The annual Girl Pop Factory concert event (organized by Fuji TV) has announced its first two artists for this year's lineup: top-selling pop star Kumi Koda and rising sensation Perfume. The event, to be held at Zepp Tokyo on August 3, will be emceed by Puffy's Yumi Yoshimura, who has hosted the event before.

Additional artists are expected to be announced in the near future. General sale tickets will be available on June 21, and electronic tickets are up for reservation through Pia starting on May 22. The event's website is here.

Kumi Koda's improper remarks on the radio earlier this year have apparently resulted in the loss of at least one commercial contract. She will no longer be the face of Kirin's chuhai brand Hyoketsu, though the company stated that the contract had always been set to expire this spring. Kirin has chosen actress Kyoko Fukada to represent the brand instead.

The all-girl band BON-BON BLANCO is down to only four members now that IZUMI, the conga player for the group, has left. According to the band's website, management had a discussion with the members about the direction of the group, but IZUMI had her own personal plans.

Also known as B3, the band made their debut in 2002. The remaining members plan to continue with their activities.

On May 27, rocker Ringo Shiina celebrates the 10th anniversary of her major label debut. In honor of the milestone, she will release two collections on July 2. One is titled "Watashi to Houden" and will consist of B-sides and unreleased material, while the other is a video clip DVD called "Watashi no Hatsuden."

"Watashi to Houden" features 22 songs across 2 discs, kicked off by "Suberidai" and "Unconditional Love." "Watashi no Hatsuden," on the other hand, contains the music videos for all 11 singles between her debut song "Koufukuron" and last year's "Kono Yo no Kagiri," plus the video for a new song "Merou" that appears on the CD collection.

Shiina has more in store for her anniversary year, including a special concert in November at the Saitama Super Arena. Special advance tickets will be available through a lottery from those who buy the first press editions of the two July releases.

Starting on the anniversary day (May 27), a new site will open at http://www.ringo10th.com/. In addition to news, clips, and other features, the site will carry a special video message from the singer herself on the day the site launches.

On Thursday, the 2008 Fuji Rock Festival made its sixth lineup announcement, adding artists such as Denki Groove and MONGOL800 to an already impressive roster (full list at the official website). Accompanying the announcement is the news that the festival will see its first DVD release in late July, around the time of the festival (July 25-27). The DVD, titled "FUJIROCKERS: The History of the Fuji Rock Festival," will feature documentary footage from 1997 to 2007, as well as clips of live performances by approximately 100 major artists.

44-year-old announcer Tomoyo Yukino gave birth to a baby boy on Wednesday afternoon. Although childbirth at her age poses some health risks, Yukino's agency said that both the mother and the child are in good health. The child was delivered by caesarean section.

Yukino recently married the manager of a real estate company. While this is her first child, her husband has another child from a previous marriage.

Yukino is expected to return to work in September.

Hisashi Imai, the 42-year-old guitarist of rock band BUCK-TICK, recently gotten married. The band's website announced that Imai formally submitted his marriage registration on February 29, though he did not reveal any details about his new bride.

At the end of this month, Hello! Project is starting an audition in Taiwan, called the "Hello! Project New Star Audition." It will reportedly run for three months and aired on TV in Taiwan, with the winners getting their chance to debut in Japan as part of Hello! Project.

In separate news, the PR campaign has begun for H!P's newest project High-King, a temporary group composed of five stars from the company's major units. Morning Musume's Ai Takahashi and Reina Tanaka are being joined by Berryz Koubou captain Saki Shimizu, C-ute leader Maimi Yajima, and Hello! Pro Egg Yuuka Maeda. Tsunku says he chose the members for their dancing ability, as their debut song "C/C (Cinderella Complex)" is a rhythmic tune that is also being described as different from Hello! Project's usual fare.

Scheduled for release on June 11, "C/C" is a support song for the upcoming "Cinderella the Musical," a production being done in collaboration with the Takarazuka Revue. Details were announced in March, and it takes the stage this August.

Including major groups, soloists, shuffle units, and temporary groups, High-King is reportedly the 83rd act to come out of Hello! Project. Tsunku said that even though using the word "queen" in the group's name would've been appropriate, he opted for "king" because it had more punch.

JASRAC has revealed a list of the top five musical works in terms of royalty payments during 2007. The ranking includes royalties across all media, including internet distribution and karaoke machines.

Hikaru Utada's "Flavor of Life" was the #1 song overall, as well as in the "interactive distribution" category, which covers media like computers and mobile phones. The "Evangelion" background music ranked 2nd, followed in order by EXILE's "LOVERS AGAIN," the "Dragonball Z" background music, and the song "Nada Sousou," which has been separately recorded by Rimi Natsukawa, BEGIN, and Ryoko Moriyama.

According to JASRAC, royalty payments in 2007 amounted to roughly 115.6 billion yen, a 4.1% increase from the previous year.