La Banda: ABS-CBN’s Answer to To the Top

‘To the Top’, you’ve got company.

Just recently, ABS-CBN announced audition dates for the upcoming boyband search show ‘La Banda’. The auditions will take place on the following dates:

• June 10: Robinsons Place Pangasinan
• June 11-12: Starmall San Jose del Monte Bulacan
• June 15-16: Centrio Mall Cagayan de Oro
• June 17-18: KCC Mall Zamboanga
• June 18-19: Starmall Alabang
• June 22: KCC Mall General Santos
• June 24-25: Pacific Mall Legazpi

The auditions will begin at 7:00 a.m. Boys aged 14-25 years old and with the ability to both dance and sing are welcome in this competition.

The latest international franchise acquired by ABS-CBN, ‘La Banda’ was created by Simon Cowell and was produced by Univision. The original show, which emphasized on the formation of a Latin American boyband, was aired on Univision in late 2015.

However, this is not the first time that a boyband talent search show will air on Philippine television. Nearly a year ago, GMA did the same thing when they produced ‘To the Top’ in conjunction with GMA Public Affairs.

Unlike GMA, however, ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs will have no involvement in the making of ‘La Banda’. Considering how poorly-received ‘To the Top’ was when it aired, it was only appropriate for ABS-CBN to let the ever-strong entertainment group do the talking rather than share the blame with its news department.

Over the next several weeks, ABS-CBN will have the responsibility of picking the best young boys who will have what it takes to be in a boyband. In the meantime, wait for further updates regarding the hosts and judges of ‘La Banda’.

‘La Banda: the Making of the Pinoy Boyband’ is expected to premiere during the third quarter of this year. Date and time will be determined soon.

For more information on the auditions, go to ABS-CBN’s official website or on their social media accounts for details.

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Quick Turnaround for My Mother’s Secret with Pasion de Amor Premiere

A quick turnaround ensues for ‘My Mother’s Secret’.

After premiering against ‘Inday Bote’ this week, the series will enter its second week with a new opponent on the horizon. Taking over ‘Inday Bote”s slot this Monday on ABS-CBN will be ‘Pasion de Amor’, the localized remake of the original telenovela ‘Pasion de Gavilantes’.

The focus of the series will be on a trio of brothers from one family who fell in love with a trio of sisters from another in order to avenge the death of the former’s sister. The sister’s death was the result of her love affair with the latter family’s patriarch, whose wife murdered them as retribution.

Jake Cuenca (as Juan Samonte), Ejay Falcon (as Oscar Samonte) and Joseph Marco (as Franco Samonte) will play the role of the three brothers. Ellen Adarna (as Sari Elizondo), Coleen Garcia (as Jamie Elizondo) and Arci Muñoz (as Norma Elizondo) will play the role of the three sisters.

Supporting roles will be provided by Teresa Loyzaga, Aubrey Miles, Michelle Madrigal, Ahron Villena, Ingrid Dela Paz, Daria Ramirez, Alex Castro, AJ Dee, Ron Morales, Zeppi Borromeo, Ashley Rivera, Benj Bolivar, Nathaniel Britt, Mauro Lumba and June Macasaet. Ronaldo Valdez will appear in a special participation.

The original ‘Pasion de Amor’ (titled ‘Pasion de Gavilantes’ in Latin America) first aired on ABS-CBN in the late 2000s as an afternoon drama, and it starred Mexican telenovela star Mario Cimarro. When the original teaser was first shown, the network intended to air the series on Kapamilya Gold, with the premiere date set in May of this year.

But with ‘Flordeliza’, ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ and the Koreanovela ‘Let’s Get Married’ still on the air, the Kapamilya network decided to move the series to the Primetime Bida block instead. As a result, the remake will feature less of the suggestive sultriness that was prevalent in the original series, in order to appeal to younger audiences at the 5:50 p.m. slot.

‘Pasion de Amor”s entrance next week should cause some concern for ‘My Mother’s Secret’, whose first week was off to an inauspicious start. If the first five episodes are any indication, then the latter series is in for a rude awakening.

‘Pasion de Amor’ airs starting this Monday before ‘TV Patrol’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

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.