Goodbye SOP! Hello Party Pilipinas!

After more than a decade of going head
to head with its competitor ASAP in
terms of viewership, SOP (Sobrang Okay
Pare) will air its final live episode
this Sunday, February 28.
 
The primary reason for the sudden
replacement is the low ratings it has
been receiving since its revamp "Fully
Charged" last October 2009. Since then,
its rival ASAP '09 & ASAP XV has
been beating SOP in both national and
Mega Manila ratings.


Its ratings dropped significantly over
the last few months. The latest report
of AGB Nielsen, SOP Fully Charged got
12% versus ASAP XV 's 18%. In the
survey of TNS National, the former has
9.1% while the latter generated 20.7%.



The long-running Sunday party show
of GMA-7 undergoes a major revamp and
gets a "reinforced" staff, plus a new
title, starting the third Sunday of
March.

Party Pilipinas is now going to be an
"all-party and all-positive vibes" show,
according to the Corporate
Communications Department of GMA-7 and
the show'[s new production manager, Ruth
Mariñas.

Mariñas takes over the post of Ramel
David, who in turn replaced Hazel
Abonita.

Director Louie Ignacio will now have a
co-director and creative manager, Paul
Basinillo, a seasoned music video
director who helmed some projects for
Sarah Geronimo and other young singers.

Four musical directors will alternate
every week, two of which will be Raul
Mitra and Danny Tan.

Geleen Eugenio will hand over the
choreography to her son Miggy, but she
will become the chief adviser of the new
choreographers coming from different
school organizations, which will be
given the chance to show off their
dancing skills.

The four main hosts Regine Velasquez,
Ogie Alcasid, Janno Gibbs, and Jaya are
retained, along with the R&B pair of
Jay-R and Kyla, plus, La Diva.

New co-hosts and semi-regulars will join
them in launching all-new segments, such
as a revolving special number every week
from one group of Telebabad stars and a
high-powered number from different
schools' dancing groups.