Meanwhile, new student nurses Sabrina Santiago and Felix DuBois plan with Elizabeth Webber to revive the old annual Nurses' Ball. Valentini had hinted at the return of the ball a few months prior at the annual GH Fan Club Weekend, stating "I'll just say this, I love music and I love Nurses." Valentini later confirmed the revival of the ball, scheduled to coincide with the series' 50th anniversary on April 1, 2013. Lynn Herring reprised her character of Lucy Coe as the series continued to bring back numerous legacy characters and fan favorites. Lucy returns to help Sabrina find funding for the ball. By the end of 2012, rating for "General Hospital" rose to over three million, the highest in two years. Ratings in the target demographic of women 18 to 34 years old were reported to have risen 44% year over year. MSN Money cited "General Hospital" as leading a revival of the soap opera genre, stating, "Soap fans say the reason for GH's resurgence is simple: The show got a lot better." Michael Logan of "TV Guide" named "General Hospital" the best soap of 2012, stating, "This time last year, General Hospital was considered dead as disco, a show merely waiting to be officially canceled by ABC. (...) GH was handed to OLTL's head writer, Ron Carlivati, and exec producer Frank Valentini, who quickly amped up the action, humor and romance and energized the cast by adding top stars from GH's past as well as popular refugees from Llanview. Voilà! Dreary, messy GH was suddenly a thrilling, surprise-packed, can't-miss experience." The series gained more press in early January when it was announced Genie Francis would reprise her role as Laura Spencer for an unknown length of time.