Fans of Japanese girl group AKB48 gather for result of leader vote

Thousands of fans of Japanese girl group AKB48 gathered yesterday for the results of a ballot on which member will lead the band for the next year amid tight security after two members were attacked by a man wielding a saw.

Organisers were to announce results of the popularity vote late last night at a soccer stadium in Tokyo. Some 300 members were running for top spot in one of the world's highest-grossing acts.

Fans finished voting by Friday for the girl they want to lead the collective for the next year, using ballot slips only available with the purchase of their latest single.

AKB48 is part talent show, part pop act - a venture in which a pool of more than 300 girls and young women at home and overseas compete for a spot in the limelight with each new catchy but formulaic hit.

The annual vote was overshadowed by last month's attack on two teenage members at one of the band's meet-the-fans events in Iwate, northern Japan.

"People were gathering as we opened the gates as scheduled," a stadium official said, adding that he had not received any reports of trouble at the venue. Organisers doubled the number of guards to search people entering the stadium and set up metal detectors at the gates for the nationally televised extravaganza, local media reported.