Ah just when I finish posting I read my next email and here's the full article
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Aya Ueto is Japan's TV commercial queen.
The ranking of TV commercial queens for this year has been announced. It
includes information on how many TV commercial contracts the stars have and
how much they get paid for doing the ad campaigns. This information is
usually for the sponsors and advertising agencies, rather than the public.
Top of the tree this year is 18-year-old Aya Ueto with 12 contracts with
companies such as Kao and Nisshin. She is absolutely the new commercial
queen. An advertising agency spokesman said that her contract price was 30
million yen until last year, but it rose to 45 million yen this year. Otsuka
Seiyaku, one of the companies that use Ueto to pitch their products,
commented that her smile is full of pep, which matches the image of their
products.
Takeo Sekine, a researcher of TV commercials, said: "TV talents who project
a soft image had been popular among the public until last year. However,
talents with that pepped-up image are now in demand. Besides Ueto, there's
Aya Matsuura, Eiko Koike and Megumi. Matsuura has contracts with seven
companies, while Koike has six."
On the other hand, former commercial queen Rei Kikukawa is going downhill.
She was top for two years with 19 contracts, but because of too much
exposure on TV over the last couple of years, she has lost her fresh image,
and audiences are getting tired of her.
However, there are some constants in the fickle world of advertising, one of
them being Hitomi Kuroki. She had three contracts last year and is in third
place this year. There are few rivals for her because she is in her 40s and
still beautiful, and she has a child. She accepts as many sponsors' requests
as she can. Moreover, she has a good manner ‹ her politeness keeps her among
the frontrunners.
Talents who got their start as fashion models are also popular. Kyoko
Hasegawa, Ayako Kawahara and Koyuki are success stories. They remain popular
for TV commercials because they have a big fan base of young people, and
their fees are reasonable compared to famous actresses.
However, the size of fees doesn't always match the number of contracts.
Singer Sayuri Yoshinaga earns the highest guarantee among entertainers who
make TV commercials. She gets 100 million per endorsement. She has been
popular for so many years and there has never been even a whiff of a scandal
about her.
Another singer, Kyoko Koizumi, is the second highest paid for TV
commercials. She has been divorced, but her client company didn't mind. Even
when she was married, she didn't project the image of a housewife in her TV
appearances. Singer Hikaru Utada and actress Miho Nakayama follow Koizumi in
the highest-paid rankings.
Some talents do suffer once their public image becomes tarnished. After Saki
Takaoka divorced actor Naoki Hosaka, she lost her image of being a good
housewife. Now she is trying to reinvent herself and has reportedly signed
on to do a hard-core love scene in her next movie. Meanwhile, Anna Umemiya
is also in a squeeze due to the arrest of her ex-husband.
Thus, TV commercials reflect the talents' life and dramas. (Translated by
Satoko Handa)
August 7, 2004
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will post pix if they end up being good 
