At AKB48's meet the fans session at Shanghai today, it was announced that China will finally start its own ooo48 idol group with Shanghai48! With AKB48′s fleeting success in invading both Shanghai and Hong Kong markets, company ninestyle is missing no chances to hit up a collaboration with AKS to form China’s team of “idols you can meet”. Based on the initials Sha-Ng-Hai, SNH48 will be the China’s version of AKB48!
According to estimates, auditions will start as early as August this year. And by December Shanghai48′s team “S” will be ready to perform just before AKB48′s 7th anniversary. Looks like it will be a really busy year for overseas 48 groups getting ready for the stage!
source, source 2
