The Voice PH II Finale, Plus Heart-Chiz Wedding This Weekend

‘The Voice of the Philippines’ season 2 is down to the last four standing, with the winner to be declared this Sunday. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

Four worthy singers, two days, one champion.

The second season of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ concludes with one of the most highly-anticipated finales to date. On February 28 and March 1, the last singers standing on Team Bamboo, Team Lea, Team Apl and Team Sarah will go head-to-head in hopes of joining Season 1 winner Mitoy Yonting on the winners’ circle.

TVPH’s ‘Final Four’ consists of Rence Rapanot (Team Bamboo), Alisah Bonaobra (Team Apl), Jason James Dy (Team Sarah), and Leah Patricio (Team Lea). These four finalists not only survived pressure-packed decisions from their judges, but also testy votes from viewers, in order to make it to the finale.

Since the new season debuted in October, ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ has remained a consistent top-rater and a major trending presence on Twitter. Expect the finale to do the same.

‘The Voice of the Philippines’ season 2 final performance show will air live this Saturday after ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’, while the final results show will also air live this Sunday after ‘Rated K’.

And for those who still feel ‘The Voice Fever’, don’t worry. A new season of ‘The Voice Kids’ is coming soon, as auditions for the kids’ edition are already underway.

Meanwhile, a different kind of special will be aired on GMA this and next Sunday.

The wedding of Heart Evangelista (real-life name Love Marie Ongpauco) and Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero will have a two-part special on March 1 and 8. The first part, to be aired this Sunday, will have highlights of the despedida de soltera, followed by the wedding that was held at the Balesin Island Club in Quezon.

The second part, to be aired next Sunday, will focus on the reception that was held at the Blue Leaf Filipinas in Paranaque City. It was hosted by Tim Yap and Christian Bautista, with performances from the Kapuso network’s resident artists.

Fresh from the decently positive reception of the Marian Rivera-Dingdong Dantes wedding special last month, GMA now hopes to keep the good times rolling with the Heart-Chiz wedding special. Then again, they have tough competition in the ratings department, so good luck with that.

The Heart-Chiz wedding special will be seen as part of ‘Sunday Night Box Office’.

 

 

‘Marian’ Ends Tomorrow. Will ‘Bet ng Bayan’ Finally Air on Saturdays Too?

Take a bow, Marian Rivera.

After over five months, ‘Marian’ will officially air its final episode tomorrow. The dance show’s finale will feature a dance number starring Rivera and her fiance Dingdong Dantes, along with highlights of their ‘Despedida de Soltera’.

No third season will be produced, as Rivera expressed the need for rest in preparation of her wedding on December 30.

Debuting on June 21, ‘Marian’ hoped to be GMA’s solution to its ongoing ratings woes on Saturday evenings. Instead, the show failed to live up to the hype, losing on a consistent basis to ABS-CBN rivals ‘The Voice Kids’, ‘Wansapanatym’, and ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ during its run.

While Marian Rivera was undoubtedly GMA’s top female star, the fact that their biggest asset failed to deliver in the ratings may have affected the network’s morale. The truth is, ‘Marian’ was basically intended to keep her on television, but as it turned out, not even her skill in dancing can keep audiences interested.

Looking ahead, GMA will now have a vacancy to fill on their Saturday night lineup come December 13. The question is, will ‘Bet ng Bayan’ fill that void?

When the second season of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ added a Saturday edition on November 8, it gave GMA a huge mismatch. This forced the Kapuso network to switch the timeslots of both ‘Marian’ and ‘Magpakailanman’ the following week, but even with that change, it still failed to beat the former.

Meanwhile, the first two months of ‘Bet ng Bayan”s run had been uneventful. The reality talent show would have given ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ a run for their money*, but instead, they were handcuffed by the lack of airtime space on Saturday nights, and the extended running time of ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ on Sunday nights.

That said, getting rid of the 15-minute recap shows on weeknights in favor of a 90-minute episode on Saturday nights should give ‘Bet ng Bayan’ a more competitive spot on weekends. More importantly, it should provide a little more breathing room for GMA Telebabad to thrive upon.

Still, the fate of the vacated timeslot of ‘Marian’ will be up to GMA management. Hopefully they make the right decision as soon as possible.

Note: ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ season 2 debuted on October 26, three weeks after ‘Bet ng Bayan’ premiered.*