Janella Salvador as IBC's Only Primetime Princess

March 24, 2014

Janella Salvador as solo primetime princess and a teen mermaid tale in her first IBC fantaserye, titled Janella in Wonderland, which airs weeknights

MANILA, Philippines - Drama is the princess of primetime, says IBC teen star Janella Salvador. After playing the most promising character as Nikki-Grace Lim in ABS-CBN's daytime teleserye Be Careful With My Heart, the Kapinoy network gamble to go head to head with the soap operas of competing network with the first-ever fantaserye Janella in Wonderland which already premiere last January 13, Janella's first daily primetime series with the network since her cross-over from ABS-CBN last January 24, 2014 as part of the network's contract.

The 15-year-old singer-actress was celebrated on its 16th birthday on March 30, she is purposed to do fantasy drama for her first fantaserye with IBC-13. When she signed up with the network last January 24, Janella was also part of the cast in Friends 4Ever (Saturday and Sunday 3 p.m.), a youth-oriented light drama also starring Marlo Mortel, Sue Ramirez, Khalil Ramos, Francis Magundayao, Liza Soberano and Diego Loyzaga.

The network decided to change their horizontal programming strategy last March 10 by airing a fanntasy series from the success of drama. The primetime block also aired with Mutya Orquia's child adventure drama series Carita de Angel (5:45 p.m.), the station's high-rating newscast Express Balita (6:30 p.m.), that Thai superstar Mario Maurer's romantic light drama Crazy Little Thing Called Love (8:30 p.m.), Claudine Barretto's heavy drama Your Heart, My Love (9:15 p.m.), Ramon Bautista's political satire Sic O'Clock News Naman (9:45 p.m.), Victoria Ruffo's hit telenovela La Madrastra (10:15 p.m.) and Jane Nara's hottest Korean drama My Love Patzzi (10:45 p.m.). Meanwhile, the network is hoping the gamble will dominated with the trend-setting fantasy series Janella in Wonderland, since the first fantaseryes in 2004 are Marina (ABS-CBN) and Marinara (GMA 7).

"Oh my gee, she's here because it's a feel-good that IBC-13 is running third in the ratings, behind ABS-CBN and GMA 7. We need to be able to come up with the fantasy and drama series that our audience will enjoy watching," Janella says when asked about the Sirena Wars, she is facing now as a superstar of the Kapinoy network. As of March 17, of course, the fantasy series is already dominate with Dyesebel and Kambal Sirena because of the two mermaid under the water, sea creatures and the island.

Oh my super gee, perhaps, the first fantasy series for Janella, who plays the lead character Janella Bernardo, a 15-year old girl who turning into a teen mermaid tale.

Perhaps, the daily comedy show is a better fit for Ogie, who channels a character unlike those he has done in the recent past. Here, he plays Christopher “Tupe” Catacutan, the titular 40-year-old “torpe” who is head over heels with Monique Salcedo, played by Alice Dixson. Unfortunately, Pete Malaqui, played by Wendell Ramos, will stop at nothing to make sure Tupe and Monique do not end up together.

Gelli de Belen, Bayani Agbayani and young stars Albie Casiño, Mark Neumann and Shaira Mae dela Cruz are also part of the cast.

Ogie knows the show is a big risk for TV5, a David to ABS-CBN and GMA 7’s primetime drama Goliaths, considering the audience is still accustomed to drama on weeknights.

“We are not expecting major changes like we’re going to capture the market. We just want to offer something different, something very entertaining, comedy-wise,” he muses. “It’s a challenge, not only for me but for the entire network. They’re taking a risk; they’re willing to do a project that’s comedy. Alam naman natin sa primetime ang hari ay drama. Sumugal sila sa comedy — that speaks a lot about them.”

It’s an uphill battle for the Kapatid network, but Ogie is not afraid to fail. “Failure is what keeps us going, failure is what keeps us trying,” he says.

He adds: “I expect the best from everything I do. You put your best foot forward in everything that you do, and if it falls short then so be it. If it does well then so be it. The most important thing in everything that you do is that you did your best. Then you won’t feel so bad.”

Is Ogie anything like Tupe? “Hindi, hindi ako ganun. Makapal ang mukha ko,” he quips. However, the singer-actor does have advice for those who are, like his character, “torpe.”

“Stay that way because in the end, you’ll find someone. I think you just have to be true to yourself. If you’re that way, why force to be someone that you’re not? If you’re shy, you’ll probably find someone who is very outgoing and will end up doing all the work,” he shares.

Confessions of a Torpe airs weeknights on TV5.