entertainment, live events, Philippines, television

The Month of Beauty Pageants: Miss World on GMA, Miss Universe on ABS-CBN

It has been an eventful month for Filipinas in various beauty pageants.

The Miss Earth pageant, an event dominated by Filipinas of late, was won by Karen Ibasco. Then in the Reina Hispanoamericana, Winwyn Marquez provided the upset of the year by becoming the first Filipina to win the pageant in the country’s debut appearance.

In the Miss Globe pageant, Nelda Ibe finished first runner-up, while Elizabeth Clenci earned a second runner-up finish in the 2017 Miss Grand International. Unfortunately, Mariel de Leon failed to maintain the Philippines’ momentum in beauty pageants as she was eliminated in the preliminary rounds of the 2017 Miss International.

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Nevertheless, the Philippines still has four more beauty pageants to participate before the year ends. Two of them will take place this month and both seem to be the most prestigious of them all.

This Saturday, November 18, the 2017 Miss World will take place in Sanya, China. The Philippines will be represented by Laura Lehmann, a former Binibining Pilipinas participant and UAAP courtside reporter.

The 2017 Miss World will be aired on GMA, albeit on a delayed basis. That said, spoiler alerts are expected to come in social media due to GMA’s loaded programming situation.

Then on November 27, the Miss Universe pageant will take place in Las Vegas. Representing the Philippines will be Rachel Peters, a Filipina-British beauty.

ABS-CBN and FOXlife will share the exclusive Philippine rights to the 2017 Miss Universe. The said pageant will broadcast live at around 8:00 a.m.

Rounding up the 2017 beauty pageant season are the Miss Supranational and the Miss Intercontinental pageants. Chanel Thomas and Katarina Rodriguez will represent the country in their respective pageants, which will take place on December 1 and December 21.

Neither pageant will be aired on television, however. Nevertheless, expect the two representatives to exude the same pride and determination that this month’s achievers accomplished.

Looking ahead to the Miss World and Miss Universe, it will be interesting to see how Laura Lehmann and Rachel Peters fare in their respective pageants. With all the momentum in the Philippines’ favor, one can only hope that the two will have what it takes to bag another crown for the country.

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drama, entertainment, Philippines, television

No Replacement for MariMar, At Least for Two Weeks

‘MariMar officially concludes tomorrow, but its replacement ‘That’s My Amboy’ will not be seen until January 25.  (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

GMA is taking a ‘less is more’ approach on Telebabad. at least for the next two weeks.

Tomorrow night marks the final episode of ‘MariMar’, the second Filipino remake of the classic Mexican telenovela. The series, starring Megan Young as the titular character, will officially end with a total of 100 episodes.

High expectations awaited this version of ‘MariMar’ when it first premiered on August 24, 2015. After all, the original starring Thalia and the first remake starring Marian Rivera were each big hits when they were aired here.

Unfortunately for GMA, the new ‘MariMar’ failed to make an impact in the ratings. The series lost regularly to both ‘Nathaniel’ and ‘Ang Probinsyano’, forcing GMA to consider moving ‘MariMar’ to a later timeslot, only to renege on that promise.

Looking back, it is clear that this ‘MariMar’ was a letdown for the Kapuso network. The series was supposed to be a hit, bar none, but with viewers already used to the story, not to mention a shorter wait between remakes and tougher competition from Primetime Bida, it lost its appeal.

In the end, it was a mistake that GMA would like to forget. For Megan Young, the comeback trail following her victory at the Miss World pageant was a rough one to begin with.

So what’s next for GMA after ‘MariMar’? GMA has already confirmed that ‘That’s My Amboy’, the follow-up project of ‘The Half-Sisters’ stars Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras, will replace ‘MariMar’, but the series will not begin until January 25.

This means that for the next two weeks, GMA Telebabad will only have five programs on the menu, with two teleseryes highlighting the lineup. The schedule is as follows:

5:45 p.m. – The Producers

6:30 p.m. – 24 Oras

7:45 p.m. – Little Nanay

8:30 p.m. – Because of You

9:15 p.m. – Kapuso Primetime Cinema

With only two local dramas starting this Monday, GMA Telebabad is at a clear disadvantage against Primetime Bida’s five teleseryes. Both ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘Because of You’ will now face ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’; an obvious mismatch ratings-wise.

That said, the next two weeks will be a difficult one for Telebabad. While waiting for ‘That’s My Amboy’ (‘The Half-Sisters’ ends January 15, hence the delayed premiere), viewers will need to endure watching only two teleseryes on GMA’s primetime lineup.

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drama, entertainment, Korea, Philippines, television

GMA’s Post-StarStruck Response is a Koreanovela, Plus No Miss World Telecast

A new Koreanovela will kick things off for GMA Telebabad.

Tonight will be the premiere of ‘The Producers’, a recently-aired Korean drama series starring Kim Soo-hyun, Cha Tae-hyun, Gong Hyo-jin and IU. The series is produced by the same group who created another hit Korean drama in ‘My Love from the Star’.

