survivor philippines: why emerson lost

emerson dino, dubbed as survivor philippines' the technician from caloocan, was one of the most prepared survivor cast away in the first season of survivor philippines. but on day 6, at the 2nd tribal council where naak tribe once again faced tribal council, he was voted out in a 6-1-1 vote.so why did emerson lose?

first, emerson was a very individualistic person. he likes doing what he wants and does not think of what others may think. he is definitely a loose cannon, sometimes he goes along werll with the tribe, sometimes he does things that the tribe does not want. in this game, you also have to please your tribemates so you can go far.

second, he was a strategist. he had his gameplan set, but unfortunately, it did not work. he was not able to adjust his game plan fast enough since he was slow in seeing what the others are thinking. he has said so many times that all the things he is doing has a purpose but he has not used it to his advantage.

third, he lost the trust of almost all his tribemates. in the first tribal council, he planned to take out chev with the boys and also tried to form the bisaya alliance with chev, cris and vevherly. he also talked negatively about the boys. he tried to win the girls' trust by warning them of the supposed "plan" of the boys to make the girls go one by one. but unfortunately, only chev listened to him, which eventually led to him being untrusted.

fourth, the last nail to his coffin was the fight with vevherly. vevherly was very emotional during the challenge because she was really pissed off at emerson. and the whole tribe became aware of emerson's behavior. i was really amazed on what vevherly did, because the tribe might think that she cannot control her emotions and instead vote for her. fortunately, it paid off and emer was voted out.

lastly, he did not hustle that much though he thinks there is a possibility that he is going home. in one of his confessionals, he said that no one has talked to him about the vote. but the previous tribal council, the boys of naak planned early on who they would vote. with his arguement with vevherly, he must ber worried that some of his tribemates might be considering to vote him off. but he only discussed his vote with cris, who eventually voted for him. in the game of survivor, you must never put your guard down at any time.

emer was a good player, he came prepared. he had his strategy (as he has always claimed) but obviously, it did not work. what was the main reason he lost? i would say, its attitude and planning far ahead and not taking the game one tribal council at a time. you can never have a perfect game plan in survivor. for this is reality and you can never predict what would happen next.

survivor philippines: emerson dino voted off

after jarakay won the immunity challenge, both tribes got back on their camps. for naak, they still cannot get over what happened at the challenge and still talks about it. they are still complaining on how jarajay played the game, special mentions were jace, john and veronica. i think jarakay really played the game well. naak should wake up that this is a competition, and they should have a do-or-die attitude. they need to do whatever it takes to win or they would all be heading home.

at jarakay, things are a little lighter. they had a bonfire at their camp and they are exposing the talents that their tribemate, patani has. from the start, patani made it clear that she joined survivor for exposure anb as a stepping stine to enter the show business. so her tribemates gave her all the exposure she needs. they made her host, sing, dance and even act; and she all did them willingly. jace even commented in his confessional that "making us laugh at the bonfire was the best thing she had done so far."

the next day was tribal council day for naak. all are emotional, they don't want to vote out anyone. 2 names come out as possible evictees, emerson and vevherly. emerson has been a stray bullet in naak. sometimes, he behaves and gets along with the tribe but most of the times, he goes by himself and lets loose. he has lost most of the tribe's trust because of the statements he made before the first tribal council.

vevherly is the one that emer wants to vote out due to the arguement they had during the immunity challenge. she also is the youngest and according to him, she can make choices in the future to make her life better, unlike them. zita was also emotional, for she thinks she was the one to be voted out.

at the tribal council, the tribe was really emotional, no one wants to vote out anyone. they also made some observations regarding how the jarakay played the game and how their friends acted. almost all of them cried and in the end, it was emerson dino who was sent home. final tally of votes is 6 for emerson, 1 for vevherly (from emer) and 1 vote for kaye (from zita).

i also had several observations in that episode. first, filipinos are really social animals. they get along so well with each other. imagine, its only day 6 and the second tribal council yet it was very emotional. in most survivor seasons in the us, the first few tribal councils are easy, foir they still don't know each other that well yet. but in survivor philippines, emotions are so high and i can't imagine how emotional the next tribal councils will be.

