ABS-CBN bids farewell to ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ franchise

“The end of an era.”

On Sunday, May 19, the third season of reality-singing competition program ‘The Voice Teens’ held its grand finale and Jillian Pamat of Coach Bamboo Manalac’s “Kamp Kawayan” was named as the grand champion.

She took home Php 1,000,000, among other grand prizes for the season’s champion.

Aside from her win, another major highlight of the evening was the, as host Robi Domingo described it, “bittersweet moment” for the entire team behind the local ‘The Voice’ franchise.

After 10 seasons since 2013, this season of ‘The Voice Teens’ would be the last time ABS-CBN Studios will be handling the local ‘Voice.’

“Sa pamamaalam sa ABS-CBN ng isa sa pinakamalaking talent-reality show sa mundo, nagpapasalamat ang ABS-CBN at ang lahat ng bumubuo ng ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ sa lahat ng naging bahagi ng sampung edisyon nito,” Domingo read the opening part of the statement.

He went on to express gratitude on behalf of the entire Kapamilya network to all coaches, past and present, of the franchise, specifically to Apl de Ap, Bamboo, Lea Salonga, Sarah Geronimo, Sharon Cuneta, Martin Nievera, and KZ Tandingan.

Bianca Gonzales-Intal then thanked all of the program’s hosts, led by the likes of Toni Gonzaga, Luis Manzano, Alex Gonzaga, Yeng Constantino, Kim Chiu, and those who served as hosts in the online companion shows.

They both also said their “thank yous” to the production team, contestants, and all other people involved in making ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ possible, who all took their final bows.

By the end of the program, both Intal and Domingo said the local franchise’s offical title, which is ‘The Voice of the Philippines,’ for the final time on ABS-CBN.

‘THE VOICE OF THE PHILIPPINES’

In 2012, ABS-CBN obtained the rights to localize the popular reality-singing competition format ‘The Voice,’ created by John de Mol and, at that point in time, was owned by Talpa.

For its maiden season in 2013, it created the now-iconic ensemble of coaches led by Apl de Ap, Bamboo, Lea Salonga, and Sarah Geronimo.

The first season was an instant hit, either launching or reviving careers of its contestants, including winner Mitoy Yonting, Klarisse de Guzman, Darryl Ong, and Morisette Amon, Moira dela Torre among others.

Since then, spin-offs of the original format were brought to the country. These were ‘The Voice Kids’ and ‘The Voice Teens.’

Notable singers to come out of these spin-off shows are Lyca Gairanod, Darren Espanto, JK Labajo, Kyle Echarri, Ella Nympha, Jeremy Glinoga, and more.

After the ABS-CBN shutdown in 2020, the program migrated to the pay TV platform Kapamilya Channel.

In the final ABS-CBN Studios-produced ‘Kids’ and ‘Teens’ editions, ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ was also seen on A2Z and TV5.

At present, the entire ‘The Voice’ format is owned by UK-based content company ITV Studios.

KAPUSO ‘VOICE’

Sixth season of ‘The Voice Kids PH’ to air on GMA

In 2023, GMA Network first acquired ‘The Voice’ spin-off competition ‘The Voice Generations,’ which originated in Australia.

This is the first time that a spin-off series of ‘The Voice’ in the Philippines was not produced and broadcast by ABS-CBN, and in the process, GMA also became the first Asian network to localized the ‘Generations’ franchise.

For ‘TVG,’ Chito Miranda, Billy Crawford, Julie Anne San Jose, and SB19 member Stell Ajero served as coaches.

By the end of the competition, Cagayan de Oro-based musical group VocalMyx was named as first champions of ‘The Voice Generations’ in the Philippines.

During the ‘Kapuso Countdown to 2024,’ GMA Network formally announced that they have secured the rights for the regular edition of ‘The Voice of the Philippines,’ which aired for two season on ABS-CBN in 2014 and 2015, and ‘The Voice Kids.’

In recent promotional plugs, the Kapuso network announced that they are already holding auditions for the upcoming sixth local edition of ‘The Voice Kids,’ which is slated to premiere in the latter half of 2024.

Although, as of press time, GMA has not yet unveiled the coaches for the inaugural series of ‘TVK’ on their network.

It also remains to be seen if GMA will also bag ‘The Voice Teens’ now that it has ended its third season on ABS-CBN.