a blog for the filipino reality television fan. contains latest update, episode reviews and other relevant information. limited to shows shown in local television stations and some cable channels. updated usually during weekdays. your one stop guide to philippines reality television.
the second season of the local franchise of the biggest loser - the biggest loser pinoy edition doubles will premiere in abs cbn on february 3 at the primetime slot, right after the legal wife.
this season will feature pairs in their journey inside the biggest loser camp to achieve their target weight and have a more active lifestyle and better food choices.
this season will be hosted by iza calzado with robi domingo and matteo guidicelli as challenge masters. the coaches will be the husband and wife tandem of coach jim and coach toni saret.
image is from the facebook page of the biggest loser pinoy edition doubles
i am really thrilled to hear that the next season of amazing race will be an all stars season. here is the video released last week, introducing the returning teams:
i am really happy to see the cowboys and the globe trotters racing again this year. i am also looking forward to seeing the afghanimals and team brenchel on how they can again stir up this season.
based on the spoilers, one team will not make it even to the starting line. so make sure to tune in on the season premiere on february 23!
the cast of the newest season of survivor; survivor cagayan has been revealed. in this season, the castaways wiull be divided into three tribes based on their prominent characters. one tribe will be beauties, one will be brains and the last will be brawn.
here is a sneak peek of the upcoming season and the new cast:
this seems to be a very interesting season with lots of character based on this preview.
the new season will premiere on february 27, 2014 here in the philippines (feb 26 in the US).
anak ko yan eliminated again one of its hopefuls, and this time, it is monica and mommy fatima. monica's song and dance performance was deemed not enough by the judges; host jennelyn mercado, alma moreno and wynwyn marquez.
she was outperformed by co-contestants jenjen and annika.
dubbed as the hataw princess, she is one of the better dancers among the bunch. during their performance in the two team battle; she was one of the weaker performers because she forgot a few steps and was off beat a few times.
During her stint in the show, she has been very friendly with the other contestants, and she is usually smiling all the time. but despite of her great dancing abilities, she never stood out as the best performer.
here is the video of her last moments in the show:
being a big fan of survivor (having watched 25 of the last 26 seasons); i am always excited to watch a new season. making it more exciting is that the season is once again filmed in my home country, the philippines.
it is shown late here in the philippines (since i missed the afternoon premiere via satellite since i have to go to work), here are some of my thoughts on the first episode of season 27!
> nice to see past contestants return to the game. i can remember most of them. having 2 winners in the cast (tina and aras), the most popular player ever (rupert), a veteran from season 1 (gervase); a villain from his season (colton); good looking gals (kat and candice); a very competitive player (tyson). but unfortunately, i cannot remember both monica and laura.
> it seems that this will be a very though season. a series of twists at the start of the game was thrown at the castaways immediately! first twist: castaways against their loved ones. second twist: each tribe needs to vote out a tribe member immediately. third twist: there is redemption island. fourth twist: the loved one or the returning player can take the place in redemption island. whoa! four twists in less than ten minutes!
> not surprised that laura was a target. but i was really surprised on why they voted out candice! she is a strong woman and can help you the tribe in challenges! i agree with colton that i think he was the one that should have been voted off...
> tribe names are "galang" for the returning castaways and "tadhana" for the loved ones. "galang" means respect in filipino and "tadhana" means destiny. i prefer if "galang" was replaced by "respeto"; which i think is more apt.
> camp set up was really easy for the returning castaways; they got fire immediately and has water and food - proving that experience is valuable in this game. on the other hand, tadhana is truggling with camp life and can't even start fire. in redemption island; rupert is not helping at all; leaving candace to do all the work...
> too much drama followed after. with confessions from sierra, vytas and colton... to much drama at the start of the season...
> brad formed the 5 man alliance in tadhana. being a ring leader this early in the game can bite you back later in the game...
> the first challenge was a hard one. both physically and mentally. the challenge only proved that the loved ones have the advantage (mainly because of the age difference - tina and gervase played this game more than a decade ago already!) but the veterans proved that they are stronger mentally. the girls made the puzzle look so easy and gave galang the first win for the season!
