July 17, 2006
GMA 7: Fantastic at 56
GMA Network's celebration of its 56th anniversary via a successful day-long event dubbed Fantastic 56: The GMA Anniversary Special at the World Trade Center on July 9 proved to be a memorable affair not just for the thousands of fans who flocked to the venue to see their favorite Kapuso stars up close, but also to the millions of viewers treated to a lineup of special presentations, musical extravaganza, and fantastic prizes.
With the WTC gates opening as early as 8 a.m., fans were greeted with several concept booths at the lobby. Costumes used in their favorite GMA telefantasyas were displayed and were available for picture taking. Medical services were offered in the booth of the Kapuso Foundation as well as other services in the program booths, manned by the Kapuso stars themselves.
By noontime, the WTC boomed with a musical intensity like no other as SOP aired live the much-awaited culmination of the SOP Pasiklaband: The Grand Battle Of Pinoy Bands. S Files held its live episode at the WTC entitled 8-Ternity: The S Files 8th Anniversary Special, where a collection of eight unforgettable showbiz stories were featured. In line with its anniversary celebration, S Files gave away special prizes to eight lucky winners among the WTC audience and eight from TV viewers.
At night, excitement rose as the WTC crowd grew thicker in anticipation of the three-hour musical extravaganza featuring the rare gathering of GMA's biggest stars. TV viewers at home witnessed the star-studded presentation as it aired in GMA's SNBO time slot that night.
The musical special opened with a fantastic song number by Regine Velasquez with the stars of GMA's top-rating Telebabad primetime block.
What followed was a fitting tribute to the KiliTV block, tracing the birth of its long-running comedy shows and how they initiated GMA Network's claim to the No. 1 spot. This was topped by a hilarious spoof of a beauty pageant — the Binibining Fantastic 2006 — featuring Joey de Leon as the “mistress of ceremonies” and gorgeous cross-dressers Gian Carlos, Rainier Castillo, Paolo Ballesteros, Keempee de Leon, Antonio Aquitania and Wendell Ramos as the contestants. The lovable “ladies” were serenaded by Bearwin Meily, Anjo Yllana, Raymart Santiago, Benjie Paras, Joey Marquez and Richard Gomez.
Viewers witnessed the rare ballroom dance number of Mel Tiangco with Angel Locsin, Pia Guanio and Iza Calzado.
Next, sexy bodies bared in the energized song number of Janno Gibbs and K Brosas alongside the steamy dance performances of Alfred Vargas, Polo Ravales, Jake Cuenca, Justin Cuyugan, Ara Mina, Francine Prieto, Katrina Halili and Maureen Larrazabal.
After the wacky VTR of Arnell Ignacio on his successful comeback as game-show host of Now Na! on QTV 11 — GMA 7's sister station — Lani Mercado, Manilyn Reynes, Julia Clarete, Tanya Garcia and Wilma Doesnt represented QTV with their special dance number.
Janno Gibbs and Ogie Alcasid rendered a nostalgic medley of the most-loved theme songs of GMA's popular Asianovelas.
The three batches of StarStruck performed with SIS hosts Janice and Gelli de Belen and Carmina Villarroel along with KiliTV and Telebabad luminaries.
Personifying the growing coverage of GMA all over the world via its international channel GMA Pinoy TV, Jolina Magdangal performed a medley of signature Pinoy songs with South Border and Jay-R.
GMA Records, the recording arm of GMA Network, was represented by its recording artists Jolina Magdangal, Jennylyn Mercado, Yasmien Kurdi, Jonalyn Viray, BMC (Brenan Espartinez, Michael Anthony Garcia and Charmaine Piamonte), with Pinoy Pop Superstar Year 2 grand champion Gerald Santos and cofinalists Aicelle Santos, Harry Santos and Irra Cenina.
A special tribute was given to the pillars of GMA, with a medley of poignant songs performed by Lani Mercado, Jackie Lou Blanco and Jean Garcia to Master Showman German Moreno; Dennis Trillo to award-winning veteran actor Eddie Garcia; Keempee de Leon to his father, veteran host-comedian Joey de Leon; and Wency Cornejo to his mother, award-winning broadcast journalist and host Mel Tiangco.
GMA gave away fantastic cash prizes amounting to almost half-a-million pesos during the special anniversary presentation, with seven lucky texters winning P56,000 each and one very lucky texter bagging the grand prize of P100,000.
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