GMA 7 bags RP 'Idol'

By Bayani San Diego Jr. Inquirer MANILA, Philippines--Itâs official. âPhilippine Idolâsâ season 2 will be aired on GMA 7, according to Geraldine Bra vo, director of Marketing and Sales for FremantleMedia, âIdolâ franchise holder . âWe are very fortunate to find a new partner to produce âPhilippine Idol,ââ sai d Bravo in an official statement sent to Inquirer Entertainment on Friday. The first season of the reality singing contest was aired by ABC 5 last year. ABC 5 earlier insisted that it was still âdeep in discussions with Fremantle an d⦠barring any major glitch⦠[we will] still mount the second season.â Sought to comment on the new development, ABC 5, through senior vice president for Corporate Affairs Terra Daffon, said, âABC 5 is still waiting for official word from Fremantle.â Bravoâs formal announcement, however, sealed the deal with GMA 7. âIt is our in tention to make [RP âIdolâ] the biggest show the Philippines has ever seen,â Br avo said. According to various sources, the showâs target launch is February 2008. An insider told the Inquirer on Wednesday that GMA 7 had bagged the show as of Tuesday night. The source claimed that GMA 7 would treat its RP âIdolâ as a totally new show, independent of the first seasonâmeaning, Mau Marcelo would not be considered th e first winner. But another informant said, âFremantle should be the one to make such decisions .â Wilma Galvante, GMA 7 senior vice president for Entertainment TV, said, âAs far as we are concerned, this is our first partnership with Fremantle for the âIdo lâ franchise.â Bravoâs announcement, Galvante added, merely âmeans that [both parties] have ag reed that GMA 7 has the experience, resources and people to mount talent-search programs [like âIdolâ].â In the statement, Bravo said there was no problem in finding talented singers i n the Philippines. âThe challenge is to keep the show interesting, by providing the viewers with an insight into the journeys that the singers are [taking].â Galvante agreed: âThatâs the essence of the âIdolâ franchise.â However, she dec lined to comment on ABC 5âs status. âThatâs between ABC 5 and the people it was talking to in Fremantle.â According to Bravoâs statement, âFremantle has taken into consideration several parties to be the possible home of [RP âIdolâ].â The statement reiterated that Fremantle considered GMA 7 as âan excellent partner... having licensed other [ Fremantle] shows like âCelebrity Duets,â âWhammy,â and âFamily Feud.ââ One source said Regine Velasquez was being eyed as new âIdolâ host; another cla imed that Ryan Agoncillo and Ryan Cayabyab would be retained as host and judge, respectively. âItâs too early to go into such details,â said Galvante. Another question is whether Marcelo would compete in âAsian Idolâ in November. According to a source, it was still undecided whether GMA 7 would participate i n âAsian Idolâ or whether record label Sony-BMG would field Marcelo in the regi onal contest in Jakarta. Quite tellingly, Jan Nieto, Marceloâs runner-up on Idol, is also signing up wit h GMA 7.