MNL48 was announced on March 26, 2016 along with two other international sister groups. On May of the same year, a fan-meeting was held in Movie Stars Cafe at SM Mall of Asia to solicit ideas from the fans regarding topics such as merchandise, costumes, and even the price of the theater tickets.
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The audition period, originally planned to last for a few months, was indefinitely extended until then. MNL48 officially started when HHE sealed its partnership with ABS-CBN on September 21, 2017. The biggest search for the newest idol group in the country kicked off last October 14 when it roamed around Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao for its Nationwide Registration and Audition Tour and had its Grand Registration and Audition, last December 2 and 3 at ABS-CBN Compound to cap off its nationwide tour.
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A total of 4,134 aspirants auditioned to become one of the first generation members of MNL48. The Top 200 was unveiled on January 20, 2018 and underwent a panel interview which consists of ABS-CBN executives and HHE President Paolo Kurosawa. The Top 75 were unveiled a week later on January 27, 2018 and the voting restarted; all votes set back to zero. It lasted for 14 weeks with the Weekly Top Ten performing every Saturday on the stage of It's Showtime.
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The first ever MNL48 General Election was held at Studio 4 and Center Road in ABS-CBN on April 28, 2018. The announcement of the Senbatsu was televised live on It’s Showtime where Sheki was crowned as the Center.
