After Class is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Standard Cantonese, Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Standard Cantonese, Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to ...

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

formed from Hong Kong broadcaster

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

's reality talent show in 2021. The group consists of four members: Gigi Yim, Windy Zhan, Chantel Yiu and Yumi Chung. They debuted on 27 November 2021, with the first single "Present For Future" (要為今日回憶).

History

2021-22: Formation

In 2021, after the success of of

ViuTV ViuTV is a Cantonese language general entertainment television channel in Hong Kong operated by HK Television Entertainment (HKTVE), whose parent company PCCW also operates the IPTV platform Now TV and the media streaming service Viu. The ...

, TVB started to create its own reality talent competition ''Stars Academy''. In the competition, which is also the first season of its competition series, Gigi Yim, Windy Zhan, Chantel Yiu, and Yumi Chung are the youngest contestants among all. The Quartet have been called the "Four Little Flowers of ''Stars Academy''" (聲夢四小花) since the end of the competition. On 25 November 2021, all four members hinted that they would form a group called "After Class" through their

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

accounts. Two days later, the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

of the group's debut "Present For Future" was released via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. On 28 November, After Class made their live debut performance of "Present For Future" in the annual charity fundraising show , co-organised by the

Po Leung Kuk The Po Leung Kuk, founded as the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, is a charitable organisation in Hong Kong that provides support for orphaned children, education and other services. History In the late 19th century, abd ...

and TVB, at the

Hong Kong Coliseum Hong Kong Coliseum, commonly known as the Hung Hom Coliseum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena, in Hung Hom Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. It is in Yau Tsim Mong District. It was built by the Urban Council and inaugurated on 2 ...

. Later, the TVB drama , which stars all four members, aired on the

TVB Jade TVB Jade (), or simply Jade, is a Hong Kong Cantonese-language free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) as its flagship service, alongside its sister network, the English-language TVB Pearl. ...

starting from 5 December 2021 till 13 February 2022, and their performances have attracted media attention. On 23 January 2022, the group gained their first peak chart position in TVB with their debut "Present For Future". The group hosted their first virtual concert in "Yahoo Metaverse" organised by Yahoo Hong Kong on 17 June 2022. On 16 November 2022, All About Music released a teaser of After Class's

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

single "Not Givin' Up", and the song was sent to local radio stations the next day. On 18 November, the

lyrics video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

of "Not Givin' Up" was released via YouTube. On 4 December, After Class's live performance of the song at the

TVB City TVB City (), is the headquarters of Television Broadcasts Limited ( TVB) developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties located at 77 Chun Choi Street in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, Tseung Kwan O, Kowloon. The HK$2.2 billion facility official ...

was premiered in the annual charity fundraising show

Tung Wah Charity Show Tung Wah Charity Show (Chinese language, Chinese: 歡樂滿東華) is a long-running charity television show raising funds for Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in Hong Kong which started in 1979. It is organised by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) ...

, co-organised by the

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (), with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong. ...

and TVB. On 23 December 2022, After Class received a Cantopop rookie award at the which was organised by Yahoo Hong Kong and took place at the

KITEC The Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (KITEC, formerly known as the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre or HITEC), is an exhibition centre, shopping mall and performance venue situated at 1 Trademart Drive, Ko ...

, and it was the first award the group received. On 29 December, After Class received another rookie award at the which was hosted by the

Metro Broadcast Corporation Metro Broadcast Corporation Ltd. () is one of Hong Kong's three radio broadcasting corporations. It was founded on 1 July 1991, and is owned by the Hong Kong-listed CK Hutchison Holdings. Services Metro Broadcast operates three radio c ...

and held at the

HKCEC The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is one of the two major convention and exhibition venues in Hong Kong, along with AsiaWorld–Expo. It is located in Wan Chai North, Hong Kong Island. Built along the Victoria Harbo ...

, and the group performed the song "Not Givin' Up" live at the award presentation ceremony.

Name

According to member Chantel Yiu, their manager named the group "After Class" as the members could only work and meet after class.

Members

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

{{reflist Hong Kong girl groups Cantopop musical groups Musical groups established in 2021 2021 establishments in Hong Kong Musical quartets Hong Kong idols