It’s Showtime Brings Back Tawag ng Tanghalan

‘It’s Showtime’ has promised to do things their way this year.

No longer having the desire to oppose the popular Kalyeserye of ‘Eat Bulaga’, ‘It’s Showtime’ decided to clean house to begin the year. One of the changes they implemented was the revival of the iconic ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ singing competition as its main segment.

The original ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ was initially a radio program of the original Bolinao Electronics Corporation (forerunner of ABS-CBN) before making a successful jump to television. During its run in the 1950s and 1960s, the show discovered some of the industry’s future icons, such as Nora Aunor, Pepe Pimentel and Bobot Mortiz.

In the new ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’, four contestants face off in hopes of impressing the audience and the judges. The winner will receive P25,000 and may defend his/her crown against other contestants in subsequent episodes, while the runners-up will receive P5,000 as consolation.

In the event that a singer goes out of tune, a gong will be hit to signal the end of their performance. The gong will be operated by Jhong Hilario.

‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ on ‘It’s Showtime’ kicked off last Saturday, with Michelle Arcain of Davao emerging as the first winner of the revived competition. Arcain returned during Monday’s episode, but lost to Israel Alano of Batangas.

The segment is hosted by Vice Ganda, Amy Perez and Mariel Rodriguez-Padilla. The latter two were recently introduced as new co-hosts of ‘It’s Showtime’, and are no stranger to hosting variety shows.

Judges on ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ will vary each week. This week’s episodes will feature Rey Valera, Rico J. Puno, Bobot Moritz, Nyoy Volante and Yeng Constantino as judges.

After a tough 2015 where ‘It’s Showtime’ plummeted to new lows following the emergence of AlDub, they now begin 2016 with a clean slate. The hope of entertaining the ‘madlang pipol’ the only way they can is something they need to address, and the revived ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ is a good way to start.

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It’s Showtime Finds AlDub Antidote in Pastillas Girl, Or So They Thought

It appears that ‘It’s Showtime’ has found a solution in their battle against ‘Eat Bulaga’ and the AlDub phenomenon.

Enter viral video sensation ‘Pastillas Girl’ (real name Angelica Yap), who has appeared recently in the AdVice Ganda segment (an obvious copycat of ‘Eat Bulaga”s defunct Problem Solving segment). On last Monday’s episode, Yap wanted to know when was the best time to fall in love again after a breakup.

Pastillas Girl’s question followed her revelation Friday in the same segment, where she opened up about her ex-boyfriend falling in love with her best friend. On Monday, the hosts of ‘It’s Showtime’ were willing to find her a new flame, only to see an audience member stand up in hopes of winning the heart of Pastillas Girl.

The audience member wasn’t the only one, though. Thousands on Twitter also volunteered in hopes of earning Pastillas Girl’s love, but in the end, it was Jess Verano Senido who caught their attention, with Vice Ganda going as far as inviting Senido on a future episode just for this chance meeting.

The skit became the top national and global trending topic on Twitter, outtrending the ‘Kalyeserye’ segment where Alden Richards and Maine ‘Yaya Dub’ Mendoza regained their ‘kilig’ ways. For ‘It’s Showtime’, it was a rare victory against the AlDub phenomenon.

Not all were pleased with the segment, however. Some thought it was an imitation of the ‘Kalyeserye’ that AlDub popularized, as ‘It’s Showtime’ attempted to create a similarly spontaneous and unexpected love team with Pastillas Girl.

Still, it was good to see ‘It’s Showtime’ regain some measure of confidence. But whether or not the Pastillas Girl segments will result in improved ratings remains to be seen.

Until then, AlDub remains on top for now, unless ‘It’s Showtime’ finds a way to make good use of Pastillas Girl.