Love: GMA and ABS-CBN’s Common Theme for the 2017 Christmas Station ID

‘Just Love Ngayong Christmas’ or ‘Buong Pusong MaGMAhalan’.

ABS-CBN and GMA officially released their 2017 Christmas station IDs earlier this month. GMA unveiled theirs last November 6, while ABS-CBN premiered their version the following week.

This year’s central theme is ‘love’, and based on the titles of the two networks’ Christmas station IDs, one can think that they stole each other’s ideas. Looking at the two videos closely, there are some similarities between them, from the gathering of the artists and news personalities to the ordinary people being visited (or accompanied) by some of the stars.

But that is where the commonalities end. In ABS-CBN’s case, they incorporated the use of social media to convey their message, adding videos and photos shared by netizens of strangers who helped one another in times of distress and hopelessness.

ABS-CBN also spread some joy to the victims of the Marawi crisis through letters and donations sent by the network’s artists. That said, based on the context alone, it is clear that ABS-CBN has the more compelling approach to their Christmas station ID.

As of November 15, GMA’s Christmas station ID racked up nearly 450,000 views on YouTube. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN’s Christmas station ID earned over 690,000 views.

Considering that ABS-CBN’s version only made its debut two days ago, the overwhelmingly quick collection of views in such a short amount of time must have made Kapuso fans jealous. And who can blame them for producing a  Christmas station ID that failed to convey a meaningful message.

Last year, only ABS-CBN was able to produce a Christmas station ID as GMA opted for a series of animated shorts for their Christmas campaign. This year, GMA made a comeback by producing a Christmas station ID of their own, but after they were beaten to the punch anew by ABS-CBN, what chances will they have of making another one?

The following personalities listed here are the performers and writers behind the ABS-CBN and GMA Christmas station IDs.

Buong Pusong MaGMAhalan (a.k.a. MaGMAhalan ng Buong Puso)

Lyricists – BJ Camaya, Rexy Jolly Conopio, Jann Lopez

Composer – Len Calvo

Performers – Alden Richards, Mikee Quintos, Nar Cabico, Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos, Julie Anne San Jose

Just Love Ngayong Christmas

Lyricists – Lloyd Oliver Corpuz, Christian Faustino, Robert Labayen

Composer – Jimmy Antiporda

Performers – Sarah Geronimo, Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Piolo Pascual, Toni Gonzaga, Ogie Alcasid, Erik Santos, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Billy Crawford, Yeng Constantino et al

In 100 Words: The 2017 GMA Christmas Station ID

The only annual station ID that matters for GMA is finally here.

Last night following ‘Super Ma’am’, GMA premiered its 2017 Christmas Station ID. The network’s theme for 2017 is ‘Buong Pusong MaGMAhalan’.

This year’s song entitled ‘MaGMAhalan ng Buong-Puso’ featured the voices of Alden Richards, Julie Ann San Jose, Aicelle Santos, Mikee Quintos, Maricris Garcia and Nar Cabico. Footage of the recording was released by the network last week.

The station ID itself features a bevy of GMA’s top artists and news personalities. For more information on who appeared in the 2017 GMA Christmas Station ID, click the first video above.

ABS-CBN’s own Christmas Station ID is expected to be released sometime this week.

New Version of Impostora to Air This Monday on GMA

A new version of ‘Impostora’ awaits viewers of GMA’s Afternoon Prime.

The upcoming series is loosely based on the original ‘Impostora’ that aired on the Kapuso network back in 2007. In that particular series, Iza Calzado and Sunshine Dizon played dual roles (Iza as twins Lara and the deformed Sara, and Sunshine as the wicked cousin Nessa and a surgically repaired version of Sara).

In turn, that 2007 version was based on the 1994 movie ‘Sa Isang Sulok ng mga Pangarap’, starring Alice Dixson. In each case, the protagonist was portrayed as an ugly duckling that was transformed into a vengeful beauty through facial reconstruction surgery.

