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Japan all-girl group ad 'encourages homosexuality'

A commercial showing members of wildly popular all-girl band AKB48 passing bite-sized candies seductively from mouth-to-mouth is under fire in Japan for encouraging homosexuality.

The advertisement, which aired in March, shows the school uniform-clad young women -- all in their late teens or early 20s -- intimately exchanging the sweet, with the close-up footage slowing as their lips near.

A broadcasting standards watchdog said Thursday the majority of the 116 complaints it had received in March about commercials concerning young people related to this advert.

"The commercial may encourage homosexuality," one of the complaints said, adding "oral flora" was also a concern, according to the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organisation.

"I don't want to see commercials like this," said another correspondent, who also complained of a music video by the group "in which girls, including teens, hug each other in their underwear.... It is very distasteful".

AKB48, one of the world's highest grossing acts with more than $200 million in CD and DVD sales last year, have become a phenomenon in Japan and other parts of Asia over recent years.

With a total of around 90 all-female performers, ranging in age from early teens to mid-20s, their bubblegum pop and synchronised dancing has proved a huge hit with pre-pubescent girls.

Running the gamut from girl-next-door to sultry temptress, the band also has a substantial male following -- many of whom are older -- who support a vast merchandising industry.

A spokesman for UHA Mikakuto Co. which makes the sweets, said the reaction to the TV ad, which aired for 10 days to March 25, had been mixed.

"We received complaints about the ad, but there are many people who enjoyed it," said the spokesman, who declined to be named, adding a survey of viewers had ranked it the fourth most popular commercial at the time.

Unlikely finalist struck from 'American Idol'

"American Idol" viewers apparently weren't caught in a romance with Colton Dixon.

The 20-year-old alt-rocker was revealed Thursday to have received the fewest viewer votes on the Fox talent competition. Dixon was surprisingly eliminated from "Idol" after delivering lukewarm renditions of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and Earth Wind and Fire's "September" on Wednesday's evening of old and new tunes. It was his first time in the show's bottom three.

"I need to apologize," Dixon said. "I wasn't myself last night, and I get it."

Dixon was joined in the bottom three by Elise Testone, the rockin' 28-year-old teacher Charleston, S.C., who fizzled with Alicia Keys' "No One" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On," and soaring 18-year-old singer Hollie Cavanagh from McKinney, Texas, who redeemed herself with Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man."

The dismissal of the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native, who sometimes used the "Idol" platform to broadcast his Christian faith, shocked the finalists, including groovy crooner 21-year-old Phillip Phillips of Leesburg, Ga. The normally jovial singer remained seated on a couch on stage with his head down and his hands clasped as Dixon performed his swan song.

"You have a huge career ahead of you," Randy Jackson told Dixon after his elimination.

The other singers remaining in the competition are spunky 18-year-old country rocker Skylar Laine of Brandon, Miss.; booming 20-year-old gospel singer Joshua Ledet of Westlake, La.; and savvy 16-year-old vocalist Jessica Sanchez of San Diego. The six remaining finalists will return to the stage Wednesday and face elimination again Thursday.