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The jury is back with its verdict on the New Year’s Eve TV ratings – Kohaku had its worst showing ever. The NHK song spectacle pulled less than 50% for the fourth year running. During the first appearance in 13 years by rocker Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (47), the figure dropped to 35.5% and was overtaken momentarily by the all-too-brief Akebono-Bob Sapp fight on TBS (43%). As soon as the fight was over, the ratings were reversed. The highest rating of the night went to idol group SMAP, in their 12th Kohaku appearance. Leading the White team to victory, SMAP scored a 57.1% rating.

Among the highlights of NHK’s 54th “Kohaku” New Year’s Eve song spectacle was the first live TV appearance by popular singer Kuraki Mai (photo, 22) from the Kondo hall of Toji temple in Kyoto. Another was the failure of Kobayashi Sachiko’s (50) elaborate stage costume. Every year, she and drag queen Mikawa Kenichi (57) try to outdo each other with their over-the-top, Vegas-style outfits. Kobayashi’s routine this time included 13m wings that failed to open. She didn’t realize until she finished her performance and saw the disappointed looks on the faces of the staff backstage. The song contest, between red and white teams, was won by the Whites, led by pop group SMAP in their 12th appearance, to even the record at 27 wins each.

• Battling Kohaku for ratings were three separate fighting events. The most hype was probably for the bout between former NFL lineman Bob Sapp (31) and lumbering former sumo Yokozuna Akebono (34). Sapp, for once made to look small, easily won the contest and immediately threw down the gauntlet to video guest Mike Tyson. Also appearing as a guest before the bout was Stevie Wonder, who gave a harmonica rendition of the US national anthem.

• A New Year’s Eve landmark was set by pop duo Kinki Kids when they played a concert to 55,000 fans at Tokyo Dome for the sixth year in a row. They eclipsed the five-straight record set by rock group X Japan in the mid-90s.

Actress Abe Mihoko (28) married South Korean soccer player Choi Sung Yong (28) at a ceremony in the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul on December 28. Choi was formerly with J-League team Vissel Kobe and now plays in the Korean league.

• NTV presenters Uozumi Rie (31) and Mori Keisuke (25) are to tie the knot on New Year’s Day. The couple started going out while co-presenting an afternoon information show. Uozumi plans to retire and become a full-time housewife.

• Japan midfield star Ono Shinji (24), currently with Feyenoord in the Dutch league, and his wife Chieko (24) finally held their wedding ceremony. The couple registered their marriage in July, 2001.

• Enka singer Fuji Ayako (photo, 42) and actor Kimura Kazuya (34) have broken up after less than a year together. Kimura is the eldest son of the late comedy legend Yokoyama Yasushi.

Christmas is considered a romantic time in Japan, which is maybe why, following the wedding announcement last week of actress Hirosue Ryoko (23), there seems to have been a wedding rush among TV stars. Hirosue, who is in her fifth month of pregnancy, married designer Okazawa Takahiro (28) on December 23. Actress Sakurai Sachiko (30) exchanged vows with freelance music producer Tanaka Satoshi (43) last weekend. The couple have been going out for thirteen years. Actress Okina Megumi (photo, 24) announced her engagement to marry IT entrepreneur Fujita Susumu (30) on February 1. Fujita is CEO of Cyber Agent. Former Kome Kome Club vocalist Ishii “Carl Smokey” Tatsuya (44) is to remarry in the New Year. His bride-to-be is a Canadian former back dancer, with whom he already has a child. And Fuji TV announcer Karube Shinichi (41) is engaged to marry 32-year old doctor Fukuda Yukiko next May.

Actor Ishida Issei (29) became a father today. His wife, former TV personality Miyake Emi (25), gave birth to a baby boy at a Tokyo hospital. Ishida is rebuilding his career after an arrest two years ago for drug possession. He returned from a Niigata film set to be with his wife at the birth. The couple married on December 6, Ishida’s birthday.

• Actor Watanabe Ken (photo, 44) has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the Tom Cruise movie “The Last Samurai.” “Out of hundreds of Hollywood movies, and hundreds of actors, to be among the six chosen is truly an honor,” he said. “I’m even more happy that Tom was also nominated. He called me last night on my mobile to congratulate me.” Cruise was nomonated for Best Actor.

The title song for the new movie Casshern, the directorial debut of Kiritani Kazuaki (35), is to be recorded by his wife Utada Hikaru (20). The movie, starring Iseya Yusuke and Aso Kumiko, and single are due for release next spring. Utada is already busy planning her attack on the US market and her first concerts in four and a half years at Tokyo’s Budokan.

You may have only seen her as the cute-as-pie Acom girl, but like most young women aiming for stardom, Ono Mayumi (22) has done her share of bikini shots and is now planning her recording debut. Over 100,000 copies of her Love Maui “shanshin-shu” (photo book) have been sold, and no doubt her agency are hoping for sales of her March 2004 CD release to be just as healthy. She also has another photo book coming out today and a TBS TV drama role next month – busy girl.

• Watch out for the name Hirhara Ayaka. The 19-year old has yet to make her recording debut, but is already causing quite a stir. She made No. 1 on the November Yusen request chart with her single Jupiter, which doesn’t even go on sale until tomorrow. She is curently studying Jazz at the famous Senzoku Gakuen. Her debut album, over half of which she penned herself, is due to go on sale in Japan and Korea next February.

In one of the biggest – and unexpected – stories in the showbiz world this year, actress Hirosue Ryoko (23) announced that she is engaged to marry model-turned-designer Okasawa Takahiro (28). At a press conference held Monday at the Westin Hotel in Tokyo and attended by over 200 members of the media, she also revealed that she is four months pregnant and will be taking an extended break from acting as of this week. The couple plan to register their marriage in the near future. Hirosue has been making a name for herself in movies, appearing alongside Jean Reno in Wasabi. But she also caused a fuss by using her fame to get into the prestigious Waseda University and later dropping out.

Former TV CM queens Fujiwara Norika and Hirosue Ryoko have fallen from grace. The latest popularity rankings put Hirosue, No. 1 in 2001, in 54th place. Fujiwara fares even worse, falling to 57th despite being No. 1 in 1999 and 2000.

• Fukumoto Hanae (27), a sports presenter for Fuji TV, is engaged to marry baseball player Fukumori Kazuo (27), who recently moved from the Yokohama Bay Stars to the Kintetsu Buffaloes. The couple plan to hold a ceremony in late January, 2004.

Yakusho Koji (photo, 47), one of Japan’s top actors, is to team up with young heart throb Tsumabuki Satoshi (22) in a WWII spectacular. The ¥1.2-billion movie “Lorelei,” an adaptation of a best-seller by Fukui Harutoshi that tells of a plan to thwart a third atomic bombing of Japan, is scheduled for release in 2005. Yakusho is to play submarine captain while Tsumabuki will take on the role of a young spy. The megaphone is to go to monster movie director Higuchi Shinji.

• TV personality Mukai Aki (39) and former pro wrestler Takada Nobuhiko (41) have finally become parents, thanks to a surrogate mother in the US. The American woman gave birth to twin boys at the end of November, according to a statement from their agency Tuesday. While pregnant in 2000 Mukai discovered that she had uterine cancer and lost her baby. A previous attempt to have a surrogate birth in the US also failed.