For the 2017 version of ‘Impostora’, Kris Bernal will breathe life into two different individuals. At first, Kris will play the ugly street vendor Nimfa, but through plastic surgery, she will be transformed into the beautiful and rich woman named Rosette who seeks to escape from her husband Homer, played by Rafael Rosell.

‘Impostora’ will also star Ryan Eigenmann, Assunta de Rossi, Elizabeth Oropesa, Aicelle Santos, Vaness del Moral, Rita Daniela, Leandro Baldemor, Sinon Loresca, Yuan Francisco, Dayara Shane, and James Blanco. The series will be directed by Albert Langitan.

Initially, GMA announced that ‘Impostora’ was to begin on June 19, replacing ‘Legally Blind’. But the latter’s last-minute extension and change of ending forced the network to move its premiere to July 3.

Now that its run is about to begin, ‘Impostora’ is sure to face a very serious challenge. ABS-CBN afternoon series ‘Pusong Ligaw’ has enjoyed ratings of 16-17% in more recent episodes, and ‘Impostora’ has a daunting task of closing in, if not surpassing the former’s marks.

Come this Monday, it will be interesting to see how playing two characters of differing personalities will elevate the career of Kris Bernal. ‘Impostora’ may be her most serious series yet, but it could also be the one that she needs to become relevant again.

‘Impostora’ airs weekdays after ‘Ika-6 na Utos’ on GMA Afternoon Prime.

GMA’s Unstable Sabado Star Power Continues

Saturdays have been a source of frustration for GMA.

Once again, the Kapuso network decided to make a change in their Sabado Star Power afternoon lineup. Gone was ‘Laff, Camera, Action’, and in came ‘#Like’, the newest reality talent show hosted by Tom Rodriguez and internet sensation Balang.

‘#Like’ is a talent show featuring online sensations battling against each other in a barangay setting. To the surprise of no one, it is just another concept produced by the GMA Public Affairs team, whose penchant for producing non-news shows becomes more infectious and more criticized than ever.

The premiere of ‘#Like’ took place last September 3, but instead of replacing ‘Laff, Camera, Action’ on its 4:30 timeslot, GMA decided to air the said show after ‘Eat Bulaga’. As a result, this is the how the schedule looks like:

• 2:30 p.m. – #Like
• 3:00 p.m. – Karelasyon
• 4:00 p.m. – Wish Ko Lang
• 5:00 p.m. – Imbestigador

However, the change did little to improve the ratings. All four of GMA’s post-‘Eat Bulaga’ afternoon programs were on the losing end, with ‘Wish Ko Lang’ the least impressive at 9.4%.

Let’s face it, would’ve been better for ‘#Like’ to go up against ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’ instead of the last half-hour of ‘It’s Showtime’? Probably, given that Marc Logan’s show also features internet sensations and GMA would’ve loved to see that matchup.

Still, GMA had no regrets in making the change once again. However, they would have been better off if ‘Wish Ko Lang’ and ‘Imbestigador’ were to be cancelled, since they are no longer the same programs as they once were.

Meanwhile, another new program premiered last Saturday on the said network. The new show, ‘Superstar Duets’, replaced ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’, whose run finally ended after seven months.

Based on the format alone, ‘Superstar Duets’ appears to be the second coming of ‘Celebrity Duets’, except that the celebrities in the show were paired alongside impersonators of foreign singers. The show is currently hosted by Jennylyn Mercado, with Allan K, Aicelle Santos and Christian Bautista serving as judges.

The premiere of ‘Superstar Duets’ didn’t quite impress many, as it earned a 13.2% rating. On the other hand, ‘Pinoy Big Brother Lucky Season 7’ fared much better with a 16.4% rating.

This is going to be a tough battle as far as ‘Superstar Duets’ were concerned. Though it has the potential to run just as long as ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ did, the possibility of winning remains tricky at best.