KARA has been earning the praise of Japanese celebrities lately, and were even previously acknowledged by gagman Gekidan Hitori, who complimented the girls' friendliness through a news program. More recently, the 'godfather of Japanese broadcasting', Terry Ito, praised KARA on an NHK New Year special program broadcast on January 2nd. The program featured celebrities predicting the biggest figures of 2011, and  KARA was introduced with the statement, "After AKB48 ranked in on internet search rankings at the 2009 year-end, KARA followed by ranking first in the 2010 internet search rankings.  The two figures that have managed to rank in alongside AKB48 are K-pop singers KARA and SNSD." Terry Ito is a highly influential figure in Japan's entertainment industry, and not only with producers, but has extensive connections into the culture and government sectors of Japan. He further complimented the girls by stating, "When the girls make a mistake on the broadcast, they are very embarrassed and shy about it.  They're different from Japanese celebrities.  Japanese celebrities think that they'll get attention when they make a mistake, but such a notion does not exist with KARA.  They always try their hardest, and I think that's the image that is appealing to the Japanese.  They're very innocent and do not act fake at all." KARA has been consistently chosen as the stars to watch out for in 2011 all across Japanese news programs, and with the continued praise of Japanese celebrities, it seems KARA has certainly made a mark for themselves in the industry. Source + Photos: Newsen via Daum