Star Circle Quest Returns as Segment of It’s Showtime

‘Star Circle Quest’ returns soon as a segment of ABS-CBN’s ‘It’s Showtime’. (Screenshot and logos courtesy of ABS-CBN)

Remember ‘Star Circle Quest’?

Before ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ became the so-called ‘instant ticket’ to stardom for some of ABS-CBN’s top stars, there was the reality talent search show called ‘Star Circle Quest’. Between 2004 and 2011, two teen and three kids editions of SCQ were produced, and several of its alumni made their mark in the business.

While ‘Star Circle Quest’ proved to be no match for ‘StarStruck’ in terms of popularity and star factor, it was nevertheless credited for discovering stars that soon became mainstays on ABS-CBN programming. Here is a look at some of the network’s most memorable personalities whose careers began as Questors on the show:

• Sandara Park
• Joross Gamboa
• Roxanne Guinoo
• Melissa Ricks
• Michelle Madrigal
• Nash Aguas
• Sharlene San Pedro
• Erich Gonzales
• Jason Abalos
• Arron Villaflor
• Bugoy Carino
• Izzy Canillo
• Xyriel Manabat

Six years after its last edition aired, ABS-CBN announced that ‘Star Circle Quest’ will be revived as a segment of ‘It’s Showtime’. Auditions for the segment commenced last month, with teenagers aged 13 to 19 years old trying to impress the judges with their dancing, singing and acting skills.

As SCQ will now be relegated into a segment of ‘It’s Showtime’, reality show elements will be minimized due to the live nature of the program. Nevertheless, for the many people who became fans of SCQ from the beginning, the prospect of its revival is an exciting one to say the least.

ABS-CBN has yet to announce the start date of the competition, so stay tuned for further updates.

In a related development, a kids’ edition of ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ will take the place of the just-concluded adult edition starting today. Auditions for the competition were well underway, and will follow the same format as the original.

And finally, a second installment of ‘Funny One’ will also begin soon. Auditions for ‘Funny One’ began last month alongside SCQ, with the aim of discovering the country’s next great comedian.

The resurgence of ‘It’s Showtime’ following the Pastillas Girl-Kalyeserye debacle is a breath of fresh air for ABS-CBN. And following the success of ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’, expect a lot more from the show once it unveils ‘Star Circle Quest’, ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids’ and ‘Funny One’ to its menu.

AlDub Popularity A Big Concern for It’s Showtime

There is no stopping ‘Eat Bulaga”s increasingly popular AlDub tandem.

The accidental duo of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza a.k.a. Yaya Dub has been on a roll in the last month. Ratings for ‘Eat Bulaga’ continued to rise, while netizens took to social media in increasing numbers to show support and concern for the love team.

Speaking of netizens, this was how ‘It’s Showtime’, like most ABS-CBN programs, enjoyed success in the last few years. But the tables now seem to turn against them once AlDub took to the airwaves.

An example of this was during the grand finals of the Funny One segment (won by Ryan Rems Sarita). Held on the same day as ‘Eat Bulaga”s ill-fated wedding between Yaya Dub and Frankie A. Arinoli (played by Jose Manalo), the Funny One finals did earn a spot among Twitter’s trending topics.

There was only one problem: AlDub was one step better on Twitter, both nationally and globally. Even though ‘It’s Showtime’ beat ‘Eat Bulaga’ on Kantar’s ratings last August 8, it was a 2-1 win for the latter, who managed to win AGB Nielsen’s ratings on that day.

This following week, ‘It’s Showtime’ promoted Ryan Rems to a regular host. But not even a promotion and a subsequent segment between Ryan, Vice Ganda and the five other Funny One finalists was good enough for ‘It’s Showtime’, as ratings and social media impact continue to widely favor ‘Eat Bulaga’ and its ‘Kalyeserye’.

As a result, according to various tabloids, the producers of ‘It’s Showtime’ are now forced to convene on a daily basis in an attempt to figure out a way to beat AlDub. They hope that these productive meetings could help ‘It’s Showtime’ regain their winning ways.

Then again, ABS-CBN is no stranger to losing to ‘Eat Bulaga’ whenever the latter responded with a more popular segment. Remember how Laban o Bawi helped ‘Eat Bulaga’ beat ‘Magandang Tanghali, Bayan’ for good?

The Kapamilya network can only hope that ‘It’s Showtime’ won’t become the second coming of MTB. The AlDub phenomenon can be beaten, and now it’s up to ‘It’s Showtime’ to respond with a stronger segment.