MANILA, Philippines - After years of making Filipinos laugh and helping many in need, the country's popular noontime game-variety show "Wowowee" aired its finale on Friday without its icon Willie Revillame.

Luis Manzano and female guest co-hosts like Kelly, Jed, Concepcion, Rodriguez and Pokwang became emotional as they bd goodbye to the Wowowee.

Manzano was one of the few male stars who accepted the challenge to host the show after Revillame took an indefinite break last May.

Luis couldn't help but cry when the show's staff and female hosts, Mariel Rodriguez, Valerie Concepcion and Pokwang, gave him their farewell messages. 

"Thank you so much for the friendship. I found a great friend in you and I wanna say thank you, love you Luis," Concepcion said.

"Lucky, thank you so much, alam mo yan. Alam natin ang pinagdaanan mong hirap sa trabaho. Mami-miss ka namin, mahal na mahal kita," Pokwang added.

"Luis, thank you so much kahit sobra mong busy. At the time you accepted Wowoee, you had PGT [Pilipinas Got Talent],  nagta-taping ka ng Panahon Ko To, nagsho-shooting ka pa ng Hating Kapatid, at nag-a-ASAP ka pa. Lahat ginawa mo, yet you still made time para sa Wowoeee. So thank you so much, maraming salamat sa lahat ng production numbers, sa tuwa, sa saya na ginawa mo, ang hirit mo na ikaw lang ang nakakabitaw," said Rodriguez, a close friend of Manzano.

Luis thanks Willie, Pokwang

Luis thanked ABS-CBN management for giving him a chance to host the show. He also extended his appreciation to Willie for giving him the blessing to be part of the show.

"Gusto ko lang magpasalamat, that's all I want to do. Unang una, thank you so much sa Panginoon for this blessing.  Lahat po kayo na nakikita ko ngayon lahat po kayo ay blessing," he said. 

"Tito Willie, maraming maraming saamat din sa iyo Tito Willie. Ka text ko si Tito WIllie noong isang araw, that really meant a lot to me, maraming maraming salamat po."

After thanking the network, Luis bid goodbye to his female guest co-hosts.

"Mommy Poks, pwede kong sabihin na nakahanap ako ng isa pang mommy sa showbiz. I love you," Luis said.

"Val, (Valerie) kagaya ng tinext mo sakin nung isang araw, anything you need, I'm just a text away," said Manzano to Concepcion.

"I love you and I'm very, very happy for you," Manzano told Rodriguez.
 
Curtain call for Wowowee

The show's final message to its followers was read by Rodriguez.

"Mga kapamilya, mahigit limang taon po nating nakasama at nakasalo sa tanghalian ang Wowowee. Mahigit limang taon ng kasiyahan, kwentuhan at pagmamahalan. Ngayon po, nais po sana naming kunin ang oras na ito para magpasalamat sa inyong lahat, sa inyong mga nanonood, sa inyong mga tahanan sa buong Pilipinas, at sa buong mundo na walang sawang tumangkilik sa programang Wowowee, maraming maraming salamat po.

"Sa mga naging contestants na naging BIDA at sa mga naging bisita sa programang ito, maraming salamat sa pagbabahagi ng inyong mga kwento sa pagpapatawa, sa pagpapaluha, sa pagpapakilig, pang-gugulat, pagbibigay at aral at inspirasyon sa aming lahat. Tulad ng lagi naming sinsabi, kayo po ang nagpapatibok ng puso ng Wowowee.

"Sa mga co-host na nagpasimula at nagbahagi sa Wowowee...sa lahat ng mg artistang humalili para maitayo ang programang ito, maraming salamat sa pagiging parte ng kasiyahan ng Wowowee. Higit sa lahat, sa pamilyang nabuo sa likod ng ating camera, kayo po ang haligi ng bawat Pilipino. Sa mga taong bumuo ng konsepto ng Wowowee, sa ABS-CBN management, thank you so much sa lahat ng naging director, direk Vidanes, Mr. M., direk Bobot Mortiz, salamat po sa lahat," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also thanked the show's crew, from production assistants, writers to executive producer.

Rodriguez saved the last tribute to Revillame.

"Kuya Willie, thank you so much. Kuya Willie, from the bottom of our hearts, maraming salamat sa limang taon na nagbigay ka ng saya ng inspirasyon sa aming lahat. Kahit matapos ang Wowowee pero lahat ng tulong inspirasyon at lahat ng napasaya mo forever na yong nakatanamim sa mga puso namin. Maraming, maraming salamat, mahal na mahal ka namin Kuya. Thank you so much," Rodriguez said.

The show also featured Revillame's hit "Ikaw Na Nga."

Wowowee's demise

Wowowee's demise was triggered by Revillame's threat to quit the show if management rejected his demand to fire entertainment writer Jobert Sucaldito.

Revillame got incensed over Sucaldito’s criticisms of his television program.

After the incident, ABS-CBN announced that Revillame would take an indefinite break. 

From then on, big stars like Robin Padilla, Cesar Montano and Manzano joined the show as guest co-hosts.

Last Tuesday, ABS-CBN announced that “Wowowee” would be replaced by a new game show, "Pilipinas, Win na Win!" led by Kris Aquino starting July 31.

Aside from Aquino, “Pilipinas For the Win” will also be hosted by Robin Padilla and "Wowowee" female hosts Pokwang, Valerie Concepcion and Mariel Rodriguez.