GMA ends 2010 with a bang

MANILA, Philippines - How would you like to watch the wedding of the year  that of Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid in the comfort of your own home? You don’t have to go all the way to Batangas to finally see them exchange vows after years of waiting.

GMA 7 will air their Dec. 22 wedding on Dec. 26 as a TV special. It is the Kapuso network’s gift to the couple.

“All the excellent singers will be there,” says GMA Network Wilma Galvante, SVP for Entertainment. “It will be like a concert special.”

The wedding coverage is just one of the many programs in GMA’s fourth quarter salvo which Galvante and other network executives recently revealed to the press.

“We can’t be complacent,” says Leogarda Sanchez Matias, assistant vice-president for public affairs. “Even if our shows are ahead, we must be open to the possibility of the other network cooking up something new.”

Paolo Contis, Jennylyn Mercado, child actor Nicky Castro, Mark Anthony Fernandez and Lovi Poe topbill Little Star

And that “something new” is a whole package of shows such as Hanep Buhay, the first business reality-magazine show on local TV that shares tips on managing funds, starting a business and making better money decisions.

I-Witness will present a new series of documentaries this month, with Howie Severino, Kara David, Jay Taruc and Sandra Aguinaldo retelling their classics.

“It’s about time we re-introduce I-Witness to a new generation that were too young to see these episodes back then,” says Matias. In November, too, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’s The Good Trip will revisit people and places that marked Jessica’s 26 years in the business.

Wish Ko Lang will air its eighth anniversary specials starting Nov. 27 and Survivor Philippines Celebrity Showdown will proclaim its grand winner on Dec. 3.

Being up on your toes does not apply only to the news department.

GMA’s entertainment arm is all decked up with holiday cheer as it unveils 12 Hearts of Christmas.

“Twenty top GMA stars will team up with 12 chosen families nominated by the audience for making a difference in their communities. These families will get a combination of cash and gifts,” says Angel Javier, head of Entertainment Publicity.

Claudine Barretto, Isabel Oli and Jewel Mische will not be idle. Galvante promises a daily soap for Claudine and drama outings for Isabel and Jewel.

As for talks that Miss Universe fourth runner-up Venus Raj will join the network, Galvante says, “Under our contract, her manager is Bb. Pilipinas Charities. After Venus’ reign, GMA has the option to get her as an exclusive contract artist.”

Jessica Soho with Pres. Noynoy Aquino in an edition of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho

The holiday season will be packed with work for the controversial Heart Evangelista. Heart plays the title role in the telefantasya Dwarfina. The series, which debuts in November, shrinks Heart to the size of a six-inch dwarf, the product of a family curse.

The talent search genre is far from shrinking though. Galvante reveals a re-loaded talent search via Stardom, which replaces StarStruck as the station’s flagship artista search.

“Years after it was first aired, we feel we have exhausted StarStruck. So we came up with a new talent search with other production treatments to it.”

Little Star is another replacement, this time of Trudis Liit (its star, Jillian Ward, topbills Batang Milyonarya in 2011). Like Trudis, the new afternoon drama topbills a little girl, Nicky Castro, who shares top billing with Jennlyn Mercado and Lovi Poe.

This early, Galvante can tick off what the early 2011 program mix looks like:

“Captain Barbell (with Richard Gutierrez) in the title role will introduce special effects and a league of superheroes. Our primetime queen, Marian Rivera, headlines the epic fiction soap Amaya. The drama series is set in the 1500s and backed up data furnished by the UP research department. A team of consultants check on details, read the script and comment on it to make sure everything is correct.”

She is just as proud of a weekly Wakasan series. The daily afternoon show will be hosted by prominent celebrities, and depicts stories about life, women, children, etc.

Capping the weekend is a horror-comedy series “that’s not gory but geared for kids,” says Galvante. “It will feature Philippine folklore and carry lessons for children.”

And oh yes, she adds, brace yourselves for a sayaw series called Dance With Me. The station’s first danserye, Galvante notes, will hold nationwide auditions to search for the best dancers.

All these, on top of existing series like Koreana, Beauty Queen, Anatomy of a Disaster and others point to one thing: GMA 7 aims to end the year with a bang and greet 2011 with an even bigger bang.

Coach potatoes out there, prepare the popcorn and the remote control. You’re in for one hell of a ride around lively Kapuso city.