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AKB48's 'Team 8' Will Attend Last Leg of Audition for MNL48 Spinoff Group
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The official Facebook page of the MNL48 group announced on Monday that eight members of Japanese pop group AKB48's "Team 8" sub-unit will be present during the last leg of the MNL48 nationwide audition tour, which takes place at the ABS-CBN Compound in Quezon City on December 2 and 3. Team 8 will also appear as guests on the It's Showtime show as well as other ABS-CBN shows.
HalloHallo Entertainment is collaborating with Philippine media company ABS-CBN to launch the talent search for the MNL48 group, the planned Manila-based spinoff group based on the AKB48 Japanese idol group. HalloHallo Entertainment and ABS-CBN has been holding auditions in multiple locations in the Philippines since August.
HalloHallo Entertainment previously announced that it is developing a Japan-themed commercial space at the Glorietta mall complex, which includes a performance space where MNL48 is planned to perform twice a week. The space is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2017.
AKB48's Team 8 formed in 2014, and is sponsored by automotive manufacturer Toyota, consisting of 47 members recruited from each of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Some members of the sub-unit performed in Manila in November 2015, performing on the noontime variety show It's Showtime, and then performing live at Trinoma Mall in Quezon City on the same day. The sub-unit performed in Metro Manila again last December.
The AKB48 group debuted in Tokyo's Akihabara district in December 2005, followed by SKE48 in Nagoya's Sakae in October 2008, NMB48 in Osaka's Namba in January 2011, HKT48 in Fukuoka's Hakata in March 2012, and NGT48 in Niigata prefecture in October 2015. The STU48 domestic sister group based in the Setouchi region debuted in June. There is also the "rival" group Nogizaka46.
Aside from MNL48 in Manila, AKB48 also has sister groups BNK48 in Bangkok, Thailand; JKT48 in Jakarta, Indonesia; SNH48 in Shnaghai, China (although AKB48 suspended its partnership with the group in June 2016); and TPE48 in Taipei, Taiwan. BNK48 recently debuted on June 2.
[Via AnimePH]