second, naak has this strong alliance. but unfortunately, zita is out of it. just before the tribal council, she cried to kaye because she thought she was the one going home. no one was talking to her about the vote. cris was seen talking to emer before tribal council about voting out vhev but he still voted for emer, which means he is definitely part of the alliance. if this continues, zita might get the next boot.

third, i am enjoying the tribal council because it seems to be less scripted as compared to the us version's tribal council. the questions from paolo are definitely based on the cast away's answers and emotions at that time and not necessarily based on scripts and cue cards.

next week seems to be another exciting week... i am still hoping for naak's first win and see jarakay's group dynamics when they are put to the dillema of sending someone go.

survivor philippines: week 2 immunity challenge

the immunity challenge for the second week of survivor philippines involves each team competing in different match ups. they would race onto one of the 5 circles in the sand and dug up a thai pillow. they would then run to their respective tribe mats. the person or person that would first step on their tribe mat with a hand on the pillow would gain a point for their tribe. first team to gain 5 points wins immunity.

this is the exact immunity challenge that was played in the third episode of survivor panama, more popularly known as survivor exile island. see pictures from that season below (lifted from http://resources.survivorphoenix.com/ )

first match up: jace (jarakay) vs kiko (naak) - kiko was the first one to find the pillow. jace asked kiko for them to battle it out for the pillow. jace was applying his knowledge on fighting was really giving kiko a hard time. kiko was pulling on jace's shorts. jace asked kiko for time to adjust his shorts which was falling down. this repeated several times. on the last time, jace stood up, adjusted his shorts, apologized to kiko and ran with the pillow. kiko was caught off guard because he thought he had a gentleman's agreement with jace. jarakay takes the lead, 1-0.

many can question jace's action, but this is survivor.. never trust anyone. jace simply outwitted kiko. i did not see it as cheating, it was plainly playing the game to your advantage. its a challenge, don't allow your opponents to gain an upperhand.

second match up: veronica and marlon (jarakay) vs cris and zita (naak) - it was naak again who found the pillow. when the pillow was out of the sand, the struggle for the pillow commences. i was really amazed by the fighting spirit of veronica. she was fearless out there. zita also held ground when she tackled veronica when she ran off with the pillow, just before she gets to the tribe mat. cris had a presence of mind to hold the pillow and extend his feet to touch the naak tribe mat. naak ties it up, 1-1.

in this round, the girls were more impressive than the boys. zita and veronica were really giving their all in the challenge. but it was cris' presence of mind that gave naak their point. i am confused on why cris was so emotional on that point. was he crying?

third match up: gigit, john and charisse (jarakay) vs jc, rob and kaye (naak) - same strategy as the previous round, the teams were looking and observing each other while digging. this is the most boring match up, i think. but the boys gave their all in this round. eventually, john gained the point for jarakay after running off and escaping jc and rob's hold. jarakay leads, 2-1

fourth match up: jarakay vs naak - its tribe versus tribe. as expected, it turned out to be a war out there. who was impressive? patani - she is fearless, toppling and fighting all the girls, even trying to release kiko';s hold of the pillow. veronica - she is a fighter, fearless even with blood on her face. rob - a tactitian even on challenges, he tries to talk the other tribe out and even strategizes for his team. honorable mentions go out for zita, charisse, john, kiko, cris and gigit.

the challenge turned into a brawl as the cast aways started to hurt each other, choking and throwng them flat onto the ground. the cast aways were pulled out of the game one by one due to several violations, the ones thrown out were jace, gigit, charisse, kaye and cris. rob eventually was able to escape the jarakay tribe and ran to their tribe mat. but marlon was waiting there and blocked him, hold the pillow and stepped on the mat. with jarakay celebrating, naak complained. the tapes were reviewed and jarakay was eventually named the winner!

the challenge was definitely more exciting as compared to the one done in panama. it was very physical and exciting. it only shows that all of the pinoy castaways are really competitive. vhev was also shown very upset with emer because he has been playing the game dirty and even called him traitor. cris was the one who comforted her but it was evident that she was really upset. will this cause emerson's elimination tonight or will it work the other way around?

