There’s nothing more fulfilling and delighting than knowing that all the efforts you gave after months or years of hard work and perseverance are appreciated and recognized.
But, of course, there are some of us who feel more accomplished if they are given a token of appreciation or a prize for something excellent and remarkable they have done.
In their successful one decade on television, Banana Sundae has relentlessly brought us heaps of laughter and tons of good vibes through their segments. Just last 2018, they were able to showcase more than 100 sketches, 52 games, and 312 gags that truly made our Sundays at home extra enjoyable.
Thus, in order to pay homage to those actors who invigorated every episode with their striking appearances and notable performances in every episode, the long-running comedy program staged its first-ever awarding ceremony dubbed “Golden Banana Awards 2018” on their last episode for the last Sunday of the previous year.
The episode began with a New Year’s Day-related skit starring Ritz Azul as an old woman and character actor Paul Sy as a fruit vendor, which was succeeded by a holiday-themed dance number courtesy of the Bananakada.
Real-life besties Angelica Panganiban and John Prats spearheaded the awarding ceremony as the main hosts, with the other cast – JC De Vera, Aiko Climaco, and Jobert Austria – substituting them as presenters for the next portions. Aside from their funny banters, what left us ROFL-ing (or rolling on the floor, laughing) were the hilarious acceptance speeches of the winners filled with sarcasm.
For his outstanding reactions after delivering a gag, Jason Gainza bagged the “Best Reaction Award”, besting his co-stars Sunshine Garcia, Jobert, and Aiko.
Since he has difficulties speaking both in Filipino and English, Ryan Bang often had to repeat his lines or sequences before nailing them that undeniably tickled us, so they bestowed him the “Best in Take 2” accolade.
Their great dedication and impressive talent they displayed was indeed unparalleled as some of them have to do stunts that are either intentional or unplanned just to make some of the gags realistic and extra comedic. Her accidental slip brought Sunshine her “Best Accidental Artist” award, while Jobert was the sole nominee for the “Best in Stunts” recognition for his “buwis-buhay” tricks in the segments he was at.
Showing how worthy she was to receive the “Best Bonggacious Entrance” accolade, Pokwang went up the stage with a handful of confetti that she showered to herself as she delivered her heartwarming yet funny acceptance speech.
Everyone were completely shocked when “unlikely loveteam” Ritz Azul and Jobert heeded to the clamor of their co-actors and the live audiences as they kissed upon receiving the “Best Kiss Award” recognition. Just in case his wife was able to catch it, the comedian reminded us, “trabaho lang po!”.
Due to his impressive depiction of Princess Sarah, who was first portrayed by his younger sister Camille Prats for its Pinoy film adaptation in 1995, and of Paloma, one of Coco Martin’s most popular guises in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, John took home the “Best Actor in an Actress Role” award.
Sans any costume, Pooh proved that he could still snag the “Best Animalistic Performance” accolade with just his mere presence, defeating Jobert and Ryan who were wearing dog leotards in their “Bet on Your Doggy 2” sketch.
Meanwhile, Angelica and JC tied for the “Best Character” recognition through their remarkable performance as the lovelorn hugotera lady named Mayumi and the adorable Baby Boy, respectively.
The final award – “Best in Attendance” – was bestowed to Jason for being the most omnipresent cast as he seemed to appear in almost every scene on and off-cam and he’s said to be never absent in their tapings. Wow!
Before the program ended, they imparted what went down in the gift-giving ceremony of Banana Sundae at the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly, where they got to bond with the residents of the foundation.
Looking forward to another fun-filled year with you, Bananakadas!