ASAP (an abbreviation of its original full name, All-Star Sunday Afternoon Party, currently known as All-Star Sunday Awesome Party) is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by ABS-CBN and Kapamilya Channel. Originally hosted by Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Ariel Rivera, and Dayanara Torres, it premiered on February 5, 1995, on the network's Sunday afternoon line up. Nievera, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Gary Valenciano, Erik Santos, Darren Espanto, Kim Chiu, Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Kyle Echarri, Luis Manzano, Robi Domingo, Maymay Entrata, Donny Pangilinan, Alexa Ilacad, Belle Mariano, Janine Gutierrez, Kai Montinola and James Reid currently serve as the hosts. It is the longest-running musical variety show on Philippine television.
History
ASAP first decade (1995–2003)
When Sa Linggo nAPO Sila became 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila to replace Eat Bulaga! (which left ABS-CBN to go to GMA after then-producer TAPE Inc. (show now produced by TVJ Productions on TV5 and RPTV) denied ABS-CBN's offer to buy the airing rights of the show), a TV show was conceptualized by Deo Endrinal with a group of production people from the displaced APO show in January 1995 as a "concert party" on Sundays.
Martin Nievera accidentally joined the group while on break from taping his eponymous talk show. He gave the show the title acronym ASAP which stood for All-Star Sunday Afternoon Party. The production group decided to bring him and Pops Fernandez, along with Ariel Rivera and Dayanara Torres, as main hosts for the show. The cast of Pare Ko (Claudine Barretto, Victor Neri, Roselle Nava, Gio Alvarez, Jao Mapa, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Nikka Valencia) became co-hosts for the show to attract younger audiences.
In 1996, the show's line-up of co-hosts and performers evolved as it included different young stars from ABS-CBN's Talent Center (Ang TV, Gimik and Star Circle). The show also celebrated its first anniversary as it finally wrested the top spot away from its closest rival, GMA Supershow. The show became victorious in 1997 as they celebrated their 2nd anniversary from the Araneta Coliseum, as their former institutional rival show GMA Supershow folded up; Supershow was replaced by SOP.
The show originally had its own theme song, "Hot na Hot sa ASAP", in 1995. During the show's second anniversary, another theme song was released, entitled "Better Than Ever", to replace the original theme. Initial broadcast commenced on February 5, 1995, at the Delta Theatre on Quezon Avenue. In 1997, the show was transferred to Studio 3 of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City, sharing space with 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila. However, it suffered a setback on May 10, 1998, when one of the main hosts, Martin Nievera, resigned from the show because of marital issues with co-host (and now ex-wife) Pops Fernandez, and also to focus on his eponymous late night talk show. Dayanara Torres later left the show to pursue a career in Hollywood. Richard Gomez and Zsa Zsa Padilla became regular hosts from that time, as replacements for Nievera and Torres.
On February 7, 1999, the show celebrated its 4th anniversary, via a simultaneous broadcast from the Cuneta Astrodome, in Pasay, and the University of St. La Salle Coliseum, in Bacolod City, to usher the second season of the MBA. Magandang Tanghali Bayan main hosts Randy Santiago, John Estrada, and Willie Revillame helped in hosting ASAP from Bacolod while the main hosts were in Cuneta Astrodome. In the same year, the show celebrated the finales of top-rating soaps Mula sa Puso and Esperanza with a grand production number.
In 2001, the producers added the tagline "The Only One" to the show's title to emphasize its uniqueness amidst the rise of shows duplicating its concept. On March 11 of the same year, the show created new sensations out of "The Hunks", a new group composed of long-time Kapamilya heartthrobs Piolo Pascual, Diether Ocampo, Jericho Rosales, Carlos Agassi, and Bernard Palanca. Their phenomenal success as a group made noise around Philippine entertainment circles as they stormed their way through various appearances within ABS-CBN shows and concerts abroad. ASAP rival show SOP even got wind of the group's popularity by creating a parody group, "Da HungHunks".
In April of the same year, Martin Nievera officially returned to ASAP as a main host after three years of hiatus due to his marital issues with Fernandez.
In 2002, the show lost former co-host and occasional guest Rico Yan to pancreatitis, while Jolina Magdangal left ASAP and transferred to GMA Network to join SOP, along with Marvin Agustin who would transfer in 2006. It also became the go-to show for the premieres of ABS-CBN Summer and Christmas station IDs by that period, until 2015, when TV Patrol and It's Showtime changed venues (although it later became the venue for the premiere of ABS-CBN's 2018 Christmas ID and 2021 Summer ID). The show also introduced daring segments such as "Rated R" (headed by Rica Peralejo) and "Clash Dance" (Regine Tolentino and Angela Velez).
In April of the same year, Richard Gomez left the show when his contract with ABS-CBN expired and moved to rival network GMA.
In February 2003, ASAP celebrated its 8th anniversary with another special show at the Araneta Coliseum. The anniversary show was remembered for the launch of the year-long celebration of ABS-CBN's 50th year of Philippine television. At that time, there was a major controversy when Angela Velez suddenly had a wardrobe malfunction while dancing on stage.
On that same period until June 2003, the show was simulcast on ABS-CBN's sister station Studio 23 (now under the ownership of Aliw Broadcasting Corporation as RPTV's half-sister station Aliw Channel 23).