> gervase's outburst after the challenge was really uncalled for. he performed the worst amongst his tribe in this challenge. if they have lost, he might have gone home. lucky for him, the puzzle solvers were amazing! what he did was really silly and he put his niece to the chopping block.
> the immunity idol looked great, very different from the other idols before. but it doesn't look filipino at all! it looks more chinese than filipino
> the tribal council was a bit predictable; with marissa earning the votes to send her to redemption island, thanks to gervase's outburst! i liked the awkward silence when marissa looked back to her tribe after her torch was snuffed - everyone was avoiding her stare!
> next episode seems exciting, with colton back to being a villain and a surprising result in the redemption island challenge - so it seems that rumors and spoilers that rupert will be out immediately is indeed true!
till next week! i am really excited for the next episode!
the 27th season of the reality show survivor; dubbed as survivor blood versus water will premiere on september 18 (september 19 here in the philippines). the show will feature returning castaways with a loved one competing with them. but they will not be competing with each other, they will be competing on opposite tribes - against each other.
the tribe of the returning castaways is named "galang" or respect (but i really prefer if it was "respeto") and the tribe color is yellow. the tribe of the loved ones is named "tadhana" which means destiny with red as tribe color.
the castaways this season are the following:
standing, starting from left:
> tyson from survivor tocantins and heroes vs villains and girlfriend rachel
> rupert from survivor pearl island, all stars and heroes vs villains and wife laura
> tina from survivor australian outback and all stars and daughter katie
> colton from survivor one world and fiance caleb
> laura from survivor samoa and daughter ciera
> gervase from the original survivor borneo and niece marissa
> monica from survivor one world and husband brad
seated, from left
> aras from survivor exile island and brother vytas
> candice from survivor cook islands and heroes vs villains and husband john
> kat from survivor one world and boyfriend hayden
it is interesting to note that this season features a castaway from season 1 (gervase) and 2 (tina); 2 winners (tina and aras) and a fourth chance for a castaway (rupert). notable loved ones includes former nfl player brad and big brother winner hayden.
this is also the show's 3rd straight season in the philippines. but this time, they are moving to the northern part of the country. the show was filmed in the palaui islands in cagayan. there are also news that the show will also feature a redemption island kind of twist.
this morning, i was able to find a sneak peek into the first seven minutes of the show. it was released in the entertainment weekly website. based on the video clips, this seems to be a very interesting season and i can't wait to start watching it; being a big fan of the show from season 1!
survivor blood vs water will air in jack tv here in the philippines; with live via satellite airing at 2pm and primetime airing at 9pm on september 19.
the fifth season of pinoy big brother was finally announced during a commercial gap in tonight's live show of the voice of the philippines.
the voice that we have missed for so long is finally coming back! the last season was 4th edition of the teen version, which ended in july 2012; more than a year ago already!
in the promo shown tonight, auditions will be announced soon. the show already produced big names in showbiz today such as kim chiu, sam milby, gerald anderson and tom rodriguez, to name a few.
so who will make it to be one of kuya's housemates?
the top 8 contenders of the voice of the philippines is revealed after tonight's live show. there are only 2 contestants left surviving for each team.
the remaining contestants are:
team apl - thor and janice
team sarah - morisette and klarisse
team bamboo - paolo and myk
team lea - mitoy and radah
we are nearing the finals and the remaining artists are definitely deserving of their spots! can't wait of the semifinals next week and the finalists will benamed after next week's show!
while watching the 11th episode of top chef 10, I was really amazed on how the filipino cuisine once again gained centerstage. i know that the episode originally aired in the US early this year, the searies os only airing now here in the philippines.
chef sheldon simeon was the brains behind the retaurant named "urbano"; who he names after his grandfather. the restaurant serves modern filipino dishes inspired with simeon's roots.
the dishes served were:
kilawen - yellowtail with cilantro, spicy chili & white soy sauces
being a big amazing race fan for years, i was really excited for today... the premiere of our very own version of the amazing race: the amazing race philippines.
