Partnership agreement signed for MNL48, Manila sister group of AKB48

Japanese-owned firm Hallo Hallo Entertainment Inc. signed the partnership agreement Friday with one of the Philippines' major television networks, ABS-CBN Corp., to bring to the Southeast Asian country its own version of the popular Japanese all-girl idol group AKB48.The Philippine-based sister group will be known as MNL48, named after the capital city Manila."This is basically a J-Pop concept. It's still kind of new here but the melody, the dancing, the performance are Asian standard actually," Paulo Kurosawa, president of Hallo Hallo Entertainment, said on the sidelines of the contract si…READ FULL ARTICLE