“It’s Showtime” hosts Vhong Navarro, Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz as Dolphy, Babalu and Redford White. Image: screengrab from YouTube/ABS-CBN Entertainment
Vhong Navarro, Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz left “It’s Showtime” viewers laughing and shedding tears after the hosts’ “Magpasikat” performance, wherein they paid tribute and turned into comedy legends Dolphy, Babalu and Redford White with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
In the noontime show’s episode on Monday, Nov. 6, Navarro, Jugueta and Corpuz portrayed Dolphy, Babalu and White, respectively, and each delivered individual song-and-dance performances that had references to the late comedians’ shows and famous lines.
The hosts then played a replay of their performance in which their faces and voices were turned to those of Dolphy, Babalu and White through AI technology.
Also flashed on the screen were the faces of late comedians Willie Nepomuceno, German Moreno, Chiquito, Dencio Padilla, Yoyoy Villame, Rene Requiestas, Chichay, Panchito, Bentong, Chokoleit, Elizabeth Ramsey and Richie D’Horsey, among others.
Navarro, Jugueta and Corpuz had a special guest as well, veteran actress-comedian Nova Villa, who appeared at the latter part of the performance.
“Fourteen years na ang ‘It’s Showtime.’ Parang lahat nagawa na natin dito…kaya naman naisip ng team namin na gawin ang AI dahil nauuso siya ngayon,” Navarro said, adding that they had sought the permission of the departed celebrities’ families before featuring them in the hosts’ performance.
Navarro then warned, “Pero ang paggamit po ng AI ay dapat ginagamit po yan sa tama, hindi po sa pangloloko.”
(“It’s Showtime” is in its 14th year and I feel like we have already used almost all concepts [for our “Magpasikat” performances]. For this reason, our team decided to use AI because it is a trend nowadays. But, I would like to remind everyone that AI should not be used for bad purposes.)