Southern All Stars Top Olympic Wish List

Many in the media were surprised that idol girl collective AKB48, by far the most popular pop group in the country right now, placed a distant seventh in the results.

On top was the Southern All Stars, the veteran rock group who last summer reunited after a five-year hiatus, a fact that seemed to surprise many respondents who thought the group was still retired.

In the No. 2 to No. 5 slots were two boy bands from the Johnny’s and Associates talent agency, along with the Okinawan R&B collective Exile and the folk duo Yuzu.

Semi-retired R&B superstar Hikaru Utada placed eighth.

Many were disappointed J-pop acts received the most votes instead of other types of performers, according to the Japan Daily Press, which sifted through comments following the publication of the result.

Some respondents, only half-facetiously, wondered if it wouldn’t be better to recruit “vocalids” for the opening ceremony, meaning synthesizers that mimicked the human voice – so at least Japan could show off its storied technology.

In other Olympics news, the 80,000-seat stadium that will be built in the heart of Tokyo has been criticized by a group of Japanese architects who say that Zaha Hadid’s design is too large and does not fit its surroundings.

Award-winning architect Fumihiko Maki is leading the protest, which is hoping to change the JOC’s mind before construction begins in 2015.

Some of the architects stress that they are not against Hadid, who is a controversial figure in the global architectural community, but simply think she should scale down the building “to fit the context.”

For one thing, the new stadium will replace the one built for the 1964 games, which is surrounded by carefully designed parks.

The new stadium will totally obliterate the parks.