Ogie Added to Home Sweetie Home, Now Up Against Bitoy Every Saturday

From co-stars to opponents.

Ogie Alcasid and Michael V were the faces of ‘Bubble Gang’ for a majority of the show’s run. Many of ‘Bubble Gang”s most memorable skits were focused on the two men, whether it is Yaya and Angelina, Cheche Bureche, Pickup Lines or the Sexballs boy group.

However, Ogie moved on from ‘Bubble Gang’ and GMA in 2013, and after a three-year spell with the then-TV5, he joined ABS-CBN last year. Yet despite gaining prominence as an occasional performer on ‘ASAP’, as well as composer and judge on several ABS-CBN talent shows, the itch to rekindle those comedic chops soon got the best of him.

Earlier this week, ABS-CBN announced that Ogie Alcasid would be added to the cast of the sitcom ‘Home Sweetie Home’. Ogie’s role in the sitcom will be similar to what Jodi Sta. Maria (‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso’) and Erich Gonzales (‘The Blood Sisters’) do: that of playing at least two different characters.

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Ogie Alcasid also joins the cast of “Home Sweetie Home.” He will play the roles of Ireneo and Irenea.

A post shared by ABS-CBN PR (@abscbnpr) on Mar 13, 2018 at 2:24am PDT

In ‘Home Sweetie Home’, Ogie plays fraternal twins Ireneo (or Neo) and Irenea. Neo is the childhood friend of Julie (Toni Gonzaga) who soon invests on the Walang Kapares pastry shop and restaurant, while Irenea becomes JP’s (Piolo Pascual) love interest.

With the addition of Ogie Alcasid to ‘Home Sweetie Home’, a very interesting subplot develops. ‘Home Sweetie Home”s archrival ‘Pepito Manaloto’ stars Michael V, and his former ‘Bubble Gang’ co-stars in Ogie and Rufa Mae Quinto now find themselves on the opposite side of the fence.

But don’t expect this rivalry to be a fierce one. In fact, off the camera, Ogie, Bitoy and Rufa Mae remain friendly to each other despite their different network allegiances.

Already one of ABS-CBN’s top-rated programs on Saturday nights, ‘Home Sweetie Home’ could only get better with the entry of one of the Philippines’ most versatile talents. Still, it will be interesting to see how Ogie’s addition will spice up this popular sitcom.

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New Season of Pilipinas Got Talent Premieres This Weekend

Another season of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ awaits.

Now on its sixth season, ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ will once again welcome some of the Philippines’ most unique and breathtaking talents. Whether they can sing, dance or perform spectacular and unusual feats of strength and skill, ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ has them all covered.

Joining in the fun are hosts Billy Crawford and Toni Gonzaga, along with judges Freddie Garcia, Angel Locsin, Robin Padilla and Vice Ganda. Also making its return will be the coveted Golden Buzzer, which will now be used by the hosts as well as the judges to determine which acts will make it straight to the semifinals.

Live auditions for ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ are currently underway, with the Visayas and Mindanao auditions already finished last month. For its opening salvo this weekend, the Metro Manila auditions will be showcased where the judges evaluate the area’s aspirants.

Last season’s ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ saw Power Duo emerge as champion, marking the first time in the show’s history that a non-singer won the competition. It also proved that ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ is more than just a typical sing and dance show, but rather a series in which all unique talents of various fields are given a chance to shine.

If last season was of any indication, then the upcoming sixth season of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ should expect more of the same, if not better. That said, it will be interesting to see how this year’s cast will hold their own in front of both the judges and viewers.

Of course, if anyone performs exceptionally well, then the Golden Buzzer will serve as their ultimate ticket to the highest level of competition. With that, good luck to all the up-and-coming acts who will grace the ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ stage.

‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ season 6 airs every Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ABS-CBN.

Love: GMA and ABS-CBN’s Common Theme for the 2017 Christmas Station ID

‘Just Love Ngayong Christmas’ or ‘Buong Pusong MaGMAhalan’.

ABS-CBN and GMA officially released their 2017 Christmas station IDs earlier this month. GMA unveiled theirs last November 6, while ABS-CBN premiered their version the following week.

This year’s central theme is ‘love’, and based on the titles of the two networks’ Christmas station IDs, one can think that they stole each other’s ideas. Looking at the two videos closely, there are some similarities between them, from the gathering of the artists and news personalities to the ordinary people being visited (or accompanied) by some of the stars.

