Next Up for The Greatest Love: Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa

GMA’s push for movie remakes on television continues.

After the not-so successful run of ‘Sinungaling Mong Puso’ last year, GMA is attempting to turn another classic movie into a hit teleserye. This time, the target is the 1987 film ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’, directed by Ishmael Bernal and starred Maricel Soriano, Lorna Tolentino and Gabby Concepcion.

The TV remake of ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’, to be directed by Gina Alajar and Aya Topacio, will star Julie Anne San Jose, LJ Reyes, Martin del Rosario and Benjamin Alves. They will be joined by Ms. Jean Garcia, Ara Mina, Victor Neri, Allan Paule, Geleen Eugenio, Janna Dominguez and Lharby Policarpio.

In this version of ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’, Santina (Julie Anne) is an orphaned girl who wound up working in a restaurant owned by Diony (Jean). Angeli (LJ) on the other hand is a homeless woman whom Diony later adopted.

Along the way, the lives of both Santina and Angeli took a more drastic turn as they try to gain the attention of Ephraim (Benjamin), Santina’s childhood friend. Both Ephraim and Angeli’s troubled past will also be revealed, both through Diony and Mariz (Ara).

Hype for ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’ has been heavy since its official announcement late last year. In fact, one of the series’ teasers featured a slapping scene involving Santina and Angeli in bathing suits, which set the tone for arguably another of the most seriously-toned series in Philippine television.

Still, despite all the frequent promotion, it remains to be seen if ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’ will give ‘The Greatest Love’ a run for its money. The ABS-CBN series has been on a roll of late thanks to Sylvia Sanchez’s harrowing portrayal of an Alzheimer’s-stricken mother, and for ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’, they will be hard-pressed to match the former’s momentum.

That said, ‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa”s first week will be a crucial one. Anyone who have seen the original film will look at it and see if the TV remake is worth watching.

‘Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa’ premieres this Monday after ‘Hahamakin ang Lahat’ on GMA Afternoon Prime.

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A New Rival for ‘The Voice Kids 2’

‘The Voice Kids’ season 2 will be having a new rival.

Opposing the hit ABS-CBN singing talent show soon will be GMA’s first multi-platform boyband competition in the Philippines, ‘To the Top’. Produced by GMA News and Public Affairs, this program aims to discover the country’s next great boyband.

Unlike other talent shows in the country, ‘To the Top’ did not conduct open auditions. Instead, it invited the best male singers from different schools and organizations to join and audition for the final 25 slots.

‘To the Top’ initially aired as an online-exclusive series where they document the journey of each finalist from being soloists/group members to being members of a boyband. These webisodes were hosted by Julian Trono, who was intensively trained in KPop.

The remaining 25 finalists were then trimmed to 14, with the 11 eliminated finalists competing for four wildcard slots that was decided through social media votes. The 18 finalists who will see action in the televised portion of the series are:

• AJ Ajrouche
• Lance Busa
• Ken Carpena
• Mico Cruz
• Cholo dela Cruz
• Martin de Vera
• Luis Gragera
• Joshua Jacobe
• MJ Magno
• Miko Manguba
• Seph Manlapaz
• Bryan Olano
• JP Palanca
• Adrian Pascual
• Louie Pedroso
• Lharby Policarpio
• Edric Ulang
• Chris Yumang

The 18 singers will then be divided into groups of six, and will be housed together and undergo further vocal and dance training in preparation for their performances. They will then be judged based on their singing and dancing ability, as well as their cohesiveness.

The panel of judges will be led by accomplished composer Ryan Cayabyab, and will be joined by The CompanY’s Moy Ortiz, Sweet Plantado and OJ Mariano. The quartet will also act as vocal coaches for the three groups.

The dance coaches will be Philippine Allstars alunmi and two-time World Hip-Hop champions Madelle and Prince Paltu-ob, and international breakdance champion Reflex Gotangco. The sound and music department will be led by Sonic State Audio’s Jonathan Ong, along with Chino David, Chrisanthony Vinzons and Brian Lotho.

‘To the Top’ was originally scheduled to air this Saturday, July 18, but for some unknown reason, it was moved to July 25. The show is expected to compete against ‘The Voice Kids’ season 2, which is currently on a hot streak as far as ratings are concerned.

By all accounts, GMA should have their hands full in this latest endeavor. Opposing ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ and its kids edition has been a difficult ordeal for the network, having seen its most recent talent show ‘Bet ng Bayan’ fail against the said ABS-CBN program.

That said, a daunting task awaits ‘To the Top’ as it nears its premiere. Will this show provide a tougher competition to ‘The Voice Kids’, or will it fall in the same manner as ‘Bet ng Bayan’? We’ll see.