It's Showtime (Philippine TV program)

Showtime premiered on October 24, 2009, replacing Pilipinas, Game Ka Na Ba? as a talent competition program, airing right before the network's noontime shows. The original hosts include Vhong Navarro, Anne Curtis, Kim Atienza, Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz, with Vice Ganda as the resident hurado (unevictable judge). In the third season, the show added former hurados Billy Crawford and Karylle as hosts.

In the first four seasons, Showtime's original competition format was that three groups, each made up of 2 to 25 members (with no age limit) perform a single performance, either a dance and/or song number. Before the performance, one group member is given 20 seconds to make an introduction before ending with the phrase "It's Showtime!". After the group's performance, the hurados, with the help of the studio audience, rate the group from 1 to 10. The group with the highest average score from the hurados wins the competition. The daily winner perform again to compete in the weekly finals. The winning weekly finalists advance to the monthly finals. The winning monthly finalists get the chance to complete in the grand finals. In the wildcard week, selected groups from the weekly and monthly finals are invited back to compete again for a slot in the grand finals.

Aside from the talent competition, Showtime also featured mini-segments that offers cash prizes to the studio audiences.

In October 2010, the show moved to the noontime slot, serving as the lead-in program for Pilipinas Win Na Win which was pushed back to an early afternoon timeslot.[2] On February 12, 2011, the program returned to its original timeslot to give way for the premiere of Happy Yipee Yehey!

On January 28, 2012, Showtime aired a special episode to end its two-year morning competition format with an impartial farewell.[3] It then went on hiatus as the program was preparing for the show's return to noontime slot for the second and current time to replace Happy Yipee Yehey!.[4][5] The drama series Mundo Man ay Magunaw took over the timeslot of Showtime from January 30 to February 3, 2012. Happy Yipee Yehey! aired its final episode on February 4 (where it took over Showtime's timeslot on Saturday) as Showtime returned on a noontime slot after one year and its one week hiatus on February 6, as It's Showtime.

Logo of It's Showtime used from 2012 to 2022

The show is reformatted as a noontime variety show with its new name It's Showtime on February 6, 2012 where it aired on its new timeslot at 11:30 AM, replacing Happy Yipee Yehey! This marked the return to a noontime slot after one year and the show's one week hiatus. The program was previously simulcast on Studio 23 channel and CgeTV's website during the first months of the relaunch. It's Showtime brought back its original competition format as a special segment while launching new segments.[6][7][8]

It retained all of its main hosts while adding Jhong Hilario, Ryan Bang, Coleen Garcia and Eric "Eruption" Tai. In January 2016, Amy Perez and Mariel Rodriguez joined the program as hosts.[9] In May 2017, Nadine Lustre and James Reid were added as co-hosts.[10][11]

In October 2018, It's Showtime launched its own YouTube channel Showtime Online Universe.[12][13] Three digital programs premiered on the channel: And I Thank You with Miss Q & A segment grand winner Juliana Parizcova Segovia; Hashtag Roadtrip with the Hashtag members; and Donna What To Do with Funny One segment season two grand winner Donna Cariaga. The Showtime Online Universe received a Silver Creator Award after getting 100,000 channel subscribers in January 2019.[14]

Before the end of 2019, Crawford, Garcia, Tai, Reid, Lustre, Atienza, and Joey Marquez had already departed from the show.

On March 10, 2020, It's Showtime temporarily disallowed admission of live audience members following the government's declaration of a state public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[15][16] On March 15, 2020, the show's production was temporarily suspended in compliance with the government's declaration of a community quarantine in Metro Manila to curb the spread of COVID-19.[17] It's Showtime aired a mix of episode replays and live episodes via Zoom.[18][19] On April 29, 2020, the program's timeslot was shortened as part of the network's temporary programming changes. On May 5, 2020, the show and all other ABS-CBN programs had stopped its broadcast operations following the National Telecommunications Commission's issue of a cease and desist order to ABS-CBN's free-to-air stations due to the expiration of the network's 25-year franchise.[20]

