The fifth season of The Voice Kids premiered on February 25, 2023 on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, and TV5. Bamboo Mañalac reprised his role as a coach, being joined by debuting coaches KZ Tandingan and Martin Nievera.[1][2]
This is the first season among the Philippine seasons to feature only one female coach, as well as the first to feature two new coaches. The fifth season is also the first among the kids' seasons to feature the block button, where a coach can prevent another coach from getting picked by a contestant.
Shane Bernabe of Kamp Kawayan was named the winner of the competition on the season finale aired on May 21, 2023. Her victory marks Mañalac's second win as a coach.[3]
The renewal of The Voice Kids was announced on November 14, 2022; the schedule for the auditions were also announced.[4] It was announced that this season will also air on TV5 during the 2023 trade launch of the said network on November 23, 2022.[5]
The auditions were opened to children aged 6–12. The producers' auditions were held in cities and municipalities throughout the Philippines.
On December 18, 2022, the roster of coaches for the fifth season was announced on the Tayo ang Ligaya ng Isa't-Isa: The ABS-CBN Christmas Special 2022. Of the three coaches that appeared in the previous season, only Bamboo Mañalac returned, marking the exit of Lea Salonga and Sarah Geronimo from the judging panel. The two departing coaches were replaced by singer and rapper KZ Tandingan and singer and television host Martin Nievera.[6][7]
Following the exit of Toni Gonzaga from the network, it was announced in the press that Bianca Gonzalez will take over her hosting duties, joined by Robi Domingo who has been a co-host of the show since its second season.[8] Jolina Magdangal served as the guest host for the Final Showdown in the absence of Bianca Gonzalez for health reasons.
The online companion show, titled The Voice Kids DigiTV airs together with the main program on the official Facebook and YouTube accounts of The Voice Kids and ABS-CBN's Kapamilya Online Live. Jeremy Glinoga returned as the host, together with season 2 winner Elha Nympha, who replaced KaladKaren.[9]
As shown in the teasers, new to this season is the Block.[10] Each coach may press the corresponding button to prevent one coach from getting an artist. This mechanic was first introduced in the Filipino franchise in 2020 during the second season of The Voice Teens.[10]
Unlike in the previous seasons, the young artists are only allowed to perform Original Pilipino Music (OPM) songs until the Semi-Finals, in a similarity to I Love OPM and We Love OPM in 2016. Nievera added that the show wanted to keep OPM alive.[11]
This season followed the format of the season 3 semifinals wherein a viewer had a chance to vote a young artist from each team (top 3 artists of each team) to enter the live finale. For the third time (since season 3), only three young artists (one per team) advanced to the live finals.
The season began with the "Blind auditions" on February 25, 2023. In each audition, an auditionee performed their Original Pilipino Music (OPM) piece to the three coaches whose chairs are facing away from the stage and the artist.[11] If the coach is interested in working with the artist, they can press the button to make themselves available for the artist to be chosen as their coach. If only one coach pressed their button, the artist is defaulted to that coach's team; if multiple coaches presses their button, the coaches compete for the artist, with the artist choosing which team to join. Each coach is given one block to prevent a fellow coach from getting an artist. Each coach needed to recruit 18 young artists into their teams.
Unlike in the previous seasons, only Original Pilipino Music (OPM) songs were performed throughout the entire season until the Final Showdown.
The coaches performed "Bawat Bata" by APO Hiking Society at the beginning of the pilot episode.
Among the auditionees is Fabio Santos, who is the nephew of Fana who competed in the first season of The Voice Teens Philippines.
Among the auditionees this episode was Rafa Tan, who is the son of OPM singer Roselle Nava.
Among the auditionees this episode was Princess J Cañete, who joined Eat Bulaga! Hype Kang Bata Ka! segment in 2020 and finished as the runner-up.
Among the auditionees in this episode was Kzhoebe Nichole Baker, who joined Eat Bulaga!'s Little Miss Philippines segment in 2019 and immediately returned to GMA Network after the competition.
Among the auditionees this episode was Zoe Quizol, who joined the first iteration of It's Showtime segment Mini Ms. U before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the auditionees this episode was Kaitlyn Repking, who was a contestant in SM Little Stars 2018.
Prior to the start of the episode's blind auditions, former co-host Kim Chiu made a guest appearance singing "Bulong" by Kitchie Nadal. At the end of the blind auditions, KZ was not able to successfully use her block. This episode was only aired on a Sunday, as there was no episode on the previous day due to Holy Week special programming on Black Saturday.
The second stage of the show, The Battles, aired on April 15, with 54 artists advancing to this round. All match-ups were announced on April 9, the final episode of the blind auditions.[20] The coaches pit three of their artists in a singing match and then select one of them to advance to the next round. The ability to steal an artist from other teams continued this season. Losing artists may be "stolen" by another coach via Steal Deal. Same as the last season, the steals were done off-stage, where the coaches must go to the artists with their families backstage to steal the artist they want to become the member of their team.
At the end of this round, seven artists remained on each team; six were the battle winners, and one from a steal. In total, 21 artists advanced to the sing-offs.
The third stage of the show, the Sing-offs were aired from April 30 to May 7, 2023, comprising episodes 19 through 21. 21 artists competed in the round. In this stage, each artist performs for their coaches with a song of their choosing. At the end of the round, each coach selected three of their artists to advance to the live shows, with a total of nine artists advancing to the next round.
The Top 9 artists competed for the public's votes to advance to the finals; the contestants with the most votes within their team moved forward, creating a total of three finalists who advanced to the finale. Held at the ABS-CBN Studios, Team Supreme and Kamp Kawayan performed on the first episode, while MarTeam performed on the latter episode, where the results of the round were announced.[27]
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The live finale aired from May 20 to 21. The finale was contested by the three finalists from each team. Unlike in the previous rounds, where only Original Pilipino Music (OPM) songs were performed, this round was the first and only for the season to feature foreign/international songs.
Jolina Magdangal served as a guest host for this round, as Bianca Gonzalez was absent due to health-related reasons.
With Bernabe's victory, she is the second three-chair turner to win a season, after Vanjoss Bayaban. She is also the first female three-chair turner to win an entire season.
Awit Ng Kabataan: Boses Ng Kinabukasan is a post-season special episode that was aired on the weekend after the Final Showdown. It featured performances from the season's contestants, coaches and several other special guests.
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