Sexy singer Koda Kumi (23) is the new face of Diet Coke. The singer, whose look has popularized the phrase “ero-kakkoii” (sexy-cool), will play a dancing flight attendant and show plenty of cleavage as usual in the new TV commercial due to air from April 3. The corresponding ad for regular Coke will feature Yokoyama Ken, singer of the Crazy Ken Band, on location in Hawaii.
• Popular group KAT-TUN have pulled off a feat no artist has ever managed before, with their debut single (Real Face), album (Best of KAT-TUN) and DVD (Real Face Film) all entering the Oricon charts at No.1. It’s only the second time that one artist has been top of all three charts (Hamasaki Ayumi did it in 2000). They recently announced and sold out a show at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome, also a first for an artist yet to release a song. While these feats are impressive, the Johnny’s Jimusho unit are hardly newcomers. Formed in 2001, they have often played live, often performing with other Johnny’s groups such as Tokio and V6. Members have appeared in popular TV dramas, such as NTV’s 2005 hit “Gokusen”. Kamenashi Kazuya teamed up with fellow Johnny’s band NEWS member Yamashita Tomohisa last year as the duo Shuji to Akira, releasing three singles, one of which became the year’s first million-seller. The name KAT-TUN is made up of the initial letters of its six members, all in their early 20s.
• Singer Mori Masako (47) is to release her first new song in 20 years. The first singer dicovered by “Sutaa Tajou” (A Star is Born) in 1971, she was one of that decade’s three most popular idols, along with Yamaguchi Momoe and Sakurada Junko. The legendary Misora Hibari described her as the only one who could fill her shoes. But in 1986 she married enka singer Mori Shinichi (58), with whom she had three children, and retired from performing. She returned to the stage with her husband in 2001, appearing on the NHK “Kohaku Uta Gassen” song spectacular. They performed as a couple for several years, but ended up in divorce in March of last year.