On June 13, 2020, the show resumed its broadcast with a shortened 150-minute timeslot on pay television network Kapamilya Channel, owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. The show is also simulcast on Jeepney TV and streams online on Facebook and YouTube via Showtime Online Ü and Kapamilya Online Live.[21][22] After serving as KapareWHO cast member and as resident dancer respectively, "Kuya Escort" Ion Perez and "Ate Girl" Jackie Gonzaga were promoted to co-hosts of the show. On September 28, 2020, Kim Chiu, a guest co-host from the previous years, have been officially added to the show as a regular host.[23]

On October 10, 2020, It's Showtime celebrated its return to free-to-air television via A2Z under airtime leasing between ABS-CBN and religious broadcaster, ZOE Broadcasting Network.[24] However, director Bobet Vidanes left the show on November 2020 after working as the show's main director for eleven years.[25] Boyet Baldemor takes responsibility for the directoral duties of the show's continuation.[26][27]

On March 16, 2021, Vice Ganda announced at It's Showtime's segment Tawag ng Tanghalan that the show will move to a new studio soon.[28]

From March 18 to April 10, 2021, It's Showtime temporarily suspended their live productions due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the Greater Manila Area caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant.[29] The show resumed new episodes on April 12, 2021, airing three pre-taped episodes (this includes past Holy Week Episodes) before resuming their live episodes on April 15, 2021.

On April 12, 2021, Jhong Hilario temporarily left the show to take care of his partner and newborn baby.[30]

On May 29, 2021, following the launching of the show's new segment "ReINA Ng Tahanan", the program has been co-directed by John Prats.[31]

On August 7, 2021, It's Showtime temporarily moved its studio to Hilton Clark Sun Valley Resort in Pampanga due to Metro Manila being placed under enhanced community quarantine in light of another COVID-19 surge caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, until August 21, 2021.[32]

On October 2, 2021, Ogie Alcasid temporarily joined It's Showtime as guest co-host while Vice Ganda, Kim Chiu, Karylle and Ion Perez were on temporary leave.[33] On November 13, Alcasid became a main host of It's Showtime. Meanwhile, Jon Moll was named as the show's new permanent director, officially replacing Bobet Vidanes.[34][35]

From January 6 to 15, 2022, It's Showtime temporarily suspended their live productions on a 10-day break due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The show resumed their live broadcast on January 17, 2022.[36]

On May 28, 2022, Anne Curtis returned to It's Showtime after two years of hiatus.[37] One week later, on June 4, 2022, Jhong Hilario returned to the show by disguising as a Tawag ng Tanghalan contestant, surprising all the hosts.[38]

A female dance segment Girl On Fire aired from October 2022 to February 18, 2023, with Jackie Gonzaga also took on her first main host role.[39] Two kiddie segments premiered: Isip Bata on February 20, 2023,[40] and Mini Miss U, the revival of the said segment that first aired in 2020, on June 19, 2023.[41][42]

On July 6, 2022, according to a report from MJ Marfori of TV5's flagship newscast Frontline Pilipinas, it was announced that It's Showtime would have a back-to-back collaboration with TV5's noontime show Tropang LOL, formerly known as Lunch Out Loud.[43] Tropang LOL aired at 11:00am, serving as a pre-programming to It's Showtime from 12:45pm to 3:00pm.[44][45] This is the latest ABS-CBN-produced program to be simulcast on TV5 alongside ASAP Natin To, FPJ: Da King movie block and ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida weeknight evening block.