amazing race asia season 3: thailand's beauty queens eliminated

leg 3 of the amazing race asia started with a 25 hour journey to hue, vietnam. the first bus boarded henry & bernie and nirro & kapil. on the second bus are sam & vince, ad & fuzzie and geoff & tisha. alone on the third bus are ida & tania. the last bus boarded natalie & pailin and mai & oliver. i think the leading teams ha d a clear 4 hour advantage over the last 2 teams.

during this bus ride, some of the bus encountered flat tire and the teams had to wait for them to be fixed before they can proceed. its a battle for mental endurance since a one day bus ride is very tiring, given the conditions of the bus and the surroundings. they arrived at hue the next day and retrived their clue which instructed them to proceed to a caltex service station by foot.

once there, the leading teams saw the service station would only open at 9:30am, allowing the last 2 teams to catch up a bit. at the station, teams need to change a tire of a jeep and change its oil before they received the next clue. most teams did well in this challenge. natalie is still struggling. she is questioning the race and is still contemplating to quit.

after they are done, the teams were instructed to proceed to khai dinh tomb using the jeeps. upon arriving at the temple, they encountered a roadblock. the roadblock involves a team member to retrieve seven coins from the tomb of minh mang and take it back and wait for further instructions. the teams had a hard time finding the coins but eventually found it. some teams wrote the information that were provided at each stations were the coins can be found.

while waiting for their partners, the teams confronted tisha about geoff's behavior. tisha was really nice in explaining to them that geoff really had a bad temper but is a good guy. he is very competitive and that is why he is doing such things. i hope the other teams would understand.

upon returning to khai dinh tomb, they were instructed to arrange the coins according to their reign. only henry was able to arrange the coins and gave the coins to sam who worked with him in retrieving the coins. sam had the coins mixed up and was not able to use it to his advantage. niroo was asking for help but was turned down several times and decided to go back to the tomb of minh mang.

after a long time, the teams were able to get the arrangement of the coins. the teams that finished last were nirro & kapil. natalie decided to quit the challenge and take the 4 hour penalty. the next challenge was a detour, a choice between stick or stalk. in stick, teams need to make 10 incense sticks before they receive their next clue. in stalk, teams need to thrash rice stalks and collect 2 bags of grains before they can get the clue.

all the teams choose stick but all of them initially had a hard time. only geoff & tisha switched task after they found it hard to do the sticks and they saw that none of the teams have progressed in making them. after that, the teams got the hang of it and were able to finish one by one. about 4 teams were able to finish ahead of geoff & tisha.

the next clue instructed the teams to proceed to quoc hoc park and find a traditional cyclo and their next clue. the teams immediately saw the cyclos but missed out on the clue that was on top of it. they tried finding a clue box but can't find it anywhere. they wasted so much time until they realized that the clue was on the cyclo. the clue instructed them to proceed to the next pitstop, the hue citadel, on board the cyclo.

the cyclo ride was really hard for all of the teams. they had difficulty controlling the vehicle and some even did not know how to apply the brakes. the unruly drivers on the street also gave the teams a hard time. almost all the teams bumped into posts or walls and henry and bernie even toppled over. at the citadel, it was henry and bernie of malaysia who finished first. final standings are as follows:

1st - henry & bernie

2nd - sam & vince

3rd - ida & tania

4th - ad & fuzzie

5th - geoff & tisha

6th - mai & oliver

7th - niroo & kapil

8th - natalie & pailin

natalie & pailin arrived last and even without the 4 hour penalty, they would still get eliminated. i was really disappointed with natalie. she signed in for amazing race and yet she was not prepared for it. i was really sad for pailin because she really wanted to race but was not able to choose the correct partner. she was determined and focused and really wanted to continue. but at least, natalie did just not quit but her quitting on the roadblock was the final nail on their coffin.

henry & bernie are really racing well, finishing 1st for the 2nd time. same with sam & vince. i am really surprised with ida & tania, who i initially tag as early boot. they are really working as a team and are supporting and complementing each other well.

