The search for the best singers in the country continues as “Tawag ng Tanghalan” welcomes its fifth year with exciting new mechanics that will test its contenders beginning this week on “It’s Showtime.”

Contestants will have to be ready to belt out their songs as the new season gets more competitive with four contestants taking the stage every Monday to try and earn the top two spots or “spotlight” in order to avoid elimination and advance to the next day.

Two new singers will also be entering the competition from Tuesdays to Fridays to face off in the first round. Whoever receives the highest score from the judges will then advance to the second round and face the two spotlight holders in a three-way battle.

The two remaining spotlight holders at the end of Friday’s episode will then have to impress the judges come Saturday as they battle each other in two rounds in order to be crowned as the weekly winner.

The competition will also be awarding P10,000 each to the two contestants with the highest scores for the day, while the singers still have to be on their toes as they can automatically be eliminated by the gong component.

In Monday’s (February 8) episode, Cherry Rose Amorin of Carmona, Cavite and Froilan Cedilla of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte were named the season’s first spotlight holders.

Viewers at home, meanwhile, can also win P5,000 in cash by watching the show and joining the live conversation online. Every day, the cash prize will be awarded to one lucky viewer who posts on Twitter or Facebook the name of a contestant who they think will be part of the daily top two along with the show’s official hashtag of the day.

Watch the brand new season of “Tawag ng Tanghalan” on “It’s Showtime” on A2Z channel on digital and analog broadcast. Digital TV box users can scan and look for A2Z channel in Metro Manila and in some parts of Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Rizal, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, and Pampanga.

Viewers can also catch the show on Kapamilya Channel on cable and satellite TV (SKYchannel 8 on SD and channel 167 on HD, Cablelink channel 8, G Sat Direct TV channel 22, and most cable operator-members under Philippine Cable and Telecommunications Association), on Kapamilya Online Live daily on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, and on the iWantTFC app (iOs and Android) and on iwanttfc.com. Viewers outside of the Philippines can also catch it on The Filipino Channel on cable and IPTV.