i have watched the US version since season 5 in 2004 (when it was first aired in the philippines by studio 23 because the philippines was one of the destination - just before the finale) and it is already airing season 21 right now and i have not missed a single episode since. not only that, i have also watched all episodes of the 4 seasons of amazing race asia. with that, i am really farmiliar and a big fan of the show.
the show started with all 11 teams being transported via helicopters to the starting line of the race (though it was not shown that the helicopters landed on that exact spot); the historic paco park. the season boasts of a mix of very interesting contestants. knowing filipino reality shows, it was to no surprise that there are celebrities in the cast. there are football players, a popular actress, a noontime show dancer and beauty queens. but despite these, the teams were quite interesting.
the show is hosted by derek ramsay and the winners' price amounts to PhP2 million, which is small compared to the USD 1 million (even up to USD 2 million in season 21) for its US counterpart and even half of the guaranteed price of the asian version.
the show started very well, the ambiance and the shots is really like the US version. i was really amazed on how accurately tv5 edited the clips and make it look like the original amazing race. but my excitement died down a bit when i heard the first clue being read.
the first clue told the racers to head down to the manila yacht club, where they need to find the dock. there, they need to find the marked yacht and decode the nautical phrase from the series of flags that hangs on the yacht. unknown to the racers, there are cheat sheets scattered on several locations in the place, where they can see the equivalent letters of each flag.
when i heard the challenge, i immediately thought that this challenge has been done previously in the US version, they just modified it a bit. and i immediately remembered that this was the roadblock where the cowboys (jet and cord) had difficulty finishing. so, i went through several internet sites (thanks wiki!) and found the similar challenge. it is the first roadblock in australia in the pilot episode of the amazing race season 18: unfinished business.
In the Race's first Roadblock, one team member had to scuba dive in the Oceanworld shark and ray tank and search the tank for a compass. The compass included a guide to decode a message hidden in series of nautical flags outside. The correctly decoded message instructed teams to go to the Manly 16 ft Skiff Sailing Club, find the Commodore, and tell him the password "I am Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" to receive their next clue.
they just modified it but the challenge of decoding the message from the nautical flags is the same. you can also watch the video of the episode here (hope the video survives - i just found it in youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZZa09Q1np0 )
refer to this part for the challenge explanation: 18:00 - 18:50.
this has been one of the pitfalls of localized versions of reality shows, recycling challenges from the US version of the show. this means lack of creativity and it sometimes turns off several fans of the show. this is also the case with survivor philippines, almost all their challenges in their pilot season were recycled challenges from the US version of survivor. i really hope they make more unique challenges in the next episodes.
the episode was finished even without anyone completing or even starting decoding the nautical message. this is what i hate when you covert a supposed to be one episode a week to an episode a day show. the suspense is killing the fans and it is really bitin. my definition of an amazing race episode is an episode with at least a roadblock and a detour, and i think this will not happen in amazing race philippines. this is the same adjustment i had to make for survivor philippines.
and not only that, when they showed the next challenge, i immediately recognized it again - another recycled challenge! based on what i saw, the casino challenge is the chance choice in the detour of amazing race asia season 3 episode 7. here is another challenge explanation from wikepedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Race_Asia_3 )
In this leg's Detour, the choice was between Dance or Chance. In Dance, the team members must correctly perform a lion dance routine to the satisfaction of the performance troupe. In Chance, teams must don formal attire and play a game of blackjack in the casino of Hotel Royal Macau; they must beat the dealer nine times (as denoted by the letters of the word COMPLETED) before receiving their next clue.
the american idol 2011 live tour will go to manila this year! the top 11 finalists from the 10th season of american idol will be here for the tour. led by this year's winner scotty mccreery, the other finalists are lauren alaina, haley reinhart, james durbin, jacob lusk, casey abrams, stefano langone, paul mcdonald, pia toscano, naima adedapo and filipina thia megia. they will perform in araneta coliseum on september 20, 2011.
here is the tv commercial being shown in several cable channels:
ticket prices are as follows:
vip – PhP12,675
patron – PhP10,560
lower side – PhP5,810
upper a – PhP3,700
upper b – PhP1,585
general Admission – PhP740
early bird discount (10% off) for upper a and b will be given to those who will book their tickets from july 20 to 27, 2011.
