SNH48


SNH48 is a Chinese idol girl group based in Shanghai, China. Following AKB48's creator Yasushi Akimoto's concept of "idols you can meet", the group features over 200 female members around the age of 20 across SNH48 and all its sister groups including GNZ48, BEJ48, CKG48, CGT48 and IDOLS Ft, who perform regularly in the group's own theater and interact with fans predominantly via the official Pocket48/口袋48 App online and offline via theater and handshake events. The group is owned by Chinese companies NineStyle and Star48, commonly known as SIBA. Established in 2012, it parted ways with AKB48's groups in June 2016.

History

2012–2013: Creation and debut

On April 21, 2012, AKS Co., Ltd. and Chinese company Ninestyle jointly announced the establishment of SNH48. A theater was built in Shanghai beginning in October.
In January 2013, SNH48 debuted in the show "Give Me Power!", with 16 selected members on stage performing the Chinese version of "Heavy Rotation", "River" and "Ponytail to Shushu". In April MV "River" was released and the group participated in the "2013 Shanghai Strawberry Music Festival". In June the video for "Let's Become Cherry Blossom Trees" was released, as well as their first EP, Heavy Rotation. That same month the group performed overseas for the first time, at the Singapore "Asia Style Collection" Show with AKB48. In July the video for "Ponytail and Scrunchie" was released, and a month later their second EP, Flying Get and SNH48's theater, the Star Dream theater, was opened. In September SNH48 announced the result of their second audition, and 31 new members were added into the group. Mariya Suzuki and Sae Miyazawa made their theater debut in October, after receiving working visas in China. In November the group held a concert in Guangzhou with an audience of 10,000, and released a third EP, Fortune Cookie of Love. In December SNH48 signed up for China's Got Talent.

2014–2015: ''Mae Shika Mukanee''

On January 18, 2014, SNH48 held their first and only "Kouhaku Utagassen" in Shanghai, of which Team SII won. Meanwhile, they began their third generation member audition. On March 12, they released their fourth EP, Heart Electric. On May 10, they released their first album, Mae Shika Mukanee, in digital form, at the same time kick-starting voting for their first General Election. The physical copy was released one week later. During the first General Election held on July 26, Wu Zhehan emerged as winner, becoming the center for their next EP. Meanwhile, 30 third-generation members were announced. On August 8, auditions for fourth-generation members kick-started. On August 21, it was announced that the theater would be closed shortly for an upgrade. It would reopen on September 5, with a special stage by the Top 16 of 2014. During this stage, most third-generation members were allocated to Team HII, with some allocated to Team SII and Team NII. On October 12, they released their fifth EP, UZA. Its music video was shot in South Korea. Between December 18–28, Team SII and Team NII took a national tour, which included five major cities, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
On January 15, 2015, SNH48 released their sixth EP, Give Me Five!. On January 31, they held their first Request Time, of which the songs performed at this event were determined by televoting. 18 fourth-generation members were announced during the event, all of whom would be assigned to Team X on April 17. On March 18, auditions for fifth-generation members kick-started. On March 28, they released their seventh EP, After Rain. On May 15, they released their eight EP, Manatsu no Sounds Good!, which has its music video shot in Saipan. The EP included ballots for SNH48's second General Election. On June 22, their first documentary, Documentary of SNH48: Girls of Babel Tower was released. During the General Election of the year, held on July 25 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai, Zhao Jiamin was crowned winner. 43 fifth-generation members were announced at the event. On October 12, they released their ninth EP, Halloween Night, which had its music video filmed in Paris, France and Prague, Czech Republic and Sychrov, Czech Republic. On October 31, SNH48 held its first "SNH48 Fashion Awards" at the Redtown in central Shanghai. It was the first of its kind within AKB48 and its sister groups. On November 18, it was announced that the 36 fifth-generation members will be split into Teams A and B from the first stage performance on December 4. On December 4, the fifth-generation members were promoted to Team XII. On December 22, it was announced that members in Team XII would hold concurrent positions with Teams SII, NII, HII and X. On December 26, they held their second Request Time. On December 8, they released their tenth EP, New Year's Bell.

