Kara becomes first Asian girl group to rank in Oricon's top 5

Korean female idols Kara will become the first Asian girl group to place in the top 10 on Japan's prestigious Oricon chart, according to Japanese publication Oricon Style on Tuesday.

Oricon Style reported that the Oricon chart will announce on August 23 that Kara will place at No. 5 on its weekly singles chart, making them the first Asia girl group to rank in the top 10.

The Korean girl band will be the second foreign artist in almost 30 years to have made it within the top 10 slots -- five-member Irish female band consisting of sisters, The Nolans, took the No. 7 spot for their single album "Dancing Sister" in December 15, 1980.

The girls will be setting another record with their Japanese single, becoming the third non-Japanese female artists, including both solo and group, to rank in the top of the charts in over 38 years. Taiwanese singer AuYeung Fei Fei's album "Ame no Midosuji" released in 1971 was the first and was followed by Chinese pop singer Agnes Chan's debut single "Hinageshi No Hana" in 1972.

"Mister," which was released in Japan on August 11, is currently ranked in fifth place on the daily Oricon chart (as of August 15) against Japanese artists Fukuyama Masaharu, Perfume, T.M. Revolution and SMAP.

Kara also gave a guerilla concert in front of some 3,000 fans in front of the department store Shibuya 109 in Shibuya, Tokyo on day of their single's release and held a hand-shaking event at the Shinkiba Studio Coast three days later to celebrate the release of "Mister" with about 10,000 fans in attendance.

The five-member girl group, composed of members Gu Hara, Han Seung-yeon, Park Gyu-lee, Kang Ji-young and Nicole, made their debut in 2007 with their first album "Blooming." They have released several singles and albums containing their hits "Pretty Girl," "Wanna" and "Lupin."

Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@