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| Source: Eat Bulaga Facebook page. |
That is the hashtag in the Twitterville for the commentary exchanges of netizens worldwide as they waited for/watched/reviewed the events about to transpire/happening/successfully completed at the Philippine Arena, the largest indoor arena of the world, on Saturday, 24 October 2015.
The Tamang Panahon event had been much-awaited for the last three months ever since Lola Nidora promulgated that Alden Richards and Yaya Dub would be able to meet/touch/talk to each other when the right time (tamang panahon) comes.
When she announced it a Saturday earlier, where this would happen, and at what price to pay but for a noble cause--a Project Library for schools across the archipelago--pandemonium, sort of, broke across the AlDub Nation.
We witnessed the queues to the Ticketworld booth at Trinoma during the week: people who reserved online and those who wanted to take a chance for still available tickets. The prime tickets sold out on the first day.
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| The 55,000-seat Philippine Arena filled to capacity. (Source: Eat Bulaga Facebook page) |
We had the TV set all by ourself for more than three hours (it extended a little past the airtime 1130am to 230pm) when Eat Bulaga was aired non-stop with no commercial interruptions. This got us glued listening to jubilant cheers of the AlDub fans that fully occupied the 55,000-seat arena, laughing with them as the lolas Nidora (Wally Bayola), Tidora (Paolo Ballesteros) and Tinidora (Jose Manalo), aka Kalye's Angels, threaded the Cinderella-like story of Alden and Yaya Dub/Maine Mendoza with throwbacks to their own growing-up memoirs.
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| The lolas Tinidora, Nidora and Tidora. (Source: Eat Bulaga Facebook page) |
It was altogether a grand production number of the KalyeSerye that happens within the Juan For All, All For Juan segment of Eat Bulaga. The other EB hosts (Dabarkads) including Tito, Vic and Joey became supporting characters during the entire show.
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| Source: Inquirer online. |
The KalyeSerye has 'united' Pinoys worldwide: fan clubs who followed the story live or replays through YouTube or Facebook video posts. For this Tamang Panahon event, those who could not go to the Philippine Arena became TeamBahay or TeamAbroad, viewers at home or abroad.
The AlDub phenomenon, of course, has detractors. The issue of apparent 'shallowness' (kababawan) stirred some social media debate, Social scientists and academicians had taken interest, and 'think' papers/articles had been written about its socio-cultural implications.
The religious community also took notice: the Catholic mass media group has gone to the extent of giving awards to Lola Nidora, Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards for the push their kalyeserye is giving to traditional Filipino values.
We believe that the netizens [and TV audiences] of various ages also take AlDub as an effective medium for positive personal/family/community values formation. AlDub is simply one brief comedic spiel from Monday to Saturday; thus, back to the labors after the freeze of the KalyeSerye characters at the end of each episode..
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| Source: Manila Bulletin digital edition |
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| Source: The Standard online digital edition. |
Whether this will be kilig for a long time or forever depends on the fickle mood of the viewing public. What may keep it going is the receptiveness and prompt response of the story writers to ideas and comments of the AlDub Nation. We sense that the segment writers are keeping track of what netizens say via the social media.
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| This one headlined AlDub. (Source: Balita digital edition.) |
The KalyeSerye as a social-media phenomenonal success is already history, and it continues to be 'history in the making'.