ASAP Mania (2003–2005)
In April 2003, the show was reformatted as ASAP Mania, after it lost its top-rating status to SOP Rules. Consequently, some original main hosts, such as Ariel Rivera and Pops Fernandez, later left the show, while Martin Nievera and Zsa Zsa Padilla started hosting the show on a semi-regular basis. The biggest talent acquisitions of the show, however, were Gary Valenciano and Kuh Ledesma, who replaced Rivera and Fernandez. Valenciano and Ledesma signed exclusive contracts with ABS-CBN and also had creative input to make the show more interesting. In addition, Valenciano also celebrated his 20th showbiz anniversary on the show earlier that year.
Some ASAP segments such as "Star in a Million" and "Victim" became such hits with the viewers that the ABS-CBN management decided to turn both segments into full-length shows on weekend primetime in November of that year. The move resulted in the network regaining lost audience share on weekends as both shows were rated highly against their rival counterparts.
In 2004, ASAP gradually regained leadership with the addition of singing champions from Viva-produced singing contests Star for a Night, on IBC, and Search for a Star, on GMA Network, (Sarah Geronimo, Mark Bautista, and Rachelle Ann Go) and ABS-CBN's very own Star in a Million (Sheryn Regis, Christian Bautista, and Erik Santos) along with their runners-up.
ASAP Fanatic (2004–2005) In May 2004, ASAP launched a youth-oriented spin-off, ASAP Fanatic, to serve as a venue for its new young stars (some of which came from Star Circle Quest) to perform and interact with fans. First-generation housemates and cast of Pinoy Big Brother would later join the spin-off in 2005. The show held a special advanced anniversary episode on October 10 of the same year at the Folk Arts Theater and the PhilSports Arena.
ASAP '05; use of year logos (2005–2009)
In 2005, the format changed to ASAP '05 and added rising TV host Toni Gonzaga and commercial-model-turned-singer Nikki Gil. From that year until 2009, the show's name featured the last two digits of the year (e.g. ASAP '08 in 2008).
In 2006, the show absorbed talent from the displaced spin-off show ASAP Fanatic and became a three-hour show. It also launched a somewhat complicated logo resembling LED lights, where the words ASAP were made out of connected dots, which had been in use until 2015. Also in January of that same year, boxing legend Manny Pacquiao guested on the show.
On June 18, 2006, Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson performed for the first time on the ASAP stage, following their stint on Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition 1. A few months later, the ASAP Pop Viewers' Choice Awards was launched, where the best in domestic pop culture was honored.
In February 2007, Asia's Nightingale, Lani Misalucha, joined the show on a temporary basis while ex-SOP performers Karylle (daughter of Zsa Zsa Padilla) and Billy Crawford followed suit in 2008.ASAP Program History retrieved via asap.abs-cbn.com August 1, 2012 The show also rolled out a grand welcome fit for royalty when it introduced then-Kapuso Primetime actress Angel Locsin as the newest Kapamilya actress in August, and the following month, KC Concepcion, after her long stay in Paris.
On January 27, 2008, the show was aired from different locations as it also officially started the 55th anniversary celebrations of ABS-CBN.
The year 2009 saw milestones for the show, as it launched new groups including the Kanto Boys and Sessionistas. Midway through that year, the ratings of its rival show SOP declined due to ASAP again completely regaining the credibility, prestige, and acclaim it once lost to the former. As a result, its rival show reformatted before that same year ended, but the move no longer worked with the viewers. The show also paid tribute to Efren Peñaflorida, who was hailed as CNN Hero, as well as former President Corazon Aquino, in August, (who happens to be the mother of recurring guest star Kris Aquino).
ASAP XV, ASAP Rocks, ASAP 2012 (2010–2015)
On January 3, 2010, the show was relaunched as ASAP XV to mark its fifteenth anniversary. Year numbers in the show title weren't adapted but instead anniversary marks were used. America's Best Dance Crew champion Jabbawockeez also became guest performers since then. During the show's special anniversary episode on February 7, 2010, a new set was introduced and an opening break bumper (OBB) was instituted for the first time. Competition became a three-way battle when GMA Network (Party Pilipinas) and TV5 (P.O.5) produced their own "concert party" shows, where some of their talents and staff were ASAP alumni. In October of that same year, the show celebrated the diamond anniversary of another valued advertiser of ABS-CBN, P&G Philippines, and Carol Banawa guested once again to promote her new album.
On January 2, 2011, the show was launched as ASAP Rocks as a way of asserting its over-the-top but tastefully conceptualized production numbers, and the first episode for 2011 began with a short audio–visual presentation (AVP) emphasizing the "concert experience" format. On April 3, 2011, a new set was introduced, and for the first time in show's history, the show welcomed the Eat Bulaga! main host Vic Sotto as a special guest, performing in the show twice (April and December 2011) to promote separately the two movies that he did for ABS-CBN's film arm Star Cinema. In his December 2011 guesting, Vic was joined by some of his Eat Bulaga! co-hosts on stage to promote the MMFF entry Enteng ng Ina Mo. All of these moments occurred before both Eat Bulaga! and ASAP being aired together on TV5 twelve years later, until December 2025. The show also lost its two former co-hosts and performers AJ Perez and RJ Rosales that same year, due to their deaths.