Vice Ganda and Darryl Yap. Image: Facebook/It’s Showtime, Darryl Yap
Vice Ganda’s speech in his recent “It’s Showtime” birthday performance has been hounded by intrigue after songwriter Lolito Go claimed that it has “unmistakable resemblance” to film director Darryl Yap’s piece “Buo.”
The comedian delivered his speech during the opening number of the noontime show last Saturday, April 6, the same day the show started its airing on GMA Network’s main channel.
On Sunday, April 7, a day after the episode aired, Go took to his Facebook page to enumerate several points he supposedly noticed after hearing the “It’s Showtime” host’s speech.
Go also made a stitched video showing parts of Vice Ganda and Yap’s speeches which are apparently “almost identical” in terms of “thoughts, delivery and heroic music.”
“…Kinabog ni Vice Ganda ang madlang pipol sa opening salvo nya sa debut episode ng It’s Showtime sa GMA7. Napanood ko yun nang live at hindi ko maiwasang mapansin yung semblance nito sa isa sa mga paborito kong piyesa ng kaibigan kong direktor (Yap),” he said.
“Panoorin nyo nang buo yung side-by-side comparison sa dalawang speeches. Unmistakable yung resemblance ano?” he continued. “Binalasa lang yung mga salita pero almost the same ang thoughts, delivery, pati yung heroic music almost identical.”
Go added that Vice Ganda might have been busy with his numerous projects and endorsements that he was not able to write his own piece.
The songwriter further noted that whoever wrote the comedian’s speech might have watched Yap’s piece and unconsciously copied it, or that Vice Ganda and Yap’s life experiences were very much alike, hence their alleged identical pieces.
“Kung may writer nga si Vice, maybe it’s time to do some auditing. Baka kasi marami nang iba pang ginagaya, nakakalusot lang,” he suggested. “Pero kung si Vice mismo ang sumulat nito, I would assume that she secretly admires the work of Darryl.”
“Of course, I don’t discount the possibility na coincidence lang ito. Freak coincidence. However slim the chances are, pwede pa ring nagkataon lang talaga ang lahat,” he stated. “Nagkataon lang na parehas ng content, parehas ng delivery, parehas ng pacing, parehas ng theatrics, parehas ng music. Almost parehas pa nga ng boses eh.”
Go, however, clarified that he is not accusing Vice Ganda or his team of plagiarism.
“Wala ngang copyright infringement, walang krimen. But just because it isn’t criminal doesn’t mean it’s not unethical. Unethical pa rin ang mangopya ng idea,” he said.
Concluding his lengthy post, Go said, “Sa kabila ng lahat, I still believe that Vice does great in her own league. At iba rin ang liga ni Darryl. Bakit hindi na lang sila magcollab?”
Vice Ganda or Yap have yet to publicly comment on the matter as of this writing.