Lip-Sync Battle Philippines Return, But on a New Day and Timeslot

This is not an April Fools’ joke.

Nearly two years after its original run ended, GMA announced the return of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ to the small screen. This time, however, the program will be aired on a different day and timeslot.

The third season premiere of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ will take place later tonight, replacing ‘All-Star Videoke’ whose 28-episode run ended last Sunday. Like in the first two seasons, the show will be hosted by Michael V and Iya Villania-Arellano.

In case you missed the general format of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’, click this highlighted link for more information. But like all reality, talent and game shows, expect some new twists and turns in the program’s format come its third season.

Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ were aired from February 27 to August 27, 2016 on GMA’s Sabado Star Power block. However, the program failed to make an impact in the ratings, losing to the likes of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’, ‘The Voice Kids’, ‘We Love OPM: The Celebrity Sing-offs’ and ‘Pinoy Big Brother’.

It also didn’t help that concerns regarding Michael V’s overexposure on television affected the performance of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’. This was because the program’s entire first season and part of the second was aired after ‘Pepito Manaloto’, another one of Bitoy’s long-running shows.

Good thing GMA addressed this concern and placed ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ to an early Sunday night slot. The bad news, however, is that it will have to contend once more with the highly popular ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ which is currently on its sixth season.

Notwithstanding these concerns, it is still great to see ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ grace the small screen once again. The third season may have been delayed due to Iya’s maternity break, but for viewers who tuned in to the show every week the first time around, it should be worth the wait.

‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ airs every Sunday after ‘Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko’ on GMA.

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Lip-Sync Battle Philippines Nears End

The end is getting closer for ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’.

A few episodes remain for this franchised GMA celebrity talent show, whose finale will take place around September. A replacement, ‘Superstar Duets’, was officially announced by GMA a few days earlier (more on that in a future article).

In relation to that, Iya Villania-Arellano announced that she will take a maternity leave to prepare for the birth of her son with husband Drew Arellano. Thus she will leave behind not only her hosting duties with the ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’, but also with ’24 Oras’.

View this post on Instagram

Officially on maternity leave!!! 😆Approaching d-day so taking the time now to get a trim to keep whatever freshness I can during labor 😂💇🏽 I've accepted that #Primo will be keeping me busy for the next couple of months so availing of the ME time before I push this watermelon out! 😝 The boy is still in my belly but already wants all of my attention 🙈😂 I wonder what he's doing in there?? Maybe he's moving to the beat of @BabyPlus 😝#AcrobatInMyBelly #Primo #BabyA #HesBusyInThere #MeTime 😝@studiofixbyalexcarbonell @milkandhoney.ph

A post shared by Iya Villania-Arellano (@iyavillania) on Aug 14, 2016 at 10:10pm PDT

The only question remains though, is whether or not GMA can ably replace Iya with another co-host for the final few episodes of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’. As it stands, host Michael V may have to do it all alone, which may either be a blessing in disguise or a bad case of overwork.

‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ first premiered on February 27, and it featured celebrities dressed as iconic singers lip-synching to their hit songs. It was GMA’s first franchised show since ‘Don’t Lose the Money’ two years ago.

Though the show had promise, they were unable to make an impact in the ratings.  For the entirety of its run, ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ was pitted against ABS-CBN shows ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’, ‘The Voice Kids’, ‘We Love OPM: The Celebrity Sing-offs’ and ‘Pinoy Big Brother’, each of which posted better ratings than the former.

To make matters worse, Michael V found himself overexposed in the first few months of ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’. Prior to the show’s timeslot change on July 2, it was aired back-to-back with ‘Pepito Manaloto’, which also starred Bitoy.

Overall, ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ was a good show. Notwithstanding its unimpressive ratings, the show was worth watching for those who know the art of lip-synching.

As the show comes to an end in September, one can only hope that it will make a final impression to its viewers. But it remains to be seen whether or not Michael V can hold the fort alone, that is unless GMA can find an able replacement for Iya.

A Long Overdue Timeslot Change for Lip-Sync Battle Philippines

GMA finally made a long-overdue timeslot change for ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’, which should benefit Michael V who had been overexposed from the moment it premiered. (Promotional poster courtesy of GMA Network)

Last Saturday marked a decision that GMA should have done earlier.

It was announced that ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ and ‘Magpakailanman’ would switch timeslots. As a result, the former now airs at 9:30 p.m., while the latter now airs at 7:45 p.m.

This timeslot change has been long overdue from the moment ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ premiered. When it debuted in its original timeslot, it was feared that host Michael V would be overexposed, since his other show ‘Pepito Manaloto’ airs right before the former.

They were right. From the beginning of its run, ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ struggled, losing on a consistent basis to either ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’, ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ or ‘The Voice Kids’.

Realizing the plight of Michael V and ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’, GMA proposed timeslot changes in order to prevent any further overexposure. Their choices include:

• A return to Sunday nights for ‘Pepito Manaloto’ in exchange for either ‘Ismol Family’ or ‘Hay, Bahay’
• A switch of timeslots for ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ and ‘Magpakailanman’

They chose the latter. Thus, beginning Saturday, June 25, both ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ and ‘Magpakailanman’ were aired in different timeslots.

With the timeslot change, ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ now runs opposite ‘We Love OPM: The Celebrity Sing-offs’. Considering the latter’s poor ratings (even against the late-airing ‘Magpakailanman’), the former should take advantage of it.

Despite the projection, it is still up to ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ to perform well in its new timeslot. But for Michael V, he should feel relieved now that the pressure of getting overexposed on television is over.