This week will officially close the book on the ABS-CBN Koreanovela ‘Weightlifting Fairy’. Starring Lee Sung-kyung, Nam Joo-hyuk, Lee Jae-yoon and Kyung Soo-jin, the series first aired on Monday, July 10, and will finish with around 40 episodes when it’s all said and done.
One of the Philippines’ most highly anticipated Koreanovelas and one of the most successful Korean series ever, ‘Weightlifting Fairy’ tells the story of struggling weightlifter Kim Bok-joo who fell in love with swimmer Jung Joon-hyung. However, Bok-joo was soon charmed by Joon-hyung’s brother Jung Jae-hyi, and the chase for both love for work and love for someone is on.
Like ‘Love in the Moonlight’ and ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’, the success of ‘Weightlifting Fairy’ could result in the series getting reaired on ABS-CBN in the near future. But even without an impending rerun, Koreanovela fans should be satisfied with how ‘Weightlifting Fairy”s story turned out.
Here are the Top 10 songs from the Billboard Philippines Hot 100 for the week of August 28, 2017. The list will also feature the top local performer of the week, highlighting the best performing single from a Filipino artist or band.
1. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber – Despacito. No. 1 last week.
2. KZ Tandingan – Two Less Lonely People in the World. No. 2 last week.
3. DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne – I’m the One. No. 5 last week.
4. Ed Sheeran – Shape of You. No. 4 last week.
5. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like. No. 3 last week.
6. The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey – Closer. No. 6 last week.
7. Bruno Mars – Versace on the Floor. No. 7 last week.
8. Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie – Rockabye. No. 9 last week.
9. Charlie Puth – Attention. No. 11 last week.
10. Iñigo Pascual – Dahil Sa’Yo. No. 12 last week.
Top Local Performer
2. KZ Tandingan – Two Less Lonely People in the World. No. 2 last week.
All videos of the Top 10 songs can be viewed above. Our thanks to Billboard Philippines for this week’s Hot 100 Top 10.
ABS-CBN is not the only major television network with a regional programming problem.
Archrival GMA also endures its fair share of issues when it comes to regional programs. Similar to what ABS-CBN experiences, GMA’s biggest concern is at the 5:00 p.m. slot where regional news programs are aired in the provinces in lieu of shows relayed straight from Metro Manila.
Just last Monday, GMA’s Mindanao-based channels began to air a new regional newscast titled ‘One Mindanao’. The program is anchored by longtime Mindanao-based GMA anchors Tek Ocampo, Sarah Hilomen-Velasco and Real Soroche, and is aired on weekdays at 5:00 p.m.
Like ‘Balitang Amianan’ (Dagupan and Ilocos) and ‘Balitang Bisdak’ (Cebu), ‘One Mindanao’ preempts the first 30-40 minutes of ‘Wowowin’, the GMA afternoon game show hosted by Willie Revillame. But as far as GMA is concerned, this was just a minor inconvenience.
Consider the following factors:
Most GMA regional networks are now mere relay outlets following the closure of most stations and the layoff of its employees.
‘Wowowin’ is still aired after the newscasts, thus no need to reair the show the following morning.
‘Wowowin’ more often than not beats an ABS-CBN Koreanovela (only a few relay areas receive such programs due to regional ‘TV Patrol’) in the ratings game regardless of either Kantar or AGB Nielsen.
With that in mind, it was clear to GMA that they are undeterred about the overall programming disparity between Greater Manila Area and regional areas. However, with the entry of ‘One Mindanao’ in the Mindanao area, they now have every reason to worry since ‘Wowowin”s audience will be reduced significantly.
Issues among ABS-CBN and GMA’s regional network programs are in dire need of a resolution. The 5:00 p.m. slot, usually a haven for regional networks to produce their newscasts, is one example of what each network needs to do to make things all the more parallel.
But since GMA currently has less regional stations than ABS-CBN, their own concern may be revisited once they decide to resuscitate some of these stations. For now, GMA can only hope that their regional networks’ standing will be improved with each step.
It turns out ‘Hay, Bahay!’ did not exceed expectations.
Last Sunday, the final episode of ‘Hay, Bahay!’ was aired on GMA. But like all previous episodes, the sitcom made little noise among its viewers.
First aired on June 19, 2016, ‘Hay, Bahay!’ succeeded another Vic Sotto-starred sitcom in ‘Vampire ang Daddy Ko’. The latter’s stars Vic and son Oyo were joined by Oyo’s wife Kristine Hermosa, Ai-ai delas Alas, Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola.
Unlike ‘Vampire ang Daddy Ko’ which lasted for over three years, ‘Hay, Bahay!’ was only able to air for over a year as it had to contend with the long-running ABS-CBN gag show ‘Goin’ Bulilit’. Overall, the sitcom aired 61 episodes, joining a list of more recent Vic Sotto sitcoms that had a short run (e.g. ‘My Darling Aswang’, ‘The Jose and Wally Show Starring Vic Sotto’).
Meanwhile, a replacement for ‘Hay, Bahay!’ is set to premiere this Sunday night. The new show will be called ‘All-Star Videoke’, and it will be hosted by Solenn Heussaff and Betong Sumaya.
The game play of ‘All-Star Videoke’ is as follows:
“The game features six celebrity contestants or Videoke stars vying to outwit one another by filling in the missing words on a song in a videoke-type of presentation.
In the event that every player correctly answered the words in each song, a pair of celebrity ‘laglagers’ will choose one player who will be out of the competition.
The two remaining contenders will proceed in the semi-final round for a chance to play in the jackpot round. The winning contestant becomes the All-Star Videoke Champ! and may bring home a cash prize of up to 100,000 pesos.
A “Super Oke” prize is also up for the win if the winner decides to continuously play in the succeeding weeks.”
In short, ‘All-Star Videoke’ shares some similarities with another long-running videoke game show ‘All-Star K’. But whether or not the former will enjoy the same success as the latter remains to be seen.
In the age of foreign franchised programs, it is good to see networks such as GMA maintain a more local approach. Still, the success of a particular program will only depend on the response of the viewers, and for ‘All-Star Videoke’, it will not be an easy task.
‘All-Star Videoke’ airs Sundays after ’24 Oras Weekend’ on GMA.
From the Tube 