PBA 49th Season opens with sports and entertainment

The Philippine Basketball Association 49th season opened the ceremony by acknowledging athletes and giving entertainment.

When the curtains were raised at 5pm on Sunday, August 18 at the Araneta Coliseum.

TV5 sports news anchor Tito Mikee Reyes and radio-TV host Ana Ramsey set the mood for the PBA’s opening night as they hosted the event.

Then, the team muses together with the PBA board of governors came up on stage followed by the introduction of the team roster with their imports.

Team muses were composed of different personalities from sports including Olympinas, beauty queens and celebrities.

Singer-actress Julie Ann San Jose (who’s Magnolia muse last year) was the muse for the crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra, Olympian gymnast Aleah Finnegan for Meralco, volleyball star Jema Galanza for Phoenix, figure skater Charmaine Syke Chua for NorthPort, SEA games medalist in karate Jamie Lim for San Miguel (Jamie’s father Samboy was one of the SMB’s icon in the 90’s), Miss World Philippines 2024 Krishnah Gravidez for Blackwater, streamer-host-model Myrtle Sarrosa for Converge, actress and model Rere Madrid for Magnolia, host-beauty queen Inday Fatima for NLEX, beauty queen Sophia Bianca Santos for Rain or Shine, pageant icon Annabelle Mcdonnel, and Eat Bulaga host Atasha Mulach for TNT.

Olympic bronze medalists boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas also joined them on stage.

After teams were introduced and the Season 49 officially opened, PBA featured performances from actress Angeli Khang, rapper Hev Abi and singer-songwriter Arthur Nery.

Adding to the entertainment was the performance of “Parokya ni Kume” composed of Robert Bolick (vocals), Arvin Tolentino (vocals), Larry Muyang (vocals), Russel Escoto (guitars), Keith Datu (guitars) and Japeth Aguilar (drums). They rendered the song “Picha Pie” to the delight of the crowd.

One more surprise was the dance number of the “PBA TikTokerist” which Robert Bolick was part of again. He was joined by Matt Nieto, Scottie Thompson, Ralph Cu, Frederick Tungcab, Tyrus Hill, Mike Nieto, Aljun Melecio, Calvin Abueva, Jerrick Ahanmisi, Aaron Black, Brandon Bates, John Amores, Fran Yu, Adrian Nocum, Shaun Ildefonso, Ricci Rivero, Kent Salado, Marcia Lassiter, Kyt Jimenez, Juami Tiongson, Kevin Ferrer, Kim Aurin, and Calvin Oftana.

The group danced to several songs, including the “Salamin, Salamin” that made the crowd cheer louder as they got ready for the first game of the season.