TV5 CONTINUES to make its strong presence felt in the entertainment scene.
They now partner with streaming platform Kumu and Cornerstone Entertainment for “Top Class: The Rise to P-Pop Stardom”, an original talent search/survival series that aims to introduce the next male superstars and chart the rise of their careers into nationwide fame and glory.
The show will first introduce 30 promising young aspirants who will take on challenges and push them to their limits as they compete for the coveted prize of becoming the next Filipino boy idol group.
The number of hopefuls will be trimmed down as the show goes on various elimination rounds to determine who among them will make it as the next wave of idols with incandescent star quality that will make them shine in the local entertainment scene.
In their recent contract-signing, Cignal TV and TV5 CEO-president Robert Galang said: “'Top Class' is one of the fresh, new contents we’re introducing this year from quite a number of other titles that we will launch.
"But this is very exciting because it’s a reality show that will cut across different platforms, not just on free TV but also digital. And we’ve partnered with one of the best talent management agencies in the country, Cornerstone, so it’s really promising.”
TV5 has partnered with Cornerstone since 2020 for award-winning shows like “Niña Niño” and “Sing-Galing”. “Top Class” is slated to air this year, but the executives won’t divulge yet the details concerning the format and how it will be different from other reality talent searches.
Jeff Vadillo, vice president of Cornerstone says: “We really want to incorporate the world-class element to the show. We are yet to announce the details as we go on moving onwards. But definitely, I’m very proud because we are going to get the best of the best, international caliber hosts and mentors with impressive international body of work that can compete on the global stage.
"Not to mention the production values of the show that would really be a platform and a springboard for the future P-pop icons who hopefully will shine worldwide.”
As a talent agency, Cornerstone also rode the P-pop wave by debuting early this year the boy group Vxon and the girl group G22.
“Even other bands who have been ahead of us, like there are a lot of P-pop groups which are actually making waves right now, not just in the Philippines, but even all over the world,” Vadillo adds.
“And from our experience with Vxon and even with G22, every time we release something, it’s not just the Filipinos who appreciate it. People from other countries do reaction videos, watching and appreciating the things we do that are mostly Tagalog singles.
"But that is the kind of future that we’re working on — to be able to create Filipino artists who have very strong roots and doing so excellently that other people from other countries can appreciate and relate with it.”
As for the proudly Filipino-made Kumu, it has grown to become the largest social entertainment app in the Philippines. Kumu chief commercial officer Paolo Pineda says:
“To date, more than 10 million people have registered on Kumu. We have the Kumunizens all the way from the US to Europe. Of course, the majority are still in the Philippines. But millions of streams on a monthly basis.”
In “Top Class”, the content streaming platform aims to help empower more content creators around the world to showcase their talents. Pineda adds:
“So with what we’ve been doing the last few years, we’ve partnered with other brands like Big Brother with ABS-CBN. And just now, we’ve partnered with Miss Universe also for the exact same thing — to find talent or people who want to join Miss Universe. We all do it on Kumu.
"It’s a natural progression that we actually put together a show where we allow these creators to even progress in their career. And we are not in the business of talent management and production. So, we work with Cornerstone who will help us and guide us through that.
"But the platform and Kumu will always complement the show that we’re putting together. And, of course, you need a free-to-air platform so that the majority of the Filipinos get in on what’s going on.”
Don't miss "Top Class" when it starts airing on TV5 later this year.