But that is where the commonalities end. In ABS-CBN’s case, they incorporated the use of social media to convey their message, adding videos and photos shared by netizens of strangers who helped one another in times of distress and hopelessness.

ABS-CBN also spread some joy to the victims of the Marawi crisis through letters and donations sent by the network’s artists. That said, based on the context alone, it is clear that ABS-CBN has the more compelling approach to their Christmas station ID.

As of November 15, GMA’s Christmas station ID racked up nearly 450,000 views on YouTube. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN’s Christmas station ID earned over 690,000 views.

Considering that ABS-CBN’s version only made its debut two days ago, the overwhelmingly quick collection of views in such a short amount of time must have made Kapuso fans jealous. And who can blame them for producing a  Christmas station ID that failed to convey a meaningful message.

Last year, only ABS-CBN was able to produce a Christmas station ID as GMA opted for a series of animated shorts for their Christmas campaign. This year, GMA made a comeback by producing a Christmas station ID of their own, but after they were beaten to the punch anew by ABS-CBN, what chances will they have of making another one?

The following personalities listed here are the performers and writers behind the ABS-CBN and GMA Christmas station IDs.

Buong Pusong MaGMAhalan (a.k.a. MaGMAhalan ng Buong Puso)

Lyricists – BJ Camaya, Rexy Jolly Conopio, Jann Lopez

Composer – Len Calvo

Performers – Alden Richards, Mikee Quintos, Nar Cabico, Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos, Julie Anne San Jose

Just Love Ngayong Christmas

Lyricists – Lloyd Oliver Corpuz, Christian Faustino, Robert Labayen

Composer – Jimmy Antiporda

Performers – Sarah Geronimo, Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Piolo Pascual, Toni Gonzaga, Ogie Alcasid, Erik Santos, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Billy Crawford, Yeng Constantino et al

Overexposed Luis Manzano Finally Gets a Break

Luis Manzano had a three-year stretch of near non-stop hosting commitments which made him overexposed on TV for a long period. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

Thank goodness it’s over.

For much of the last three years, Luis Manzano became a part of every household thanks to a multitude of hosting commitments he accepted during that span. Whether it’s a game show or a talent show, it seems like viewers can’t get enough of this popular Kapamilya host.

Luis’ lengthy run began on October 26, 2014, when he joined Toni Gonzaga to host ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ season 2. The season ran for 36 episodes, concluding on March 1, 2015.

At the tail end of ‘The Voice of the Philippines” run, Luis accepted the job as host of the new season of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’. Running from February 9, 2015 until March 4, 2016, the fifth season of ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ aired a total of 278 episodes.

Next up for Luis was ‘The Voice Kids’ season 2, which ran from June 6 to August 30, 2015. A total of 26 episodes were aired during that season.

On November 14, 2015, Luis replaced Billy Crawford as host of ‘Celebrity Playtime’, and was present for the game show’s final 41 episodes. Then on January 23, 2016, Luis and Billy joined forces to host the fifth season of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’, which ran for 35 episodes until May 22, 2016.

By that point, signs of overexposure become more evident for Luis. Unfortunately for the viewers, ABS-CBN is not yet finished with him.

April 9, 2016 saw Luis take over as host of the newly-acquired ‘Family Feud’ franchise, and he presided on all of its 111 episodes. A few months later, on July 18, 2016, Luis returned to host the second season of ‘Minute to Win It’, adding another 208 episodes to his resume.

And if that is not enough, another run as host of ‘The Voice Kids’ awaited Luis. From May 28 to August 28, 2016, Luis was the presenter on all 28 episodes of ‘The Voice Kids” third season.

Finally on April 16, 2017, Luis accepted another hosting stint within ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ franchise. This time, he became the host of ‘The Voice Teens’, which has now aired seven episodes and counting.

This does not include his additional responsibility as one of the hosts of ‘ASAP’. That said, for all intents and purposes, ‘ASAP’ will not be added in this count.

It was clear that ABS-CBN is paying the price for their overreliance on Luis Manzano. Overall, the host accumulated a total of 770 episodes within nine shows (as of May 7, 2017) in a span of 925 days, which speaks of how ABS-CBN became too dependent on this star hosting-wise.

While ratings for Luis’ nine shows were not a problem, it is ABS-CBN’s utilization that became a dilemma. Let’s face it, they have a deep plethora of talent who can be just as proficient in hosting, yet they stuck with Luis for some reason because, he’s the only guy they can depend on to deliver a good show.