On July 16, 2022, coinciding with their simulcast debut on TV5, the program refurbished its title card and opening theme song, as well as having a return to live studio audience after two years of suspension from March 9, 2020,[46] making the first variety show on Philippine TV to do so after two years. While Studio 3 was on undergoing renovations, the show temporarily utilized Studio 10, which is used for ASAP Natin 'To, until July 23 when they returned to its home studio two days later with a brand new club-themed set.[47]

On May 1, 2023, following the conclusion of Tropang LOL after nine months, It's Showtime returned to the original 12:00 noon timeslot with a 3-hour airtime.[48] Not long after, TV5 announced its co-production venture with former Eat Bulaga! hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon whose new program, later entitled E.A.T., would air on the noontime slot that previously occupied by It's Showtime. TV5 offered the 4:30pm time slot to ABS-CBN for It's Showtime which the latter respectfully declined. ABS-CBN and TV5 separately announced that It's Showtime would end its simulcast on TV5 on June 30.[49]

On June 20, 2023, ABS-CBN and GMA Network[lower-alpha 3] announced on their respective social media accounts that It's Showtime would simulcast through GMA's sister network, GTV beginning on July 1.[50] A contract signing between the executives of ABS-CBN and GMA was held at Seda Vertis North on June 28, with former guest co-hosts Iya Villania and Robi Domingo hosting the said event.[51] It airs from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm every Mondays to Saturdays

Beginning on September 26, 2023, the simulcast of It's Showtime on GTV is temporarily limited to 2 hours up to 2:00 pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to make way for the network's live broadcast of NCAA Season 99.[52]

It's Showtime temporarily stopped airing on October 13, 2023 to serve a twelve day suspension imposed by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). In its place, It's Your Lucky Day would be aired until October 27.

Magpasikat is the annual talent competition for all the hosts of It's Showtime. It is usually held either a week before the show's anniversary date, October 24, or during the week itself (although Magpasikat 2021 and Magpasikat 2022 was held on November). The performances are evaluated by a special panel of hurados (judges).

The duo Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz hold the most number of Magpasikat wins with six, followed by Karylle with five wins.

A portmanteau of the words "Rampa" (lit. 'Sashay') and "Panalo" (lit. 'Win'), RamPanalo is a game wherein three contestants are given a chance to win money based on pure luck. The segment is divided into two parts: the elimination round and the jackpot round.

Elimination Round

At the start of the game, the Rampadoras will distribute three huge colored balls (red, green, and blue balls that represent the colors of the ABS-CBN logo's rings or circles as well as the blue representing a color of the GMA text and its sister channel GTV) [or in rare cases, one huge colored ball if there are time constraints] to the audience while the song "Rampa" by Vice Ganda plays. The audience must distribute the ball to the next audience member, and so on. Whoever holds the three balls after Vice or the other hosts' (mainly Vhong's or Jhong's if Vice is not around) signal to stop the music immediately proceeds to the initial elimination round, where one of the hosts will select the contestant that will proceed to the jackpot round by picking a piece of paper from a bowl that contains the names of the three colored balls. The two losing contestants still receive one thousand pesos (₱1,000) for participating.

Jackpot Round

Before the jackpot round begins, the hosts will select two (one in earlier episodes) hosts to solve the contestant's pot money during the round. If the hosts give an incorrect answer, one or both the assigned hosts will be given a consequence. Also, in rare occasions, as seen on the July 3, 2023 episode, the friends or companions of the contestant are tasked to solve the contestant's prize money throughout the game (if the contestant has their friends present in the audience).

During the jackpot round, the contestant is given fifty thousand pesos (₱50,000) as their base money. Ten hosts are randomly assigned boxes: the contestant is only required to choose eight. While opening the boxes, he or she has the chance to either increase (Rampataas) or decrease (Rampababa) his or her money based on the values shown inside the box (the boxes may contain ×2, ×3, ÷5, ÷10, -₱20,000, +₱10,000, etc.) After the first five (or three in rare cases) boxes have been opened, the contestant has a chance to re-arrange and swap (dubbed as Rampalit) the current box with the boxes of the other hosts before the host opens the next box or stay and open the current box (Rampa), up to the eighth and final box, where the contestant will given the last chance to swap with one of the unselected boxes earlier.

The final amount that the contestant will take home will be based on the chronological order of the opened box values at the end of the game. However, if a participant does not have any money to take home at the end of the round, he or she will be awarded a grocery package instead.

