Yuko Oshima ranks 1st in AKB48 poll

Yuko Oshima has won a much-heralded popularity contest for all-girl pop group AKB48.

Oshima, 23, garnered 108,837 votes in AKB48's fourth "general election" Wednesday. Fans cast ballots to select 64 members, including 16 to sing on the group's 27th single, which will be released in August.

In second place was 18-year-old Mayu Watanabe. Atsuko Maeda, the previous year's front-runner, withdrew from the contest as she will be "graduating" from AKB48 this summer.

The top finishers in the election were:

1. Yuko Oshima (108,837 votes)
2. Mayu Watanabe (72,574)
3. Yuki Kashiwagi (71,076)
4. Rino Sashihara (67,339)
5. Mariko Shinoda (67,017)
6. Minami Takahashi (65,480)
7. Haruna Kojima (54,483)
8. Tomomi Itano (50,483)
9. Jurina Matsui (45,747)
10. Rena Matsui (42,030)
11. Sae Miyazawa (40,261)
12. Tomomi Kasai (27,005)
13. Rie Kitahara (26,531)
14. Minami Minegishi (26,038)
15. Yui Yokoyama (25,541)
16. Ayaka Umeda (24,522)