This brings the total number of current Asianovelas on GMA to three. Two of them (‘Someone Like You’, ‘Ice Adonis’) form part of the network’s Heart of Asia Mornings block.

Unfortunately for GMA, ‘The Producers’ will be up against ‘Pasion de Amor’, the ABS-CBN teleserye that continues to heat up the ratings with each intense scene. Combined with waning interest in the Koreanovela genre, and a programming mismatch ensues between the two shows.

That said, it will be a very tough challenge for GMA and ‘The Producers’ to rekindle the once-popular Koreanovela genre. Whether or not they will accomplish that remains to be seen.

‘The Producers’ airs weeknights at 5:50 p.m., before ’24 Oras’ on GMA Telebabad.

No Televised Broadcast of Miss World

The 2015 Miss World was held last Saturday, with Spain’s Mireia Lalaguna winning the crown. The Philippines’ Miss World representative, Hillarie Parungao, finished in the top ten.

Unfortunately, despite the presence of ‘MariMar’ star and 2013 winner Megan Young as one of the pageant’s hosts, this year’s Miss World was not televised at all in the Philippines. The reason: GMA’s concurrent live broadcast of ‘StarStruck: The Final Judgment’, won by Migo Adecer and Klea Pineda.

There was also no delayed broadcast of the said pageant the following day, as GMA realized it was not worth it given the country’s Miss World bet only made the top ten. News reports were also absent on GMA News programs within days of the event; the only Miss World-related report is of Parungao’s return to the country.

With GMA unable to air this year’s Miss World (even though they aired the Miss World Philippines pageant two months earlier), it may be a better idea for the organizers to find a new network for subsequent Miss World and Miss World Philippines pageants. GMA’s non-commitment to a Miss World broadcast is not a good sign for their relationship, and worse, a black eye for the embattled network.

That said, next year’s Miss World will provide a lot of questions to prospective coverors. Will there ever be another broadcast of Miss World in the Philippines? Only time will tell.

Postscript: Speaking of beauty pageants, congratulations to Pia Wurtzbach for winning the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, albeit with the help of a premature announcement of Miss Colombia’s victory by host Steve Harvey. The victory of the Philippines’ Wurtzbach should help spike the event’s ratings on ABS-CBN this week. 

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entertainment, Philippines, television

Megan Young Wins Miss World 2013

The 2013 Miss World was held at Bali, Indonesia. Amid protests by the hardline Muslim groups, the event proceeded as scheduled. A record 126 candidates from around the world participated in the pageant, but one of them would make history for the archipelago of over 1,700 islands.

Heading into the contest, the PhilippinesMegan Young was considered one of the top contenders for the title, and she proved worthy of the crown by winning the Top Model challenge and finishing in the top five of the Beach Fashion and Multimedia Award contests. Those placings, along with the online votes she received heading into the tournament, helped her become the first Filipino to win the coveted Miss World crown. Second place in the pageant went to France’s Marine Lorphelin, while Ghana‘s Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter earned third place honors.

Young’s victory was validated by this confident answer to the question ‘Why should you be crowned Miss World?’. She then replied, ‘I treasure a core value of humanity and that guides people why they act the way they do. I will use this to show other people how they can understand each other… as one, we can help society.’

The journey of Megan Young to the Miss World crown was enthusiastically followed by many fans through social media, and once her victory was validated, the Miss World contest and its related terms quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.  Young also won the contest despite the British media’s attempt to support her disqualification by using her controversial Rogue magazine cover the previous year.

While Young’s victory quickly made the rounds of both social media and online news outlets, the main coveror GMA aired the contest not knowing that the winner had already been revealed. The Kapuso network started airing the Miss World pageant at around 10 p.m., several minutes after Young’s victory was made public. They would not air it live because it would affect their other programs. But with social media starting to become a force in the entertainment industry, GMA should have pre-empted their other programs just for this occasion. Instead they carried on with their other programs for fear of losing the ratings battle with ABS-CBN.

Nevertheless, it was an ultimate victory for the Philippines. Megan Young’s victory was the country’s first for a major beauty pageant since Precious Lara Quigaman‘s 2005 Miss International victory. And along with Mutya Datul’s victory at the Miss Supranational, it only gave the Philippines some added motivation and hope heading into the Miss Universe pageant, with Ariella Arida as its standard-bearer.

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entertainment, Philippines, television

In 100 Words: Miss World Philippines

At the Solaire Resort and Casino last night, actress Megan Young, currently seen on TV5’s ‘Misibis Bay’, won the 2013 Miss World Philippines, and will represent the country in the 2013 Miss World this September 28 in Indonesia. The result was not surprising, considering Young is among the most popular and well-recognized showbiz personalities today.

Aired on GMA’sSunday Night Box Office‘, Miss World Philippines is expected to outdraw ABS-CBN’sGandang Gabi Vice‘ once the ratings figures for the week were published. This despite the fact that the broadcast was aired on tape delay. The event also trended on social media outlets such as Twitter, with many showing their appreciation on Young’s victory.

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