Southern All Stars will release their first original album in seven years on October 5. The TV commercial for the album will take the form of a tearfully apologetic press conference by the band to apologize for leaving fans waiting for so long. Of course, they have been active over that period, playing concert tours and putting out plenty of singles. They re-released 44 singles at one time in June, pretty much taking over the Top 50 in the charts. So the new album is likely to be the year’s biggest seller and maybe even a record breaker. The new commercial airs from September 4.
• Yesterday’s PR event featuring Korean actor Bae Yong Joon (33) drew tens of thousands of fans. In Japan to promote his latest movie, “Shigatsu no Yuki” (April Snow), he appeared at the Saitama Super Arena. The venue was full to capacity with 25,000 mostly middle-aged women and another 3,000 who couldn’t get tickets milled around outside buying merchandise and hoping for a glimpse of their idol. Another 5,000 fans gathered at 6 spots around the country to watch a live satellite feed from Saitama. The movie opens in Japan on September 17.
• The number of people nationwide who refuse to pay their annual subscription to public broadcaster NHK continues to increase. With over 1.2 million people now refusing to pay, NHK is looking into ways to deal with the problem. Of course, it’s largely a problem of its own making, after a series of financial and other scandals dealt a serious blow to the company’s once-solid image. And by going after subscribers money before carrying out real reform of its organization, NHK risks stirring up even more resentment.