ABS-CBN’s own search for an up-and-coming Filipino boyband gets underway tomorrow.
Boys aged 14 or older, with a knack for good looks, charm and excellent singing and dancing talent, will have the opportunity to become one of the five members of a soon-to-be named boyband. Their journey begins this weekend on ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’, the Filipino adaptation of ‘La Banda’.
The original ‘La Banda’ was created by Simon Cowell and former Menudo member Ricky Martin. In order to avoid claims that the show is actually creating a ‘band’ consisting of a vocalist and instrumentalists, ABS-CBN renamed the show as ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ in order to make it clear that they are looking to form a boyband.
The premise of ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ is simple. The boyband aspirants must impress the girls with their looks and talent in order to make it to the next round, after which they face the judges who will evaluate their singing prowess as well as their image.
If one of the aspirants failed to pass the first round, they may be given another chance, provided they show enough potential to convince judges. Eventually, some of the aspirants will be eliminated until there are five left standing.
‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ will be hosted by Billy Crawford. The show’s judges will be Yeng Constantino, Vice Ganda, Aga Muhlach, and Sandara Park.
Even before its premiere, comparisons between ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ and rival GMA’s ‘To the Top’ were very evident from the beginning. Both had a similar premise of forming a boyband, not to mention the journey of selecting the members.
The difference, however, lies on the production. Though ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ is more of a franchise than the originally created ‘To the Top’, ABS-CBN did not seek help from its news and current affairs department to produce the former, unlike GMA whose Public Affairs team was responsible for the latter.
And considering that ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ will be aired at a more convenient timeslot (unlike ‘To the Top’ which aired on late nights), the former could become even more successful. Still, it will be up to the audience to see how it all happens.
The journey of the next great Pinoy boyband begins this weekend. Good luck.
‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’ airs Saturdays after ‘Home Sweetie Home’, and Sundays after ‘Goin’ Bulilit’.
From the Tube 
Another difference between PBS and TTT is that the former’s contestants are from auditions, while the latter handpicked contestants from random collages.
Safe to say that TTT is not your ordinary talent reality show. And GMA made it all the more unconventional with the involvement of its Public Affairs team., which doesn’t make sense.
As in. Nasayang lang ang mga Peabody Awards ng GMA kung ganyan pa rin sila.
Exactly. The priorities of the network’s divisions are more blurred than ever.
Looks like Pinoy Boyband Superstar premiered strong scoring a 34.4 rating last Saturay and a 36.4 rating last Sunday, based on figures from Kantar.
Looks like GMA’s attempt of having a boyband show was a failure of some sorts and I think GMA will not consider doing that again considering their various mistakes they commit (especially putting it on late nights, and on one occasion, way past midnight).
*Saturday
GMA really is a coward when it comes to reality talent shows. They’re scared of losing in big margins to their Kapamilya counterparts, that’s why they rarely produce one now. And even when they create such a show, they would just mess it up for fear of defeat, as well as loss of budget.
Their reluctance to acquire more franchised shows is also hurting them. Even if they don’t help in the creativity and ‘gawang Pinoy’ department, franchised shows can still be worth a shot. Then again, GMA doesn’t have much money so here they are in an unfortunate position of being the helpless watchers that they are on weekends.