Music has always been one of the most powerful ways we Filipinos tell our stories, express who we are, and connect with one another. ‘Mabuhay Ang Musikang Pilipino’ seeks to capture that spirit in one collective voice. Musikang Pilipino, atin ’to, para sa buong mundo. Mabuhay ang Musikang Pilipino. – Jonathan Manalo, ABS-CBN Music CCO Head
On August 30, 2026, Tawag Ng Tanghalan: The School Showdown Grand Winner, Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition 2.0 ex-housemate, and Riles Diva Carmelle Collado, known for her song composed by Nica del Rosario and Mat Olavides, Sobra-Sobra, will represent the Philippines in the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 Grand Final in Bangkok, Thailand, scheduled for November 14, 2026, through the recently held Philippine Selection Night.
But before the proclamation of the results for the Philippine Selection Night to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026, and its performances featuring its ten entry songs, the show host, Vice Ganda, together with performers Klarisse de Guzman, Lyka Estrella, Reiven Umali, Ian Manibale, Miah, and AZTER, teamed up and sang the official anthem to the New Frontier Theater Stage during its opening, Mabuhay Ang Musikang Pilipino, created and composed by Jonathan Manalo, the Head of Creatives, Content, and Operations for ABS-CBN Music.
The song was heard as the opening portion for the Eurovision Asia 2026’s Philippine Selection Night to bring together artists from different generations and genres in a celebration of Filipino music and to globally reach to its listeners, fostering its creativity by human, and not through artificial intelligence created online.
The writing of Mabuhay Ang Musikang Pilipino by the ABS-CBN Music CCO Head is to celebrate the growing recognition of Original Pinoy Music globally and to encourage Filipino artists to confidently bring their music and identity to the global stage, especially the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 – the inaugural iteration of the most-watched musical competition in Europe, led by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Voxovation.
The song was also part of his success in achieving more than 10 billion streams during his career, and it received more than a hundred Gold and Platinum recording certifications from the physical media era, like compact discs (CDs).
Eurovision has long represented the idea that music can cross borders without erasing national identity. In that spirit, ‘Mabuhay Ang Musikang Pilipino’ offers a distinctly Filipino statement for an international musical platform. Filipino music can be proudly local and confidently global at the same time, Jonathan added.
Beyond Carmelle Collado’s forthcoming representation of our country, the Philippine Selection Night for the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 also revealed that the second-place entry was Broken Beyond Repair, written by Angelo Gonzales and powerfully performed by Tawag ng Tanghalan alumnus SAGA. Mapadama, penned by Jeremy Glinoga and Jungee Marcelo and performed by Tawag ng Tanghalan Duets season 1 champion JM Dela Cerna and Marielle Montellano, was placed third in the selection night.
Other song entrants for the Philippine Selection Night were Jungee’s Between Bituin performed by DNA; Nar Cabico’s Cheri(e) sung by Esang de Torres, Elha Nympha, Lance Reblando, and Nar Cabico; Jason Marvin’s Di Yan (Red Flag) performed by Jason Dy and Sassa Dagdag; Hazel Faith Santos’ Good For You interpreted by Ryssi Avila; Angelo Calucin’s Make It Exist brought to life by AJAA; Stephen Tan’s Reason to Live performed by Khimo Gumatay; and Julius James de Belen and John Michael Conchada’s Round N’ Round interpreted by VVINK and WRIVE Russu Laurente.
ABS-CBN serves as the official Philippine broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026, the inaugural Asian season of Europe’s most-watched singing competition presented by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Voxovation. Vice Ganda, Darren Espanto, and Alexa Ilacad served as the hosts for the event.
To date, four artists have been selected to represent each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026. Along with Carmelle, Nyendra from Bhutan, Aina Abdul from Malaysia, and more recently, Junhee from South Korea, they will compete in the Grand Final in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 14, 2026. The winning representative in the Eurovision Song Contest Asia 2026 will be invited to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest 2027 in Burgas, Bulgaria.
What’s going on in Philippine entertainment?
A Cake To Remember draws 7.5 M views online; Always Yours Never Mine reveals its poster; Red Crown, coming this October
Fans of FranSeth, the love team pair of Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin, enjoyed the chemistry as iWant and JRB Creative Production dropped its latest vertical drama series, A Cake To Remember, on August 28, 2026, covering the first fifteen episodes available for streaming exclusively on iWant.
Since its premiere via iWant and on the official social media accounts of the streaming platform and ABS-CBN Entertainment, online viewers of the microdrama showed their support and took over the tagline “FRANSETH ACTR ON IWANT” to the top trending topics on X/Twitter in the Philippines. It also showed that their first-ever microdrama series has been listed among the most-watched shows in the Philippines, placed third as of September 2, 2026.
