For the first time on national television, members of Philippine idol group MNL48 sang its official rendition of AKB48’s Sakura No Hanabiratachi after the success of their first ever Fan Meet last week.
MNL48 First Generation girls and members of the Kenkyuusei performed on ABS-CBN’s noontime show It’s Showtime the Filipino-version of the AKB48 song after several weeks of intensive training and rehearsals.
“Yung dati pong aspirants, ngayon idol na po na nakapagperform na live na live dito sa It’s Showtime. Yung mga paghihirap po na pinagdaanan po namin ito na po unti-unti na po namin nakakamtan dahil po sa lahat ng sumusuporta samin, wala po kami dito kundi dahil sa inyo.” says Overall Team Captain Alice de Leon as she expressed her gratitude towards their fans, on behalf of her fellow members.
As MNL48 represents the Philippines around the world, Alice also asked for every one’s genuine and full support to the group. “Please be patient with us po na maipakita po kung anong talent po ang meron ang Pilipinas, na magiging magandang ehemplo po kami sa mga kabataan,” appeals Alice.
“Nandito po ako to lead the whole group po, kung pano po kami magwo-work together as a group. Alam ko po marami pa kaming pagdaaanan l will make sure po na lahat kami pantay-pantay na ibibigay yung best namin para mag shine po ang bawat isa sa amin,” says Center Girl Sheki Arzaga as she explains her role in the group.
Vhong Navarro, Karylle Marquez and Anne Curtis, hosts of the show also agreed that the girls have improved in terms of their performance as well as their looks compared to their previous appearances.
Despite the hard challenges, bigger opportunities are lined up for them as they received an overwhelming support from their fans on their recent Fan Meet meet, where they first sang the Filipino version of other AKB48 songs Heavy Rotation and Aitakatta.
The members of the Kami 7 is set to fly to Japan this June to train with AKS, the talent agency that handles the popular Japanese idol group AKB48. MNL48 will be releasing their first album soon.
