Talent agency LesPros Entertainment - home to Yui Aragaki and Kyoko Hasegawa, among others - recently held a talent audition in Honolulu, Hawaii. 585 hopefuls entered the competition, but in the end, the winner was 16-year-old model Alessa Kiyohiro, a 4th-generation Japanese-American. Kiyohiro said she hopes to become as successful as the Hawaiian-born idol Agnes Lum, who rose to fame in the '70s and '80s.

Kiyohiro was announced as the winner by actress Hinano Yoshikawa, who also served as one of the judges. In addition to a contract with LesPros, the 2nd-year high schooler received $3,000 in prize money.

Popular singer Tamio Okuda will be putting out a 2-disc anthology called "BETTER SONGS OF THE YEARS," a complete collection of all of his singles' B-sides that were never recorded for his albums. The collection features a total of 25 tracks and a booklet with musical commentary by Okuda himself.

"BETTER SONGS OF THE YEARS" goes on sale October 29. On the same day, Okuda will also release a Blu-Ray version of his "okuda tamio FANTASTIC TOUR 08" DVD that came out in July.

Ringo Shiina celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut earlier this year, and to mark the occasion, she has already released a collection of B-sides and unreleased material, a music video DVD, and a live DVD. Now, she has announced another commemorative release titled "MoRa," due out on November 25.

"MoRa" comes in two flavors, a CD edition and a DVD edition. The 4-disc CD box set includes remastered versions of three albums - "Muzai Moratorium," "Shouso Strip," and "Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana" - as well as the singles "Ringo no Uta," "Koufukuron," "Mayonaka wa Junketsu," and "STEM."

The DVD edition adds two discs to that, including the "Watashi to Houden" release from earlier this year. Both sets include several bonuses, such as an audio message triggered by opening the boxes, a 100-page booklet, stickers, art cards, and a poster.

In addition, "Muzai Moratorium" and "Shouso Strip" are being released in analog for the first time. Both will also go on sale November 25.

The Sitges Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its competition category, the Oficial Fantàstic. Two Japanese films have been entered: Takashi Miike's "Crows ZERO" and Mamoru Oshii's "The Sky Crawlers," the only animated film in competition.

Also competing are Fernando Meirelles' international collaboration "Blindness" (in which Yoshino Kimura and Yusuke Iseya appeared) and the Japan-themed "Tokyo!" by directors Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-ho.

Sitges runs from October 2 to October 12. The festival's complete lineup will be revealed later this month.

34-year-old talento Kanoko Nishikawa is apparently soon to be divorced. The daughter of comedian and former politician Kiyoshi Nishikawa, Kanoko married patissier Shigekazu Hayashi (now 54) in 2005 and gave birth to a daughter last year.

At the start of this year, Nishikawa was seen with her daughter heading to her parents' home in Osaka. Neighbors began to speculate, and it seems that the couple has been living separately for several months.

The reasons for the divorce have not been divulged, though many believe it is the result of differences caused by their 20-year age gap.

Actress Kin Sugai has been in show business for more than half a century, but her first lead role in a film has just arrived at the age of 82. Sugai plays a grandmother in Hideo Sakaki's "Boku no Obaachan," which was announced at the end of July. Sugai shares top billing with Kenichi Okamoto, and this has earned her a place in the Guinness World Records as the oldest actress to have her first starring part in a movie.

Sugai made her stage debut in 1947 and appeared in her first film in 1951. She has worked with directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Mikio Naruse, and she has constantly been in television dramas since the 1960s.

"Boku no Obaachan" is scheduled for theatrical release this December.

TV Tokyo has announced a new drama series titled "Men-dol ~Ikemen Idol~." The show will star AKB48 members Haruna Kojima, Minami Takahashi, and Minami Minegishi, who recently formed together as the sub-unit No Sleeves.

The story revolves around three ordinary girls named Asahi, Nami, and Hinata who are aiming to become idols, but they repeatedly fail in their auditions. One day, they witness a serious crime, and they are forced to flee from the culprits. Fortunately, they are saved by a producer who is willing to let them debut, but they have to hide their true identities and dress up as boys instead.

The show's theme song will be "Relax!," the first single from No Sleeves. "Men-dol" will air in the late-night "Drama 24" time slot (Friday 12:12am), starting on October 10. The drama's official website is now open.