geoff and tisha must work on their communication and their relationship with the other teams. geoff must really control his temper. most inconsistent of the teams are definitely niroo & kapil. they must step up if they want to stay in the game.

it was a good episode but had a predictable ending. hope the next episode will be better.

image is from the original website of amazing race asia season 3.

survivor philippines: week 2 episode 3 notes

important notes from survivor philippines week 2 episode 3:

> both jarakay and naak tribes has hire. good thing that they had good meals just before the next immunity challenge, a fair pair up since they were refreshed from their meal. rice, clams and crabs was their first cooked meal in the island. hope both tribes can keep the fire burning, not only in the island but also in the challenges.

> conflict at jarakay; nina becomes a target because of the roof of their shelter. she decided to remove the initial roof built by the boys and change it to a better one. she had good intentions but what she did wrong was that she did not consulted the tribe. remember that your tribe mates will determine your fate in the game...

> boys alliance is working hard at jarakay. with vern on their side (because of jace...); the boys alliance now has the numbers. with jace, john, gigit, marlon and vern; the group is planning to vote out nina. how i wish the girls would realize that the girls on the other tribe may be wiped out (currently 3 vs 5 in terms of numbers) and they have to make their move for them to survive.

> the boys has been very good in playing the game. the boys has been the ones strategizing so far. hope the girls will make their move too.

> it was nice to see naak enjoying at their camp. after the kiko - cris fight in night of day 4, day 5 may be a good day for them. love teams being made (jc - kaye, kiko - vhev) and the boys kidding and playying with each other. its time to set the mood for unity rather than conflict. hope this bonding helps them in the immunity challenge

> jarakay plancs to throw the challenge to vote out nina - according to the boys alliance. is it too early to throw a challenge. at this stage of the game. your aim should be to keep the numbers up to the merge. i think they should think about this hard.

exciting wrestling match tonight at the immunity challenge. can't wait...

project runway philippines: eli gonzales eliminated

eli gonzales became the 9th designer eliminated from the first season of project runway philippines. eli, who hails from san pedro, laguna and worked as a fashion design professor in college of st benilde, was tagged by the judges as very inconsistent and was not able to impress the judges with his creation.

last night challenge was a group challenge. they were grouped into 2, with 3 designers each. one group had team leader jaz, veejay and aris. the other group included team leader ely, mara and philipp. the challenge was to design a collection that would be included in the 3oth anniversary collection of cinderella. the winning collection will be marketed by cinderella as a part of their anniversary collection. the twist is that the materials they would use will be from the existing clothes that are in a cinderella store.

jaz's team proved superior and eventually won the challenge. their collection was shown being displayed in a window display of cinderella. the other team was in the chopping block and eli got the boot.

eli previously won 2 challenges (the wedding dress challenge in episode 6 and pond's challenge in episode 8). this was his 5th appearance in the bottom group (13 legends challenge - episode 2, hip hop meets couture challenge - episode 3, open your eyes challenge - episode 5, beverly hills 6750 uniform challenge - episode 7 and cinderella design challenge - episode 9). he got the lowest score during the beverly hills 6750 challenge in episode 7 but he had immunity due to his win in episode 6 so the judges decided that challenge to ba a non-elimination challenge.

image taken from http://lordmaturan.multiply.com

survivor philippines: week 2 episode 2 notes

> the episode started with a mini-challenge for naak. the challenge involves threading in the deep part of the sea while holding a matchstick in their mouth for 15 minutes. they can take home all the dry matchsticks after 15 minutes. you are disqualified if you hold on to the boat. i was surprised that the naak girls did better than the boys. less than 5 minutes into the challenge, 2 boys already bailed out of the challenge, emerson and rob. all of the other castaways did well, and were able to give the tribe matchsticks.

> cris confronted kiko about their exchanges of words in the reward challenge. it was great to see that cris is saying this things directly to kiko rather than stabbing him at the back. plus points for cris, definitely. kiko, on the other hand was very disappointing. he can't admit his mistakes and even brags of his rowing achievements. yes, we all know that you are a rower, but your strategy still didn't make your team win. i think there is still something wrong. naak needs to improve their communication for them to win challenges.