Directed by Emerald Silvestre, the romance short drama series follows the forgotten romance of Mandy (Francine) and Landon (Seth). As Mandy tries to save her struggling bakery with a lucrative wedding cake commission, she discovers that the groom is her ex-fiancé Landon, who left her at the altar. Unknown to her, Landon lost his memories of their romance after a tragic accident. Determined to make him remember before he marries someone else, Mandy hopes the cakes they once made and shared can unlock his forgotten past.
iWant promised that A Cake To Remember will drop the remaining episodes through its second part on September 4, 2026, and will soon release new Quick Feels offerings for the second half of 2026, including Will You Fake Marry Me Season 2 (JM Ibarra and Fyang Smith) and Half Sisters (Bianca de Vera, Esnyr Ranollo, and Brent Manalo).
Fans of FranSeth or anyone who wants to get a free taste of the microdrama can watch the first five episodes available globally on iWant and on the official social media accounts of iWant and ABS-CBN Entertainment.
Viewers may also watch the rest (episodes 6 to 30) through its subscription plans, priced locally at PHP 35.00 for the Basic Plan and PHP 119.00 for the Premium Plan. Kapamilyas abroad may enjoy it for the price of USD 4.99 worldwide (or equivalent currency), including the United States, as a promotional price valid until October 31, 2026.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN Studios-Star Cinema recently unveiled the official poster of the forthcoming film headlined by Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto, Always Yours Never Mine, scheduled to release in Philippine cinemas on September 30, 2026, through an event held in one of the shooting locations at Calle Crisologo in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Directed by Cathy Garcia-Sampana and written by Olivia Lamasan, Trishtan Perez, and Vanessa Valdez, Always Yours Never Mine will feature a taste of its bustling settings, complete with a warm cinematic tone that hints at the film’s themes of love and longing.
Apart from Joshua and Julia, the upcoming film will feature Karen Reyes, Bob Jbeili, Migs Almendras, Paulo Angeles, and Joy Barcoma, all of whom appeared during the poster reveal event, together with Chandra Romero, Bianca Umali, Ina Raymundo, Franco Laurel, Reign Parani, Paolo Gumabao, and Jan Silverio.
Joshua Garcia recently headlined, together with Ivana Alawi, in a Dreamscape Entertainment-produced Prime Video series, Love Is Never Gone, filmed in Morocco.
Furthermore, following several weeks of social media speculation involving the viral Queen of the Islands pageant, GMA Pictures announced on August 28, 2026, that the much-talked-about contest has been the center of the story for their upcoming satirical comedy film filled with an “intensive bardagulan”, titled Red Crown, scheduled to release in Philippine cinemas sometime in October 2026.
Directed by Dominic Zapata, with screenplays led by Kit Villanueva and Ken de Leon, the premise of the comedy film featured a star-studded stars that set the bar high as the pageant candidates in Queen of the Islands, including Yana Aduana, Alethea Ambrosio, Ara Arida, Herlene Budol, Skye Chua, Faith da Silva, Michelle Marquez Dee, Haley Dizon, MJ Encabo, Shuvee Etrata, Gazini Ganados, Rein Hillary, Maika Kemmochi, MJ Lastimosa, Aira Lopez, Sanya Lopez, Ahtisa Manalo, AZ Martinez, Ashley Ortega, Vanessa Peña, Sandy Riccio, Jade Tecson, Tarah Valencia, Yna Angela Uy, and Yza Thalia Uy, among of whom will take home a record-breaking cash prize.
Apart from the highest amount of cash that the fictitious pageantry contest had promised, it also featured viral pasarela walk videos that had pageant enthusiasts and the public passionately guessing and backing their favorite candidates, all of which were seen in a major promotional campaign of the film. The film also dives into a brutal world of “laban kung laban” in the pageantry industry, capturing the stories of glitz, glamour, and killer walks – that viewers will surely guess who will win the competition and take home the crown.
Related to the promotional videos, the first phase featured carefully crafted teasers, including the official social media accounts of Queen of the Islands, Candidate Posters, behind-the-scenes videos of their rehearsals, a rundown of pageant sponsors, and even a pageant presentation attended by the media and content creators, which would compete among the 25 candidates to win a record-breaking cash prize in the pageant.
PBB Gen 11 ex-housemate updates on DRPS PHCA are back:
Kolette appeared in BGYO-led Vertical On Demand; JMFyang’s Almost Us leads the top trending spot on Netflix PH
BGYO members Gelo, Akira, JL, Mikki, and Nate explore romance from different perspectives as they take on leading man roles together with PBB Gen 11 ex-housemate Kolette Madelo, alongside Alexa Ilacad, Reign Parani, and Joy Barcoma in their microdrama series Vertical On Demand, as seen on the official YouTube channel of the P-Pop Group.
Inspired by the songs from their EP, On Demand, which have achieved 2.5 million streams on Spotify and are available on all music platforms, the series brings its tracks to life through bite-sized stories about love, dating, relationships, and the moments that make romance both exciting and complicated.
