Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids Finale This Sunday, Plus The Voice Teens Next Week

Palm and Easter Sunday will have a respective finale and a premiere of two hit ABS-CBN talent shows.

On Palm Sunday weekend, ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ will officially close the curtain on its first season. The finale will see all eight celebrity kids duke it out one last time for a chance to become this season’s grand winner.

Premiering on January 7, 2017, ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ became the latest in a series of hit talent shows on the Kapamilya network. Much of its success has to do with the eight celebrity kids and their uncanny ability to replicate the mannerisms of the artists they imitate.

Whether they cheer for AC Bonifacio, Awra Briguela, Justin Alva, Alonzo Muhlach, Elha Nympha, Lyca Gairanod, Sam Shoaf or Xia Vigor, they were rewarded with memorable performances that are both astonishing and unreal. It is these visual images which made ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ a hit to all audiences.

Come this Sunday, only one of them will win it all. That said, good luck to the eight celebrity kids in their quest to become the grand winner.

Then on Easter Sunday, ‘The Voice Teens’ Philippines (only the second in the franchise after Colombia) premieres on ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar”s vacated slot. This latest season of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ franchise will inherit the same team of judges that presided in Season 3 of ‘The Voice Kids’, save for one returning judge.

After not taking part in Season 3 of ‘The Voice Kids’ due to her busy performing schedule, Sarah Geronimo decided to return to the judges’ table for ‘The Voice Teens’. She will join holdovers Lea Salonga, Sharon Cuneta and Bamboo Mañalac.

As for the hosts of ‘The Voice Teens’, it will be Luis Manzano and Toni Gonzaga who will take the helm. Auditions for this new season took place earlier this year, and the first few episodes of ‘The Voice Teens’ will show some of the highlights leading up to the blind auditions.

‘The Voice Teens’ will air every Saturday after ‘Home Sweetie Home’ (the first Saturday episode will be seen on April 22), and every Sunday after ‘Goin’ Bulilit’ on ABS-CBN.

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OTWOL, Pasion de Amor Enter Final Week

‘Pasion de Amor’ and ‘On the Wings of Love’ are down to their last five episodes.

The former, first premiered on June 1, 2015, was a remake of the original Colombian telenovela that once aired on ABS-CBN. While the original was a decent success, this localized version of ‘Pasion de Amor’ became an unexpected hit, and in the process blew out the competition (at least until ‘Wowowin’ entered the picture).

Throughout its run, viewers were constantly hooked to the sensually passionate, and at times unpredictable love story involving the Samonte brothers (Jake Cuenca, Ejay Falcon, Joseph Marco) and Elizondo sisters (Ellen Adarna, Coleen Garcia, Arci Muñoz). The presence of villains such as Gabriel (Wendell Ramos) and Gabriela (Teresa Loyzaga) only added fuel to the fire.

On the other hand, the latter, first premiered August 10, 2015, marked the first foray of the JaDine (James Reid, Nadine Lustre) love team into the small screen. Based on their success in films such as ‘Diary ng Panget’ and ‘My Hopeless Romantic’, a lot of expectations were raised for the duo.

These expectations were soon met and exceeded, as ‘On the Wings of Love’ became an immediate success in its timeslot. The series was not without controversy, however, as one stripping scene involving Clark (James) and Leah (Nadine) received negative remarks from the Philippine National Police.

With a final total of 194 and 145 episodes, respectively, there is no doubt that ‘Pasion de Amor’ and ‘On the Wings of Love’ have become one of ABS-CBN’s most successful teleseryes in recent years. While GMA’s own programs tried hard to keep up with the two series, the gap in the ratings proved too much to overcome.

As ‘Pasion de Amor’ and ‘On the Wings of Love’ head to their final week, what fate awaits the former’s Samonte brothers and Elizondo sisters, and the latter’s Clark and Leah? Find out this week as the two series conclude.

In 100 Words: Pasion de Amor Remake Coming Soon on ABS-CBN

A new teleserye is coming to ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold.

On Monday, May 4, the Kapamilya network released the intital teaser to ‘Pasion de Amor’, the localized adaptation of the Colombian telenovela ‘Pasion de Gavilanes’. The original first aired in Colombia in 1994, and was later broadcast on ABS-CBN a decade later.

In the teaser, three brothers – portrayed by Ejay Falcon, Jake Cuenca and Joseph Marco – sought revenge for the death of their sister by making three sisters from a rival family – portrayed by Ellen Adarna, Arci Munoz and Coleen Garcia – fall in love with them.

‘Pasion de Amor’ is scheduled to premiere within the month of June, with the possibility of moving no later than the third quarter of this year.

The Return of the Telenovela to Philippine Free TV

Telenovelas, or the more distinguishable term Latinovelas, are making a comeback to free TV in the Philippines.

The genre, once dominant in the afternoon and evening drama blocks of the major networks, were essentially an endangered species once ‘Meteor Garden’ and other Asianovelas began to invade the small screen. Then in late 2011, the Telenovela Channel was introduced, giving dramas from Latin America a new lease on life.

Since the creation of the Telenovela Channel, several free TV networks have attempted to resuscitate the fading popularity of the telenovela. In 2013, GMA aired the Colombian series ‘Lola’ (or ‘Bella Calamidades’) . Unfortunately for the Kapuso network, low ratings forced the management to stop airing the telenovela before it can be finished.

Also that same year, Studio 23 (now ABS-CBN Sports+Action) aired the original version of the hit ABS-CBN teleserye ‘Nasaan Ka, Elisa?’. Titled ‘Donde Esta Elisa?’, the original series aired during the first half of 2013.

Then in June of this year, IBC-13 and Asian Television Content Corporation aired ‘The Two Sides of Ana’ and ‘La Teniente’ on the ‘ATC @ IBC’ block. Unlike GMA’s unexpected pullout of ‘Lola’, both IBC and ATC were more than willing to finish both series, despite their low ratings in a competitive primetime environment.

Two months later, ABS-CBN decided to bring the telenovela back to their lineup. The Brazilian drama ‘Ana Manuela’, scheduled to air starting August 18, will be the network’s first telenovela since ‘Frijolito’ in 2011.

While ABS-CBN has enjoyed ratings success over the past couple of years, the reintroduction of the telenovela is considered to be their biggest gamble yet. Nevertheless, the network hopes that ‘Ana Manuela’, like the other programs on ‘Kapamilya Gold’, will perform very well in the ratings.

The telenovela, once considered endangered on free TV thanks to Asianovelas, are relevant once again. Now the question is, how long will they remain in the minds of the viewers? Only time will tell.