> major nosebleed for cris... english is definitely not one of his strengths... but i definitely appreciate the effort. imagine what he can say when he is drunk...

> rob acted as the moderator between the cris and kiko. i think this is strategy... some tribemates seem to be uninterested on the cris - kiko arguement. zita, for instance, concentrated on food rather than the arguement.

> at last, jarakay has fire. major accomplishment after 4 days without fire. they cooked rice and seafoods for their first real meal in the island. i am irritated with marlon. he talks too much and most of them are nonsense.

> some strategizing happening at jarakay. alliance would definitely include jace, veronica and john. they are considering charisse, marlon and gigit into the alliance. looks like the girls are in great danger. the boys alliance worked in naak. it would be nice to see the girls do the same thing in jarakay since they have the number. but it seems the boys are way ahead in playing the game.

> the episode was short, or it only seems to be... but it was definitely jam-packed. hope tomorrow's episode will be more exciting.

survivor philippines: week 2 episode 1 notes

important notes on survivor philippines week 2 monday episode:

> new opening credits showing the new tribes, just like what survivor us is doing, they change opening credits everytime tribes changes

> emerson is at the hot seat for naak. the tribe feels emerson is playing them. he must be cautious if he wants to last in the game. even the girls are doubting his honesty. no one in naak is trusting him, except probably for cris, who did not have any confessional or was not even shown talking about him. i think if naak loses again, it can be emerson who will be going.

> the first alliance was shown being formed; the boys alliance in naak: jc, kiko and rob. although this was evident last week, it's the first time that they were shown talking about going together and helping each other go far in the game.

> food issue still haunts both tribes. still no fire for both tribes.

> when paolo announced to jarakay that chev was voted out in the last tribal council, jarakay did not have any reaction. aren't they interested or they expected that chev would go home?

> the reward challenge was a revised version of the immunity challenge from survivor cook island episode 5. please see pics below (taken from http://www.truedorktimes.com/survivor_cook_islands/spoilers/ep5/ic.htm ):

this challenge was later recycle by micronesia fans vs favorites episode 6 immunity challenge. please see pics below (taken from http://www.scottitude.net/everyirrelevance/2008/05/survivor-micr-3.html ):

> kiko is evidently the leader in naak. he stepped up to the plate, barking orders and saying to the tribe what their strategy is. at jarakay, i was impressed by the great communication exhibited in the tribe and great teamwork too. i was more impressed with patani and charisse since they were the ones that helped supporting the foot stools. veronica is evidently heavier than either of the too but they were able to survive the challenge.

> jarakay wins reward. three straight challenge that jarakay tribe wins. reward is a flint. jarakay will now have fire. they were really emotional after the challenge. i had a feeling they would win the challenge because in the opening credits, gigit was shown shouting, "we have fire!" and in this challenge, it was flint that would be given as a reward.

will jarakay continue their winning streak? naak needs a morale booster at this stage. a challenge win will do. the episode also shows naak holding matchsticks in their mouth and paolo saying that they can take home up to 6 matchsticks. this would also be a great challenge for naak. let's watch again tonight...

survivor philippines: why chev lost

when the cast aways were introduced to the public, one of the cast aways that would fit the character of a survivor is definitely chev macias, a former gro from iloilo city. she is tagged as " bisayang palaban" in the show, and she definitely lives up to it. with her life experiences as an advantage being a survivor in real life, she is very witty, outspoken, diligent and reliable. so it came as a surprise to me that she was voted out first in the first season of survivor philippines. so what went wrong?

first, during the first two days in the island, she was quite reserved and does not talk a lot, though she kept herself busy and was really a great help at the naak camp. she did not establish a true alliance with in the girls. when the tribe was mixed, she has no ally to go to and was an easy target for elimination.

