GMA @ 60: The Heart of Television

GMA Network culminated its 60th year in the broadcast industry via an anniversary special held last Friday, June 18, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Dubbed as GMA at 60: The Heart of Television, this musical extravaganza gathered the Kapuso network's brightest stars, homegrown talents, and industry pillars in 12 production numbers to celebrate its precious milestones over the past 60 years. The TV special mixed song, dance, and visual history to trace back GMA-7's history.

PRODUCTION NUMBERS. One of the top stars of GMA-7, Asia's Songbird Regine Velasquez, opened the show with her rendition of "History Repeating", a 1997 song by the Propellerheads and Shirley Bassey.

Regine's solo performance was followed by songs representing the different eras. Marvin Agustin, Dennis Trillo, Keempee de Leon, and Paolo Ballesteros did a Beatles medley with the Popgirls to represent the '60s; Jennylyn Mercado and Glaiza de Castro did a disco medley with Gian Magdangal and Rochelle Pangilinan to represent the '70s; Jolina Magdangal and Lovi covered Madonna's "Like A Virgin" and "Material Girl" to represent the '80s; Jay-R and Elmo Magalona performed Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" and Bobby Brown's "Humpin' Around" to represent the '90s; while Kyla and Rachelle Ann Go belted out Beyonce's "Halo" and "Beautiful Nightmare" to represent the new millennium.

The KiliTV or comedy group came in next with an opera-inspired number. Top comedians Ogie Alcasid and Michael V (in a female costume) did their rendition of "O Sole Mio", a Neapolitan song popularized by tenor singer like Luciano Pavarotti. Ogie and Bitoy were joined by Rufa Mae Quinto, Benjie Paras, Sheena Halili, Moymoy Palaboy, and varsity player Jai Reyes, with video clips from Paolo Contis and Bearwin Meily.

Dingdong Dantes introduced the next segment of the show, which features the Kapuso network's homegrown talents. This musical number gathered the most exciting young stars of the Kapuso network, which mostly came from its talent and artista search: StarStruck grads led by Aljur Abrenica, Kris Bernal, Ryza Cenon, Steven Silva, Sarah Lahbati, Enzo Pineda, Diva Montelaba, and Rocco Nacino; tween stars Joshua Dionisio, Barbie Forteza, Jhake Vargas, and Bea Binene; SexBomb Girls; pop groups SexBomb Girls and XLR8; and Pop Star Kids discoveries.

Singers Gerald Santos, Jay Perillo, Lovi Poe, Sarah Lahbati, Joshua Desiderio, and Eva Castillo sang the theme songs of the most memorable Sine Novelas aired on GMA-7, with special appearances by the stars of this afternoon soaps. Among them were Jennylyn Mercado, Yasmien Kurdi, Maxene Magalona, Glaiza de Castro, Nadine Samonte, Katrina Halili, Jennica Garcia, Jean Garcia, Sheryl Cruz, Kris Bernal, Celia Rodriguez, Sandy Andolong, Jackie Lou Blanco, Dennis Trillo, Mark Herras, Carlo Aquino, Polo Ravales, Wendell Ramos, Tirso Cruz III, and Geoff Eigenmann.

The next number was a vocal showdown among Frencheska Farr ("Nais Ko"), Jude Matthew Servilla ("Magsimula Ka"), Julia Ann San Jose ("Puso"), and La Diva ("Bitiw").

The GMA News and Public Affairs had an intensive video presentation of its achievements through the years. After which, Kuh Ledesma and Sugarfree performed the news organization's theme song, "Panata."

The Telebabad stars were featured in another musical number featuring performances by Gian Magdangal, Roxanne Barcelo, Gretchen Espina, Geoff Taylor, Miguel Escueta, Jay-R, and Regine Velasquez. Some of the stars of these primetime shows came out in character: Marian Rivera as Darna, Iza Calzado as Amihan in Encantadia, Sunshine Dizon as Bakekang, Rhian Ramos in Lalola, Heart Evangelista as Luna Mystika, Kris Bernal as Lara in The Last Prince, and the love triangle of Mark Anthony Fernandez, TJ Trinidad, and Regine in Diva.

A carnival-inspired sexy dance number gathered some of the Kapuso networks sexiest stars: Rufa Mae Quinto, Katrina Halili, Pauleen Luna, Bianca King, Michelle Madrigal, Ehra Madrigal, Bubbles Paraiso, Paolo Paolo Paraiso, Fabio Ide, Arthur Solinap, and Wendell Ramos.

The popular Korean pop group Beast also had a special number to the delight of their Filipino fans. Their song-and-dance number represents the invasion of Koreanovelas on Philippine television.

Party Pilipinas resident dancers Yassi and Rocco Nacino did a manga-inspired dance number to represent the international reach of GMA-7 via its international channels like GMA Pinoy TV.

One of the highlights of the anniversary special is the announcement of the Kapuso network's upcoming shows.

New child discovery Jillian Ward had a very entertaining conversation with Dingdong Dantes to promote her afternoon soap Trudis Liit, which begins airing today, June 21.

Singers Jaya, Kris Lawrence, Brenan Espartinez, and Radha performed a song number to celebrate the return of Survivor Philippines, featuring the castaways of Seasons 1 and 2. The third season of this reality show will be hosted by Richard Gutierrez. Dubbed as Survivor Philippines Celebrity Showdown, the castaways this time will be composed of celebrities.

The night's most applauded number was the intimate dance number of real-life couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera. The two Kapuso stars showed their dancing prowess by interpreting the love ditty "Endless Love," which is also the title of their upcoming primetime series on GMA-7.

Ogie Alcasid and Janno Gibbs closed the show with the theme songs of the Kapuso network through the years.

GMA at 60: The Heart of Television will be aired on July 27, Sunday, after Kap's Amazing Stories.

source: PEP