2016: Parting ways with AKB48, original releases

On January 18, 2016, SNH48 released their mini-movie Soulvenir. On March 3, Tang Anqi, was the victim of attempted murder by being set on fire at a coffee shop in Shanghai and suffered severe burns on 80% of her body. Evidence pointed towards a member of her fanclub, who poured oil over her during an argument. SNH48 began its move towards originality by placing more emphasis on original material, starting from the release of their 11th EP, Engine of Youth on March 25. On March 26, they announced the first batch of 11 sixth-generation members. On April 20, SNH48's management company, Star48, announced the formation of two sister groups, BEJ48, based in Beijing, and GNZ48, based in Guangzhou, as well as the formation of three new sub-units, Color Girls, 7SENSES and ElectroEyes Girls. Auditions for SNH48 seventh-generation members and BEJ48 and GNZ48 first-generation members were also kick-started. On May 20, SNH48 released their 12th and second original EP, Dream Land, which in its first time included BEJ48 and GNZ48 members. It includes ballots for SNH48's third General Election, and its music video was shot in Mauritius. Meanwhile, original stages were put up by various teams, starting from Team SII's "Journey of the Heart" on May 20 and Team NII's "Exclusive Party" on July 22.
On June 1, SNH48 released its second documentary, Documentary of SNH48: Taking Off Together for its third General Election. On June 9, AKB48 removed all SNH48-related content on their website, declaring the group to be fully independent, after violating a contract. Overseas transfer member Mariya Suzuki's concurrent position was also removed. On June 10, SNH48 management side insisted that they were an independent unit from the start and were never a sub-unit of AKB48, and there was never a contract to begin with. On the same day, AKB48 removed Mariya Suzuki's concurrent position with SNH48, and SNH48-related materials were removed from JKT48's website. The next day, according to a report by Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly, AKB48 founder Kotaro Shiba made a call to the SNH48 management, saying that he fully understood and supported SNH48's move towards originality. SNH48 held its third General Election on July 30 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, with Ju Jingyi emerging as winner with 230,752.7 votes. During this event, a fourth sister group, SHY48, was announced. On August 14, the SNH48 management company announced that there will be stricter checks on the members of SNH48 and its sister groups. As a result, two fifth-generation members of Team SII and two sixth-generation members of Team NII were dismissed from the group.
On September 15, during the Mid-Autumn Special Stage, 13 seventh-generation members were announced. Meanwhile, SNH48 Team X's Yan Mingjun is transferred to Team B due to academic reasons. On October 12, they released their 13th EP, Princess's Cloak. The title track's music video was shot in Madrid, Spain while the music videos for "Romantic Melody" and "A Yo Ai Yo" were shot in South Korea. On October 29, Team X began its third stage, "The Flag Of The Dream". On November 1, auditions are held for SNH48 eighth-generation members, BEJ48 second-generation members, GNZ48 second-generation members and SHY48 second-generation members, the first ever at a global scale. On November 5, they held their second Fashion Awards at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, and introduced their own fashion label, "Idol's Generation". On November 13, Team HII captain Wang Lu announced that she would leave SNH48 and resign from her position as captain, which is currently unconfirmed by the officials. If so, she would be the second SNH48 captain to leave, and the first captain to leave voluntarily. On December 20, SNH48 released their 14th EP, Happy Wonder World.

2017: After parting ways with AKB48, new sister groups

On January 7, 2017, SNH48 held their third "Request Time". On January 12, SNH48's sister group in Shenyang, SHY48, was formed, and they held their first performance in the newly opened SHY48 theatre. Meanwhile, they held the "SNH48 4th Anniversary Concert" at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Hall 4, involving all first-generation members as well as a few others from subsequent generations. It was later released in USB format on February 28. On January 27, some members performed on the CCTV New Year's Gala 2017 as backup dancers during a segment with Coco Lee and JJ Lin. This was their first performance at a major event to date. On March 17, they released their 15th EP, Each Other's Future. On April 8, they held the "48 Idol Festival", with special stages held in all four theaters. Meanwhile, Team HII began its fourth stage, "Beautiful World", making the group and its sister groups' material fully original. On May 19, they released their 16th EP, "Summer Pirates", of which its title song involves SHY48 members for the first time, and its music video is shot in Australia. It includes ballots for SNH48's fourth General Election.
On June 2, Star48 held the launching ceremony for SNH48's fourth General Election, in which a sister group, CKG48, was announced. Meanwhile, SNH48 released its third documentary, Documentary of SNH48: My Heart Soars. On July 28, SNH48 held the 4th General Election Preheat Concert at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. During SNH48's fourth General Election held on July 29 at the same venue, Ju Jingyi won with 277781.3 votes. On the same day, auditions were held for SNH48 ninth-generation members, BEJ48, GNZ48 and SHY48 fourth-generation members and CKG48 second-generation members. Since August 25, SNH48 has been holding "Mini live" sessions at the SNH48 Café. From September 6 to 10, the group held a series of stages to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the SNH48 Theatre.
On September 25, during a meeting with several companies in Qingyang District, Chengdu, 11 Star48 projects were signed, and Wang Zijie announced that a fifth sister group, CGT48, is in the making. On October 7, Team NII held the first performance of its stage, "In the Name of Love". On October 19, they released their 13th EP, Dawn in Naples. On October 21, SNH48 held its first fan exchange event. On October 27, SNH48's sister group in Chongqing, CKG48, was formed, and they held a press conference in the newly opened CKG48 theatre. On November 11, Team NII held the first performance of a revamped version of their stage, "In the Name of Love 2.0". On November 16, SNH48 launched the pilot of their video game, Xingmeng Academy. On November 18, they held the third Fashion Awards at the Shanghai International Fashion Center. On December 3, auditions were held for SNH48 tenth-generation members, BEJ48, GNZ48 and SHY48 fifth-generation members and CKG48 third-generation members. On December 8, SNH48 Group held the first performance of its original musical, "The Shiny Star". On December 15, Team X held the first performance of their original stage, "Fate X". On December 24, SNH48 released their 18th EP, "Sweet Festival".