second, she did not do a great job stepping up at the immunity challenge. being the guide of the naak tribe, she cannot communicate well and had difficulty expressing her thoughts. though she did better than jc, who opted to be substituted in the middle of the challenge, it was she who was pin pointed due to the closeness of the male tribe members.

third, another reason is the male alliance. though it was not emphasized in last friday's episode, it was implied in several conversations that the male members have a strong alliance. and they played the game well. they immediately got kaye to their side and eventually got zita and veverly to vote with them.

fourth, she trusted emerson so much. she concentrated on forming the bisaya alliance with cris, emer and veverly; which she did not know are part of the alliance that would eventually vote her out. she did not observe what the other cast aways were thinking and believed every thing that emer is saying. if there is someone who blind sided chev, it was definitely emer.

and lastly, her strong personality is definitely a force to reckon with in the next stages of the competition. elimination a strong contender would definitely be a plus and an advantage to the other cast aways.

observing the naak tribe last friday, early boot might be vevrly (joined the alliance so much later), zita (she was not shown strategizing at all) or emer (who was not trusted by several girls and even some guys due to the alliance he was making behind their backs.

the naak male mambers did a great job in making alliances and strategizing so far. they are controlling the game on that part of the island. chev did not see it coming at all. if i were to ask why chev lost, i would probably say that it was mainly due to wrong alliances made, lack of strategizing and her strong personality.

but if chev lasted long in the game, she could definitely be a force to reckon with.

image is taken from the official site of survivor philippines: http://www.survivorphilippines.tv

shall we dance: sexbomb cheche & dice and sheree & kiko eliminated

tv 5's dancing reality show announced last night the eliminated couples for the show's level 3 of competition. after 7 weeks of competition, latest eliminated pairs are cheche of the sexbomb girls & dance partner dice and sexy singer and former viva hotbabe sheree & dance partner kiko.

there are only 5 remaining pairs in the competition. their ranking was anounced last night with gab valenciano & his partner leading, followed by saicy aguila & johnny, danilo & his dance partner and a tie for the last spot for sexbomb jopay & mark and pbb alumnus mickey & raine. next week, the 5 remaining teams will compete in the level 4 competition with the 5 pairs dancing in one night.

the eliminated pairs would still have a chance to compete in the wild card competition later in the competition.

image is from tv5's official website: http://www.tv5.com.ph/

celebrity duets season 2: week 5 is again a non-elimination week

week 5 of the philippine version of celebrity duets is another non-elimination week. this is the 3rd time in 5 weeks that the episode was non-elimination. the first two weeks were also non-elimination episodes also. the votes will be carried over to next week where another celebrity will be eliminated.

the songs and duet partners of the contestants for week 5 are as follows:

mmda chaiman bayani fernando with partner john lapuz - copacobana
chef jl cang with partner ney of 6cyclemind - iskul bukol
soccer hunk phil younghusband with partner sheree - i'm too sexy
comedian joey marquez with partner kyla - friend of mine
designer jc buendia with partner yasmien kurdi - raindrops keep falling on my head
beauty queen carlene aquilar with partner dulce - halik

for me, top 3 for this week would be chef jl, bayani fernando and carlene aguilar. the bottom group includes phil, joey and jc. i think the weakest performance this week was from designer jc buendia.

survivor philippines: chev macias eliminated first

chev macias, the "bisayang palaban" from iloilo city, became the first cast away eliminated from survivor philippines. she was eliminated from the naak tribe, where her tribemates voted unanimously against her; with 8 votes going against her. a former gro, chev exhibited true diligence, patience and great fighting spirit in the 3 days she spent in the island.

her confessional after the elimination was equally controversial as she is. she said to her tribemates; "i hate you all..."

she guested yesterday in gma 7's showbiz talk show, showbiz central. asked if she felt betrayed by her tribe after the elimination, chev immediately answered "of course..."

she was also asked to name the cast away that was deserving to be eliminated instead of her and she named jc tiuseco, the basketball hunk who asked to be replaced in the middle of the immunity challenge.

paolo bediones, the host of survivor philippines, joined her late in the interview to better explain her actions in the show. chev also mentioned that her crush amongst the male cast aways is gigit, the web designer / mountaineer from quezon city.