Now that Luis is freed of the burden of hosting too many shows on a daily basis, the time is definitely now for ABS-CBN to develop more hosts. After all, there are plenty in the pipeline so why not breed at least one or two of them to relieve some pressure on the veterans.

For now, Luis Manzano can breathe easily. A period of less strenuous activity is all he needs at this point.

Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids Finale This Sunday, Plus The Voice Teens Next Week

Palm and Easter Sunday will have a respective finale and a premiere of two hit ABS-CBN talent shows.

On Palm Sunday weekend, ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ will officially close the curtain on its first season. The finale will see all eight celebrity kids duke it out one last time for a chance to become this season’s grand winner.

Premiering on January 7, 2017, ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ became the latest in a series of hit talent shows on the Kapamilya network. Much of its success has to do with the eight celebrity kids and their uncanny ability to replicate the mannerisms of the artists they imitate.

Whether they cheer for AC Bonifacio, Awra Briguela, Justin Alva, Alonzo Muhlach, Elha Nympha, Lyca Gairanod, Sam Shoaf or Xia Vigor, they were rewarded with memorable performances that are both astonishing and unreal. It is these visual images which made ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ a hit to all audiences.

Come this Sunday, only one of them will win it all. That said, good luck to the eight celebrity kids in their quest to become the grand winner.

Then on Easter Sunday, ‘The Voice Teens’ Philippines (only the second in the franchise after Colombia) premieres on ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar”s vacated slot. This latest season of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ franchise will inherit the same team of judges that presided in Season 3 of ‘The Voice Kids’, save for one returning judge.

After not taking part in Season 3 of ‘The Voice Kids’ due to her busy performing schedule, Sarah Geronimo decided to return to the judges’ table for ‘The Voice Teens’. She will join holdovers Lea Salonga, Sharon Cuneta and Bamboo Mañalac.

As for the hosts of ‘The Voice Teens’, it will be Luis Manzano and Toni Gonzaga who will take the helm. Auditions for this new season took place earlier this year, and the first few episodes of ‘The Voice Teens’ will show some of the highlights leading up to the blind auditions.

‘The Voice Teens’ will air every Saturday after ‘Home Sweetie Home’ (the first Saturday episode will be seen on April 22), and every Sunday after ‘Goin’ Bulilit’ on ABS-CBN.

PBB: Lucky 7’s Dream Team Vie for Grand Prize

‘Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7’ comes down to 12 housemates (13 people overall).

After all the tasks and evictions that shook the Big Brother house to the core, the ongoing season of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ now enters its last stage. But before all the hoopla, here is the list of housemates that did not make the cut, whether due to voluntary eviction, forced eviction, eviction by vote, or elimination through final task.

Celebrity Housemates

• Hideo Muraoka
• DJ Chacha
• Yassi Pressman
• JK Labajo

Teen Housemates

• Vivoree Esclito
• Fenech Veloso
• Rita Gaviola
• Kristine Hammond
• Christian Morones
• Marco Gallo
• Aizan Perez
• Heaven Peralejo

Adult Housemates

• Baninay Bautista
• Ali Forbes
• Thuy Nguyen
• Luis Hontiveros
• Wil Dasovich
• Jesi Corcuera

Which leads the show to its Dream Team of 12 housemates, which consists of:

Celebrity Housemates

• Elisse Joson
• Jin-ri Park
• McCoy de Leon and Nikko Natividad (as 2-in-1 Hashtags)
• Nonong Ballinan

Teen Housemates

• Yong Muhajil
• Edward Barber
• Kisses Delavin
• Maymay Entrata

Adult Housemates

• Cora Waddell
• Tanner Mata
• Aura Azarcon
• Jerome Alacre

The remaining 12 housemates will now pit against each other in the hope of becoming the grand winner of ‘Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7’. That said, each housemate should have their hands full, as they look to survive not only the public’s confidence, but also of Big Brother himself.

This season of ‘Pinoy Big Brother is now the longest in the series’ history, with the episode count nearing 200 by next week. The surprisingly long season of the show did benefit one host though, as Toni Gonzaga returned last week after a four-month maternity leave.

With ‘Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7’ about to enter its conclusion (barring any further surprises from Big Brother himself), which of these 12 housemates will stand tall after the grand finale? Find out as the season rolls on.

‘Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7’ airs weekdays after ‘The Greatest Love’, weeknights after ‘Till I Met You’, Saturday nights after ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’, and Sunday nights after ‘Rated K’, on ABS-CBN.