Girls' Generation push Japanese domination with 'Paparazzi,' 1 million albums sold
News On Japan via billboard.com -- Jul 13
Girls' Generation continues their path to global domination with a new Japanese single and a new chart accomplishment. The group, whom appears as Shojo Jidal on Japanese charts, rocketed to the No. 1 spot last week on the Japan Hot 100 with their high-energy Japanese track "Paparazzi" with sales now at 103,000, according to SoundScan Japan.
The dance song peppered with fun English phrases ("Life is a party!" "Punkadelic crazy night!" "Boom boom boom!") premiered back in mid-June. The debut came via an almost seven minute music video (currently with over 7.6 million views) and a dance-only video (at 4.1 million). Appropriately, the visual jumps between shots of rabid photographers and the girls dancing in perfect nine-piece synchronization. The video plays as a stage performance for Girls' Generation. The show begins with the members whimsically prancing to Gene Kelly's classic version of "Singin' In The Rain" before the real performance starts. In two different outfits, the girls perform their routine in movie-inspired getups incorporating eccentric costumes and even Marilyn Monroe's famous pink gloves.
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )
China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters )
Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today )
Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation.
A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter)
Six sailors were found dead after a fire on a foreign freighter docked at a port in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
The sailors are presumed to be Russians. (NHK )