Mini Miss U is a beauty pageant and talent show for female children aged eight and under. This segment premiered on June 19, 2023. It is a revival of the segment that originally aired in early 2020 that was prematurely cancelled due to the community quarantines. This segment is aired every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The panel of judges consist of Janice de Belen, Gladys Reyes, and Niño Muhlach.

Preliminary Round

In the preliminary round, three (later reduced to two starting on Week 4) contestants will compete to be the day's winner. The competition is divided into two rounds: the interview portion and the acting portion dubbed as Sine Miss U. During the interview portion, the hosts will ask the contestants a series of questions about their costume, life experiences, and so on. Meanwhile, at the Sine Miss U, the hosts will act out various scenarios that will put each contestant's ability to perform impromptu acting to the test. The criteria for judging consists of 50% for both the interview and acting portion. The day's winner will receive a sash, crown, flowers, and a cash prize of ₱10,000.

Semi-Finals

The semi-finals round began on October 2, 2023, with 46 semi-finalists scheduled to compete again during this round. Each day, four or five semi-finalists will compete for a spot in the grand finals. The semi-finals are split into two parts: the talent round and the interview round. Nonetheless, the mechanics of this round are the same as those of the preliminary rounds. The winning semi-finalist advances to the grand finals and will receive a sash, crown, flowers, and a cash prize of ₱25,000 (later ₱20,000). Note that some contestants have withdrawn from the competition due to personal reasons.

Grand Finals

Dubbed the "Cutest Finale", the grand finals round took place on October 28, 2023. Thirteen grand finalists competed for the final five spots to the crown. Still, the criteria for this round is the same as of the previous rounds. The finals were divided into two rounds: the Mini Mensahe round in which all 13 finalists made a message to a person or cartoon character that the hosts will choose from a bowl, and the Ultimate Sine Miss U round where the final five contestants had their impromptu acting tested for the last time.

At the end of the competition, Arianah Kelsey of Pampanga won the competition and received a cash prize of ₱300,000, a crown, sash, a contract from Polaris - Star Magic, and an all-expense paid trip for 4 to Hong Kong Disneyland.

Isip-Bata (lit. 'Kids' Mind') is a game segment for kids. Aired every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, a group of 20 contestants related to a specific category or location (also known as the Madlang Hakot) will play. The segment is divided into two parts: an elimination round dubbed as Choose Ko Po! and the jackpot round dubbed as ApPair Tayo. This segment premiered on February 20, 2023. This segment is currently on hiatus, with ₱175,000 as the next jackpot prize, due to the semifinals and grand finals of Mini Miss U.

All contestants are chosen by the day's assigned host(s), who is in charge of selecting the players for that episode from a community. Before the initial round begins, all contestants will be given one thousand pesos (₱1,000) for participating.

Elimination Round - Choose Ko Po!

In Choose Ko Po!, the hosts will ask a question along with four choices to the contestants, which, in turn, will be based on the survey conducted by the assigned hosts at the various schools and communities throughout the country. They are only given ten seconds to choose the answer they think is the majority vote of the students. After that, the Batang Cute-Po (the name of a group of kids based on the title of FPJ's Batang Quiapo) will give their opinions on the choices of the question in play. This will be repeated until one contestant remains, at which point he or she will be eligible to play for the jackpot prize at stake. The person who wins the first round will be given ten thousand pesos (₱10,000). In rare cases, if there are fewer than ten people left and no one lines up at the correct answer, all contestants are eliminated and do not advance to the jackpot round. The pot will be automatically increased by twenty five thousand pesos (₱25,000) at the next episode.

Jackpot Round - ApPair Tayo

In ApPair Tayo, the contestant can win as much as fifty thousand pesos (₱50,000) or more, depending on the stake. Here, the contestant aims to "match" the answer of the Batang Cute-Po, in which the contestant must pick his or her partner from the Bowl-lilit, which contains their names. Both the contestant and his or her partner will be presented with a question along with three choices; the contestant must choose which of the three choices he or she thinks will be the answer of the Batang Cute-Po member. Take note that the question is asked on the spot to both the contestant and the Batang Cute-Po member chosen, on which the correct answer will be based.

