Battle of the Mermaids: 'Dyesebel' vs 'Kambal Sirena' vs 'Janella in Wonderland'

March 08, 2014

The battle of the mermaids is on. It's ABS-CBN's Dyesebel starring Anne Curtis versus GMA-7's Kambal Sirena with Louise delos Reyes, pitted against IBC-13's Janella in Wonderland starring Janella Salvador. Because of that, the No. 3 network IBC-13 now joining the foray of fantaserye wars because of the mermaid tale.

With the PBA games now out of Wednesday and Friday nights and reducing only 2 live games for PBA particularly on weekend primetime (Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m.), IBC-13 is reviving up with popular shows that may catch the needed additional viewership when the teleserye dominance of ABS-CBN and GMA whose deter for IBC. In the old days, it was watching for IBC-13 in the 70's and 80's while they hardly tune in to Channel 13 wants to catch the basketball game like PBA. Now, there will be the fantasy series to compete with already popular ones on Channels 2 and 7.

First of which, IBC-13 will launch its first venture of fantaserye Janella in Wonderland last January 6, also starring Marlo Mortel, along with Angelu de Leon, Bobby Andrews, Andrei Felix, Bettina Carlos, Gabbi Garcia, Alexandra Macanan, Kiko Estrada, CJ Navato and Joshua Dionisio. Also, the mermaids underwater are Kat Alano as Calissa, Jai & Joj Agpangan, Mikee Lee, Yen Santos and Paolo Serrano, The Destines are Celine Lim, Dexie Daulat and Aria Cariño, the villains are Alessandra de Rossi as Eris, Meryll Soriano as Ursula, and RJ Ledesma as the voice of Shark, and the voices of Alyanna Angeles as Zuma, Elmo Magalona as Sebastian and Harvey Bautista as Snouts, Ciara Sotto as Dreamfish, Nel Gomez as Kim's Pet Fish, Raine Salamante as Lipstick Fish, Josh Padilla as Remo and Jake Roxas as Pufferazzi.

Prior to Janella in Wonderland, IBC-13 aired the children's fantasy series Ora Engkantada hosted by Luz Fernandez from 1986 to 1990, while the fantasy sitcom Okey Ka Fairy Ko! starring Vic Sotto, Charito Solis and Alice Dixson from 1987 to 1989 and the superhero-fantasy action series Computer Man featuring Eric Quizon from 1990 to 1991. The children's fantasy series remake of the 2000 hit telenovela Carita de Angel featuring Mutya Orquia as the little guardian angel Dulce Maria from September 30 last year to February 28.

Mr. Dyogi said the fantasy series is “about 30%” more expensive to do than a straightforward drama since there are a lot of costumes involved. “There are also a lot of computer animation for the computer-generated, and prosthetic makeup,” Mr. Dyogi explained. “We also have to move around because there are the mermaids and sea creatures under the sea, and the island that are needed for the story,” he added.

Last January 6,  throughout more than a month of airing at 7:45 p.m. weeknight time slot, it will catering to children and young adult viewers who knows very well that will battle in the ratings game.

Ginny Monteagudo-Ocampo, the show's executive in-charge of production, said airing the fantasy series is doing well ratings-wise in that time slot against the fantasy series of other TV network like ABS-CBN's Honesto and GMA's Adarna is part of IBC-13’s continuing counter-programming strategy and now pitted against the Sirena Wars such as ABS-CBN's Dyesebel and GMA's Kambal Sirena. starting March 17.

“We in TV have a primetime newscast, Express Balita, which airs at 6:30 p.m. The news program continues to dominated by the formidable prime time newscasts like ABS-CBN's TV Patrol and GMA's 24 Oras,” Ms. Ginny told reporters last Thursday. “So we thought of having Janella in Wonderland will dominate after the newscast, to offer more feel-good habit. So that, we are gaining the attention of young viewers,” she said.

“We know more children are watching the fantaserye, so we made some adjustments to keep them more interested,” she told reporters in Filipino.

Salvador said that under the supervision of director Jeffrey Jeturian, the series reigned it a point to come up with fantasy sequences for the delight of young audiences.

“We also make sure that the dialogue is appropriate for young viewers,” she added.

Then after 9 weeks of premiere on Channel 13, the Kapamilya fantasy series is set to debut on March 17 while the Kapuso sirenaserye will air one week ahead (March 10).

Dyesebel also stars Gerald Anderson, Sam Milby, Andi Eigenmann, Dawn Zulueta, Eula Valdez, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Ai-Ai de las Alas, Gabby Concepcion, and Bangs Garcia.

The cast for Kambal Sirena, on the other hand, includes Aljur Abrenica, Mike Tan, Tessie Tomas, Mickey Ferriols, Nova Villa, Lotlot de Leon, Pancho Magno, Polo Ravales and Wynwyn Marquez.

Kapamilya, Kapuso and Kapinoy fans will surely compare Dyesebel to Kambal Sirena to Janella in Wonderland and vice-versa. With the help of IBC-13 gaining to the third spot when the ratings went higher than the targeted 25% viewership share, plus it will brings the 'network war' of between ABS-CBN and GMA-7 and their battle for primetime supremacy, that's for sure, revealed Tessie Taylor, sales and marketing for IBC-13.

The fantaserye fever started with the huge success of Marina and Marinara, aired in their respective channels, as well as to the other productions that followed thereafter. These questions and more will be answered in the coming days as the battle of the mermaids begin.
 * Who will be sexier between Anne and Louise, while a teenager and sexier for Janella?
 * Who will be better acting wise?
 * Who will get higher ratings in Mega Manila? Nationwide?
 * Which of the two series will have a better story plot? Setting? Costumes? Twists?
 * Who will become a trending topic on Twitter more frequently?