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AKB48 to Skip Annual General Election For the First Time This Year
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The official blog for supergroup AKB48 announced on Wednesday that there will not be a AKB48 Senbatsu Election this year. The annual event launched in 2009 and allows fans to vote for which AKB48 and its associated groups' members will front an upcoming single.
The blog post asked for fans to continue to support the AKB48 who are working hard. No further explanation was provided for the event's cancellation this year.
Last year marked the election's 10th anniversary. HKT48's Rino Sashihara took the top spot again for the third consecutive year and her fourth win over all. She announced her graduation from the group in December with plans to part ways after a farewell concert in April. Her final single "Jiwaru DAYS" was released on Wednesday.
The AKB48 group is produced by music industry mogul Yasushi Akimoto. Akimoto signed on to produce the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony and plans to draw from AKB48 and its sister groups to form an idol group called "Japan48".
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Music Natalie, AKB48 official blog
