Tropang LOL marks 2nd year at Bacolod’s Masskara Festival
MANILA, Philippines — This past weekend, Oct. 21 and 22, I was in Bacolod for the second anniversary of Tropang LOL or TL. TL is the noontime show produced by Brightlight Productions, which is owned by Albee Benitez, the newly-elected mayor of Bacolod City.
To explain how our second anniversary took us to Bacolod, allow me to backtrack a bit. Tropang LOL was originally titled Lunch Out Loud (LOL) when it first aired on TV5 on Oct. 18, 2020. ABS-CBN had lost its franchise a few months before in May 2020 and Albee wanted to help the many employees who lost their jobs, myself included.
On top of that, the world was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were many challenges at the time and many skeptics were quick to say that LOL would not last six months. Defying naysayers, the show is still airing two years later, and just a few months ago was renamed Tropang LOL when it moved to an earlier timeslot and began airing simultaneously on TV5, A2Z and Kapamilya Channel, Mondays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. The show is topbilled by Billy Crawford, Alex Gonzaga, Bayani Agbayani, Wacky Kiray, KC Montero, Laboching, Alexa Miro, JD Axie and Sue Ramirez.
These days, Matteo Guidicelli is a guest co-host subbing for Billy Crawford, who is in Paris for France’s version of Dancing With the Stars. The show is directed by Bjoy Balagtas, Cai Rodriguez is production manager and Bobet Vidanes as creative producer.
The success of TL is due to the genuine camaraderie of the hosts and our tireless production staff. The segments are entertaining and the prizes that are up-for-grabs are generous. The longest and most popular segment is Pera Usog, where the contestant who guesses the exact price of an item has a chance to win P100,000. To date, TL has given away P100k each to 72 Pera Usog winners, or P7.2M in cash.
Another segment, H.O.P.E. (short for Hindi, Oo, Pwede o Ewan), is for couples who have “unsettled” issues and are given seven questions each to ask one another. The questions can only be answered by — you guessed it — hindi, oo, pwede or ewan. Then, there’s Sagot Mo Sagot Ko, where Billy Crawford is called “Daddy Bills” because he helps a letter-sender settle his/her bills, be they for electricity, rent, water, maintenance medicines, etc.
My current favorite segment is Maritest, where the contestant is tested on his/her knowledge of the latest showbiz news. If you are a peerless and up to date “Maritess,” you can win up to P75,000. Thanks to segments like these — not to mention the show’s engaging special guests and production numbers — TL is a popular choice for noontime viewers.
To support the MassKara Festival held last weekend, TL presented two live and two taped shows on Oct. 21 and 22 at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod. The special guests included Juan Caolie and Kylie Swish, Mc Einstein, Yuridope and Nik Makino. Also featured were various dance groups of Bacolod, the members of whom donned very colorful and vibrant masskara costumes. To say that the numbers were lively, energetic and colorful is an understatement. Despite the sweltering heat, each number captivated the crowd and had practically everyone in the audience dancing away.
Though each TL episode is only an hour and 45 minutes long, the preparation to mount those four Bacolod shows took over two months. Without a giant network to provide logistical support, the Brightlight production team had to source suppliers, while its sales team diligently went after sponsors. Our marketing team produced collaterals and promoted the event constantly using e-flyers, teasers and plugs. We held a marathon series of meetings and brainstorming sessions, texting one another at all hours of the day to make sure that nothing was left to chance. We all prayed fervently for good weather and for nothing untoward to happen, and by the grace of God, our prayers were answered.
Thank you, Bacolod City, for the extremely warm welcome you gave Tropang LOL! You are not only the City of Smiles but the city that made our very first, out-of-town live show experience so memorable that we are still galvanized by the overwhelming reception we received and are already planning next year’s anniversary show. We are truly grateful for your kindness and generosity. Balik Yuhum!
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