Note that the contestant must get the first question right and have three consecutive correct answers to win the jackpot prize. However, if the contestant gets the first or the next questions wrong, he or she will lose the eligibility to win the jackpot and instead will be asked to match the remaining questions for ten thousand pesos (₱10,000) per question. If this happens, twenty-five thousand pesos (₱25,000) will be added to the pot for the next episode whenever the current contestant fails to claim the jackpot of the current episode, which will then reset back to fifty thousand pesos (₱50,000) once it is claimed.

Showtime debuted on its pre-noontime slot on October 24, 2009, with a 14.0% national TV rating based on Kantar Media Philippines, and then moved on the noontime slot from October 2010 to February 11, 2011.[111] Its immense popularity ended the dominance of talk show SiS on its timeslot.[112] GMA Network replaced SiS with Diz Iz It!, a competition similar to Showtime, but it was cancelled after five months.

Showtime's first grand finals held in July 2010 received a 35% national TV rating, beating the 8.9% rating of Diz Iz It! and 13.7% of Eat Bulaga![113] The second grand finals held in December 2010 scored a 23.4% national TV rating against Eat Bulaga!'s 17.4%.[114] The third grand finals in May 2011 also delivered a rating of 21.3% versus Eat Bulaga!'s 17%.

Showtime again moved to the noontime slot for the second and current time on February 6, 2012 after one year and the show's one week hiatus (now using its current name It's Showtime), with a 13.6% national rating.[115] The episode received an overall 16.3% rating when the viewership numbers from Studio 23 were added. Initially placing behind Eat Bulaga!, the show's rating peaked to a 20.9% national rating during the finals of the "Bida Kapamilya" segment and its third anniversary week-long celebration.[116][117]

The finals of the Kalokalike segment in June 2013 garnered a 26.8% national TV rating, leaving Eat Bulaga! and Wowowillie with 13.2% and 2.8% ratings, respectively.[118] The finals of the segment's second iteration posted a 21.6% national TV rating, once again beating Eat Bulaga!'s 15.8% and Wowowillie's 2.6%.[119]

It's Showtime continued its dominance in the noontime slot with its fourth anniversary week special held from October 21–26, 2013.[120][121]

The program faced heavy competition in 2015 when the sixth anniversary special only scored a 10.2% national TV rating, four times behind Eat Bulaga's 40.1%. This is due to the Tamang Panahon special (and the build-up before that), which served as the climax of the then-popular Kalyeserye segment which featured AlDub.[122][123][124]

It's Showtime quickly regained its prominence on its time slot when Tawag ng Tanghalan launched in 2016. The program garnered a 33.6% national TV rating during the singing competition's first grand finals, over Eat Bulaga's 11.7%.[125] Tawag ng Tanghalan continued its winning streak during its second-season finale when it posted a national TV rating of 31% against Eat Bulaga's 9.5%.[126] It's Showtime topped the ratings game once again during the first grand finals of Miss Q and A segment on June 30, 2018, with a national TV rating of 28.4% versus Eat Bulaga's 11.1%.[127]

The second Miss Q and A grand finals posted a national TV rating of 27.4%, beating Eat Bulaga's 10.6%, Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko's 13.8%, and Tadhana's 11.3%.[128]

Tawag ng Tanghalan third-season finale posted a national TV rating of 25.8%, beating Eat Bulaga's 10.4% and Hanggang Sa Dulo Ng Buhay Ko's 9.5%.[129]

Showtime came under fire when controversial statements were made by guest hurado Rosanna Roces against certain groups, especially teachers during an episode in January 2010. ABS-CBN relieved Roces of her jury duty as a form of self-regulation, but Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) placed the program under a 20-day preventive suspension on January 11, 2010. A placeholder variety show titled Magpasikat was aired in lieu of Showtime; Magpasikat had essentially the same talent show format as Showtime except that the competing groups are composed of celebrities.[130][131]