The microdrama is the P-Pop group’s latest development, following their recent mall tours performing songs from the EP at several SM Supermalls, including SM City Telabastagan, SM City Novaliches, SM City Santo Tomas, SM City Baguio, SM Southmall, and SM Lanang.
Among the four-episode microdrama series is the appearance of Kolette Madelo in their latest and final episode, Trono, as Mikki and Nate find themselves caught in a fun competition, as they both eagerly wait for their date, only to discover the PBB Gen 11 ex-housemate has played them both.
This would be the fourth microdrama series to feature at least one ex-housemate of PBB Gen 11, alongside Shadow CEO (Dylan Yturralde and Vivoree Esclito), When Brothers Fall (Jas Dudley-Scales and Argel Saycon), and Will You Fake Marry Me (JM Ibarra and Fyang Smith), all of which are released on iWant.
Aside from Trono, Vertical On Demand kicked off with Life’s Too Short, starring Akira, JL, and Reign Parani, a story about taking a chance on love. Jules (Akira) gathers the courage to confess his feelings to Diane (Reign) and enlists his best friend Red (JL) to help him plan a surprise date that could finally reveal what is in his heart.
The second episode, titled Mean Girl, featuring JL and Joy Barcoma, takes the spotlight on Brian (JL), who finds himself at his wit’s end as his girlfriend Trish (Joy) rejects every dating spot he suggests, leading to a series of playful exchanges that show the funny side of being in a relationship.
Gelo Rivera and Alexa Ilacad, who both appeared in a hit iWant microdrama The Chambermaid’s Daughter, take center stage in the third episode, Raindrop. It follows a couple celebrating their anniversary with their romantic date, James (Gelo) and Kai (Alexa), as they reminisce about the happy moments they shared, while an underlying tension forces them to confront where their relationship stands.
Theodore Boborol, the man behind two of the JMFyang-led series, Ghosting and Will You Fake Marry Me (Season 2), and GeLex-led The Chambermaid’s Daughter, directs this latest microdrama offering seen on the official YouTube channel of BGYO.
Kolette Madelo will appear as a featured vocalist together with Jarren Garcia in an upcoming musical play, The Art of Breaking Up, taking place at the PETA Theater from November 6, 2026, to December 6, 2026.
Meanwhile, the kilig factor of JM Ibarra and Fyang Smith seen in Philippine cinema has further expanded to online streaming via Netflix, as Regal Entertainment and Project 8 dropped their much-awaited romantic comedy film pairing of JMFyang, Almost Us, on September 3, 2026.
Just two days after the release on Netflix (as of September 5, 2026), it overtook the lead of Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre-led 51st MMFF entry film Call Me Mother among the top trending films on Netflix in the Philippines. Earlier, the film was ranked second in the same rankings of the video streaming platform, a day after the Netflix release of the film.
Almost Us, directed by Dan Villegas, was previously released to about 165 Philippine cinemas nationwide on May 6, 2026. The film achieved an opening gross of PHP 5 million, and later grew to PHP 23 million a week later. Aside from JM and Fyang, who played the respective roles of RR and Janine, the film also stars Dustin Yu, Yukii Takahashi, Sam Samarita, JM Salvado, Baus Rufo, Che Ramos, and Lotlot Bustamante.
A few weeks before the film was released to Philippine cinemas, online trends and positive reactions were seen on the official teaser and trailer videos of the film released last March and April, which achieved more than 35 million combined online views. It also took over the taglines and hashtags of “JMFYANG AUDA OVERLOAD”, “JMFYANG AUTHENTIC KILIG”, “AlmostUsOfficialTeaser”, and “AlmostUsOfficialTrailer” among the top trending list on X/Twitter in the Philippines a few hours after the release of each teaser and trailer video online.
Before and during the online release of Almost Us via Netflix, social media trends also emerged on the same social media platform, with taglines “JMFYANG ALMOST US ON NETFLIX” and “ALMOST US TOPS NETFLIXPH”, and the hashtag “JMFyangDebutMovie” landed the online trends in the Philippines, according to JMFyang Official.
JM and Fyang, both known as ex-housemates of Pinoy Big Brother Gen 11, will appear in two films for each of them, One For The Road for JM Ibarra (together with Emilio Daez and Elijah Canlas), and Haunted Carnival for Fyang Smith, one of the first four entry films for the 52nd Metro Manila Film Festival, both of which are produced by the same film production company behind Almost Us and Shake, Rattle & Roll Evil Origins (which was also released on Netflix a few weeks ago), Regal Entertainment.
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© 2026 DRPS Philippine Commercial Archives (DRPS PHCA). All Rights Reserved. PHCA CID: PHCA-2026H2-4402/September 5, 2026.
