media organizations came to report on the film's premiere. Besides the shining stars, the film itself attracted overseas reporters. Western public seems to be satisfied with a westerner's interpretation of the Monkey King legend.

As the first film starring both kungfu masters Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the Forbidden King will hit cinemas in North America on April 18, and in Asia on April 24.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Opening-Ceremony-of-Forbidden-Kingdom-talk527988.html

Charts: Ayumi Hamasaki, YUI

Ayumi Hamasaki's "Mirrorcle World" took the #1 spot on the weekly singles chart, selling close to 146,000 copies. This is her 10th consecutive year with a chart-topper, making her the first female artist to reach that milestone (B'z holds the overall record with 18 years).

The male trio Shuchishin came close to beating Hamasaki with their self-titled single, selling only about 5,000 fewer copies. Meanwhile, the posthumous ZARD release "Tsubasa wo Hirogete" ranked 3rd. This counts as ZARD's 42nd single to make the Top 10, which currently ties her with SMAP and Southern All Stars for the record.

On the albums chart, YUI took the top spot with her third album, "I Loved Yesterday," achieving about 285,000 in sales.

Hideaki Tokunaga had the only other new releases in the top 10 on both charts. His "VOCALIST" box set ranked 7th among the albums, while his single "Dakishimete Ageru / Hanataba" ranked 6th.

source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/Charts-Ayumi-Hamasaki-YUI-talk527952.html