After a lengthy period of voting and waiting, the fate of MNL48’s member lineup will finally be revealed as the much-awaited results of the idol group’s Third General Election will be announced this February.
As per an official announcement made through MNL48’s Facebook and Instagram pages yesterday (February 1), the Third General Election will be divided into three separate Saturdays throughout the month and will be aired on the popular noontime show “It’s Showtime”. This is the first time that an MNL48 General Election program will last more than a day.
The first wave of results will be publicized on February 6 as the 48 candidates who made the cut will be revealed through a VTR while February 13 will see the unveiling of the candidates ranked 48th to 17th. Both announcements will be aired through the It’s Showtime “Online U” segment.
The top 16 candidates popularly known as the “senbatsu” and the election-winning Center Girl will be announced on February 20 will take the spotlight on the noontime show proper.
Fans, observers and members quickly expressed their mixed sentiments to the upcoming General Election through social media, with most of the MNL48 community discussing and speculating about the possible results and the sudden increase in candidates that will be ranked. It can be remembered that the idol group’s member pool will be reduced to 36, as announced last September.
The upcoming three-day event will end the longest General Election period for a 48G franchise, dating back from March 2020. 50 candidates consisting of 36 official members and 14 aspirants remain in the running, with a lot of them withdrawing from the election and graduating from MNL48 during the voting period prolonged by issues arising from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Team NIV’s Abby Trinidad and Team MII’s Sheki Arzaga are seen by many as the favorites to win after ranking first and second in the final preliminary results released before the voting deadline last November 30.
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