THE Voice was introduced in the Philippines by way of ABS-CBN as a singing competition like no other. It features top judges and first-rate contestants battling it out to be declared as The Voice at the end of the competition. Although I’m sometimes far more entertained by the “battles” among the judges during the blind auditions, (Lea Salonga versus apl.de.ap versus Bamboo versus Sarah Geronimo over a bright-eyed wannabe), The Voice is generally good TV.
And it appears that much of the country agrees with me, as The Voice Philippines always dominates the ratings and social media goes into a frenzy every time something notable happens in the show.
It will definitely be a hard act to follow but ABS-CBN is facing the challenge head-on, introducing a new program to replace the audiences’ weekend viewing: Your Face Sounds Familiar.
Admittedly, I wasn’t familiar with the show and I thought it was an original program by the network. So it was no small surprise when I found out that it’s a franchise show (like The Voice, Big Brother and MasterChef) and has been airing for quite sometime now in the United Kingdom and other countries.
For those who have no idea what the show is about: Your Face Sounds Familiar is a variety show where a set of celebrities undergo a total transformation to take on a new identity as popular music icons. The celebrity contestants will face the “iconizer,” who will reveal the music icon they have to impersonate.
They then will have to copy the moves, appearance and even the voice of their assigned music icons, regardless of gender or age. They will perform live with a band, complete with makeup and costume for a complete transformation, and perform to be judged by their coperformers and a jury.
For the maiden season of Your Face Sounds Familiar, the celebrity contestants are Jay-R, Tutti Caringal, Edgar Allan Guzman, Maxene Magalona, Nyoy Volante, Melai Cantiveros, Karla Estrada and Jolina Magdangal.
Meanwhile, the celebrity panel of judges is composed of Gary Valenciano, Jed Madela and Sharon Cuneta.
In a rather refreshing departure from the TV norm, the celebrity contestants are not instantly voted off or booted out. Although the ultimate winner will be chosen by the public via text votes, people power falls well short of kicking any contestant off the show. They come back every week to earn points. I’m guessing that the only way to eject undeserving contestants is to take to the streets and do an Edsa 4.
So far, the memorable performances include Jay-R as Pepe Smith; Melai Cantiveros as Britney Spears; Maxene Magalona as Pilita Corrales; Karla Estrada as Chaka Khan; Tutti Caringal as Adam Levine; and Edgar Allan Guzman as Gary Valenciano.
You will be surprised at how the contestant look and even sound like the icons they have been assigned with. And you will admire them more for being so dedicated, pulling out all the stops in undergoing the transformation. Besides thoroughly studying their movements, the contestants undergo different workshops every week just to achieve their goal.
Despite all the work, the contestants seem to be having fun and a grand time. And it shows. Your Face Sounds Familiar is very infectious. In fact, every time I tune in, I have jolly good fun watching these celebrities transform and perform. The show has tremendous entertainment value.
And that for me is good TV.