Farewell, Dolce Amore

ABS-CBN is calling tomorrow’s episode of ‘Dolce Amore’ ‘ The Most Beautiful Finale’.

And why not? After all, for over seven months, viewers were enthralled by the long-distance love story surrounding Tenten (Enrique Gil) and Serena (Liza Soberano). Their relationship may have some highs and lows as the story wore on, but come this Friday, all of that ‘kilig’ will finally pay off for good.

‘Dolce Amore’ first burst into the scene on February 15, replacing another hit drama in ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’. The series, which was taped in Italy early in its run, became an immediate hit, and in the process, dispelled the notion that LizQuen were a ‘one-hit wonder’ on television.

Along the way, ‘Dolce Amore’ prevailed against GMA’s own love teams in AnBie (Andre Paras and Barbie Forteza of ‘That’s My Amboy’) and AlNine (Aljur Abrenica and Janine Gutierrez of ‘Once Again’). As a result of ‘Dolce Amore”s thorough domination, GMA gave up the fight and placed the Koreanovela ‘Descendants of the Sun’ as a last resort.

Overall, ‘Dolce Amore’ lasted 137 episodes, which is ten episodes more than the combined total of rivals ‘That’s My Amboy’ (68 episodes) and ‘Once Again’ (59 episodes).  This was a testament to the success and enduring popularity of the LizQuen tandem, not to mention the storytelling magic of Cathy Garcia-Molina.

As ‘Dolce Amore’ enters its finale tomorrow night, one thing is certain. For the last time in the series, the magic of LizQuen will be on display, and viewers hope that this will be a memorable and unforgettable ending.

While tomorrow will be the end of the love story between Serena and Tenten, the story of LizQuen will go on. An upcoming film starring the love team is in the works, and is expected to be released later this year.

Coming up next on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida will be ‘Till I Met You’, starring another popular love team in JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre). More on that tomorrow.

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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.