No Surprise: Aljur Abrenica Joins ABS-CBN

It was a transfer three years in the making.

On Monday, July 31, former GMA contract artist Aljur Abrenica officially joined ABS-CBN in a deal that was of no surprise to everyone. Welcoming him on the Kapamilya camp are ABS-CBN executives and producers Laurenti Dyogi, Deo Endrinal and Cory Vidanes.

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Visitor of the day @ajabrenica with ABS-CBN bosses Deo Endrinal @montie08 Lauren Dyogi @laurentidyogi and Cory Vidanes @cvvidanes

A post shared by EJS (@ericjohnsalut) on Jul 31, 2017 at 1:33am PDT

A GMA contract artist and a ‘StarStruck’ alumnus for 11 years, Aljur’s tenure with the network has had some ups and downs. While the early part of his career was a fruitful one with a few successful projects, the last few years saw his stock drop dramatically.

In 2014, Aljur filed a petition to rescind his contract with GMA Network in hopes of restarting his career. Although Aljur and GMA settled the dispute nearly two years later, it was clear that his popular appeal was waning.

Proof of that was Aljur’s final GMA project ‘Once Again’. Paired alongside Janine Gutierrez, Aljur’s swan song turned out to be a bust, as ‘Once Again’ lasted only 59 episodes and was completely overwhelmed by the LizQuen-starred ‘Dolce Amore’.

Aljur was given no further projects by the network following the failure of ‘Once Again’, and his contract officially expired in March 2017. A few months later, speculation run rampant when Aljur suddenly appeared inside the ABS-CBN compound, hinting at the possibility of joining the network.

Although Aljur has yet to ink an exclusive contract with ABS-CBN, the network said a few projects and appearances are lined up for the actor. That said, it is likely that Aljur will be seen on ABS-CBN noontime shows ‘It’s Showtime’ and ‘ASAP’, and talk shows such as ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ while his upcoming projects are being planned.

There is also a possibility that Aljur and brother Vin will be seen together, but that will be for another time. In any case, Aljur’s decision to join the network should help resurrect his career, given that ABS-CBN has had a reputation of reviving an artist’s declining fortunes.

It remains to be seen if Aljur will be the latest in a series of Kapamilya reclamation projects, but with the right mindset, he could be on the path back to success. Good luck.

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Once Again Ends Quickly

Not even the story of reincarnation can save ‘Once Again’ from humiliation.

Tonight will mark the final episode of the short-lived GMA series that starred Aljur Abrenica and Janine Gutierrez. Lasting for only 59 episodes, ‘Once Again’ is a series that GMA should forget, due to its inability to overcome ‘Dolce Amore’ and the lack of good chemistry between Aljur and Janine.

It was obvious from the start that ‘Once Again’ will not become a hit. When it premiered on May 2, the series only mustered a national rating of 14.1%, 17.5% lower than ‘Dolce Amore’.

From there, the losses continued, as Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil continued to pummel the inexperienced Aljur and Janine love team. To make matters worse, GMA stopped promoting episode teasers for ‘Once Again’ following the first week of airing, as it has been the case in all other Kapuso teleseryes since April.

When it became clear that ‘Once Again’ can no longer handle this shame of losing, GMA decided to cut the series short. That said, with a run of only over two months, ‘Once Again’ is one of GMA’s shortest running teleseryes, the end result of a series that failed to overcome both the competition and the expectations that come with it.

At this point, both Aljur and Janine should feel disappointed about ‘Once Again”s short and uninspiring run. This hastily created love team failed to click from the beginning of the series, and despite the good reviews about its storyline, the results prove to be difficult to accept for the show’s producers and GMA management.

To make matters worse, brother Vin Abrenica and boyfriend Elmo Magalona are now enjoying the perks of success over on ABS-CBN. Perhaps Aljur and Janine should take a good look at the two on what they have been able to do to become successful.

Come this Friday night, it will be all over for ‘Once Again’. Whether or not GMA will keep the love team of Aljur Abrenica and Janine Gutierrez for future teleseryes remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: there will not be another ‘Once Again’ on GMA’s future plans.