(*) orikon is the abbreviation of ORIGINAL CONFIDENCE (what is this supposed to mean? japlish at its best at any rate). orikon is a company that rates jpops every week (including kayokyoku and enka) based on sales and radio requests. to the young generation it feels like orikon has existed forever, and it has an old-fashioned reputation to it because it includes enka (japanese 'country music') in its ratings.
(**) the way these sentences are phrased and spoken gives the listener a clear feeling that maki-chan is lying, and not very happy about it
(***) here she's trying to sound cheerful but actually sounds desperate
(****) this may come as a shock to all western fans, but the japanese don't think maki-chan is beautiful. she's too different from your standard japanese beauty -- people think she has a 'funny face'. go figure