the Third General Election was released as of November 28, 6 p.m. PST. First Generation center Sheki leads for center position. Followed by Andi, Ruth, Coleen, Ella, Jem, and Jamie for Kami 7. The first preliminary Top 36 consists of 11 members from Team MII, 10 from Team NIV, 10 from Team L, and 5 from Third Generation aspirant. Few hours after the preliminary result, during her Instagram live, top member Sela Guia formally announced that she will withdraw her candidacy from the third edition of MNL48's General Election and leave the group. After her duties and responsibilities she formally left February the next year, making River her last single as a member of the group. On November 30, few hours before the voting cutoff, the second preliminary results was released as of November 29, 10:30 p.m. PST. Abby overtakes Sheki for the center spot. Followed by Andi, Ruth, Jem, Coleen, and Ella are now the Kami 7. The second preliminary top 36 consists of 11 members each from Team MII and Team NIV, 10 from Team L, and 4 from Third Generation aspirant. BABY BLUE sub-unit formation On September 1, MNL48 announced the formation of BABY BLUE, the group's first-ever sub-unit, in partnership with Tower Records Japan, a major Japanese music retailer. Said sub-unit is formed by MNL48 members Jan Elaurza, Coleen Trinidad and Amy Isidto. Following the announcement, BABY BLUE officially released its debut single titled "Sweet Talking Sugar", and was made available through EGGS, a Japanese digital music subscription service. The single, according to HHE, is an homage to the famed city pop genre, with a modern take via "the R&B and hip-hop genre". An official music video, produced by Carlo Manatad of Plan C, was released on GYAO!, Yahoo Japan's free online streaming site on September 16 and on MNL48's official YouTube channel on the next day. A second track, "NEGASTAR" was released by the sub-unit officially after they uploaded a sixty-second teaser uploaded on the music subscription service EGGS on November 16. The full track was then uploaded on November 25 and was also made available on mainstream music streaming platforms like iTunes and Spotify. Release of first-ever original track "HASHLOVE" On December 23, MNL48 premiered its first-ever original song called "HASHLOVE", a pop/R&B song centered around the theme of Christmas celebrations. The track was performed by select members namely Shekinah Arzaga, Frances Pinlac, Cole