The first episode of ABS-CBN's "I Can See Your Voice" on Saturday, based on the South Korean show of the same name, was genuinely fun. For the most part, it was a delightful hodge podge of quips, wild karaoke singing and a cup's worth of actual talent.

It saw Gary Valenciano weeding out an initial batch of six, singling out those whom he thinks couldn't sing. His picks would then have to hit the stage and perform a song, in turn revealing whether they actually have the vocal chops to back their boasts or not.

The first rounds did not go so well for Valenciano, eliminating a couple right off the bat — both of whom would have felt right at home in a singing contest. He would recover, however, and chose right when it counted the most.

During the final round, Valenciano had a decision to split a man who claims to be a band vocalist and a girl who says she's a musical-theater actress. The twist is that he has to share a duet with his pick, so unless he wanted a horrible performance, it's for the best if he were right. And he was.

Christian, a gasoline boy who became a band vocalist, turned out to be the real deal as he sang "Narito" with the Kapamilya icon. He won P25,000 for his efforts, and will be an automatic contestant of an upcoming episode of "Tawag ng Tanghalan."

But talented as Christian may be, some of the stand-out moments of the night actually belonged to those who could not sing but had to take the stage nevertheless.

Sure, the scale of the productions could have been grander to amp up the expectations of the viewers before they got thoroughly disappointed with seeing contestants butcher karaoke favorites such as Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."

But the reveal was still funny, that had members of the studio audience jumping out of their seats while in fits of laughter.

The quips of host Luis Manzano and the members of a circle — made up of Angeline Quinto, Alex Gonzaga, Kean Cipriano, Wacky Kiray and Andrew E — who was tasked to help out Valenciano were all surprisingly witty and on point.

Yes, it can be improved further, but this first episode was a very promising start nonetheless.