The suspension only lasted for six days after the Court of Appeals issued a 60-day temporary restraining order against the MTRCB's suspension. Showtime eventually returned on air on January 19, 2010.[132][133][134][135][136]

In March 2010, MTRCB ordered a total one-month suspension of the program because of the incident, including the replacement program Magpasikat. The MTRCB also directed the filing of criminal charges against Florida Tan, ABS-CBN vice-president for programming, and other officers "responsible for the violation."[137] Bong Osorio, head of ABS-CBN's Corporate Communications said that the suspension was not yet final and that they were seeking appeal before the Office of the President.[138] The variety show later on won the case because the MTRCB had not presented new arguments that would justify a reversal of its previous resolution.[139][140]

The program's daily reality-dating game segment Nasaan Ka, Mr. Pastillas? drew ire from netizens and women's group Gabriela for "pimping" Angelica Yap or popularly known as Pastillas Girl. The program issued a statement to denounce Gabriela's complaint, saying that it is "hurtful and offensive to women like Angelica who has done nothing wrong but to share her story with the hope of getting another shot at love."[141] It also clarified the segment's intent of helping Yap find love and recover from a failed relationship. MTRCB summoned the show's executives to give a list of suggestions on how to improve the segment.[142]

GirlTrend member Erin Ocampo drew flak from netizens after making a joke about being an orphan during the PUROKatatawanan segment. As part of a skit, she asked Hashtag member Jimboy Martin "how to make an ugly child" with Martin retorting that she should ask her mother. Ocampo responded by saying that Martin should ask his real parents instead because he is adopted. Norfil Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization that provides help to orphaned children, called on MTRCB and DSWD to take corrective action as it branded the joke "insensitive and ignorant."[143] The program made an on-air apology the following day. Plus, PUROKatatawanan segment was suspended and was replaced to Mini-Me 3 the new day. GirlTrend Erin is as well fired from the GirlTrend group.[144]

Miss Q & A grand finalist Lars Pacheco suffered a wardrobe malfunction in an October 2019 episode. The contestant's dress accidentally slipped off causing part of her chest to be exposed. It's Showtime apologized to viewers who may have been offended by the accident.[145]

It's Showtime issued an apology after a production mistake made on PiLing Lucky segment during a February 27, 2020, episode. In the segment, the contestant is asked to select one among 24 paintings for a chance to win either the cash prize of P550,000, or the negosyo (business livelihood) package. It was found out that none of the paintings contained the jackpot prize and the contestant was later awarded the negosyo package.[146]

On November 9, 2020, It's Showtime drew flak from netizens when the hosts asked which among Gaya Sa Pelikula actors Ian Pangilinan and Paolo Pangilinan was more straight during the Mas Testing segment. "tigasin" (lit. 'tough'), "magaling magpalabas" (lit. 'good in releasing') and "kulot" (lit. 'curly'). This prompted netizens on Twitter to highlight the importance of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression awareness and education.[147]

On September 4, 2023, the MTRCB suspended the noontime show over numerous violations, including the alleged obscenity scenes by Vice Ganda and Ion Perez in a July 25 episode of the "Isip Bata" segment.[148][149] However, the show continues to air as their network files a motion for reconsideration.[150] Atty. Juan Ponce Enrile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, criticized Vice Ganda for his immoral and disrespectful actions on their noontime show.[151] On September 28, the MTRCB denied the motion for reconsideration filed by ABS-CBN Corporation and GMA Network, Inc., allowing the networks to appeal to the Office of the President within 15 days.[152] On October 6, both networks were decided not to appeal to the Office of the President, the program's suspension that will take effect from October 14 to 27.[153]

Another variety show, It's Your Lucky Day temporarily took It's Showtime's timeslot during the suspension period.[154]

All songs produced by DJ M.O.D.