the complete transcript of the inteview can be found on the following page:

http://www.pep.ph/news/19233/Survivor-Philippines-cast-off-Chev-Macias-feels-betrayed-by-her-tribemates

amazing race asia season 3: episode 2 review

nine teams left, who will be eliminated next?

after 12 hours in the pitstop, the teams were instructed to proceed to the flight of gibbon treetop adventure by taxi. The teams will traverse the parks' treetop canopy through a zipline, one by one. since it was late at night, mai and oliver decided to call it a night and wait for the morning before going to the park. the other teams proceeded to the park and got numbers that would determine the order of executing the task. mai & oliver suddenly dropped to last place from first.

they were next instructed to proceed to a banana plantation. once there, they encountered a roadblock. this team member would try to retrieve a clue from a back pack hidden in the plantation. on the way, they would try to evade the bullets from paitball snipers also hidden in the plantation. when they are hit, they would go back to the start. most of the teams had a hard time retrieving the clue. the challenge was great. with a good mix of action and drama. some even cried and we hear the occassional "ouch" every time a ball is baing fired. it was tania who retrieved the clue first, followed closely by fuzzie.

the teams were then instructed to fly to ho chi mihn city and proceed to the sydney opera house to get their next clue. in the flight to vietnam, the teams were split into 3. ida and tania took the earliest flight to vietnam at 2:40pm. the next group includes 5 teams, geoff & tisha, henry & bernie, ad & fuzzie, niroo & kapil and sam & vince. they took a later flight with stop over at siem reap, cambodia. the 3 remaining teams, mai & oliver, natalie & pailin and william & isaac, took the flight that would depart at 7am the next day. staying overnight at the airport, natalie experienced a breakdown. it was not irritating to watch because it was not an outburst. it looked natural and she just broke the barrier and becomes relateable to other beople despite her status.

in vietnam, teams scrambled to proceed to the opera house, ad & fuzzie wasted time because they said that there were 2 opera house in the city. teams were then instructed to proceed to saigon pho cafe where both team members needs to complete a nokia phone game, system rush using a nokia n88 phone. the guys had an easy time finishing the game, except probably for niroo. the girls were impressive enough to finish it after some tries. they were then instructed to proceed to a flower shop in ben thanh market to retrieve their next clue.

upon arriving at the market, the stores are already closed. the stores would open at 6am, according to the hours of operation sign posted on the store. but ida & tania and sam & vince talked to locals and informed them that the stores opens at 7am.

the next morning; geoff & tisha, niroo & kapil, ad & fuzzie and henry & bernie got to the flower shop at 6am, getting the clues first. the clue instructed them to proceed to cai be bus station for their next clue. they took the bus to cai be together, approximately a 2 hour bus ride. at 7am, sam & vince and the malaysian team retrieved their clue and was surprised to find out that the stores opens at 6am. in bangkok, the other 3 teams' flight departed for vietnam.

in the cai be bus station, teams encountered a detour; a choice between sampan and some walk. in sampan, teams need to load fruits and vegetables on to a sampan, a traditional vietnam boat and deliver the goods to a floating market. in some walk, teams need to catch 20 chickens and deliver them to a store in a nearby market. about 3 teams choose sampan but it proved to ba a difficult task. they all switch back to some walk. catching chickens really proved to be hard for some teams, especially for some of the girls. it was also hard to transport the chickens to the market. eventually, it was henry & bernie who finished first.

teams were then instructed to proceed to thanh nu jeanne dark vang lang church in ho chi minh. in front of the church, the next clue told them about charity work. they need to help one of the "friends in need" and spend the USD500 given by singha beer. it was a great chal;lenge because the teams did not help only 1 charity, the helped nine. most amazing race charity challeneges would focus on one charity, but helping 9 charities in one day is really awesome. most of the teams enjoyed the challenge, even mingling with the orphans. it was a great stress reliever in the race.

the teams then proceed to saigon post office to retrieve a clue that told them to proceed to the 2nd pit stop of the race, the museun of vietnamese history. the last team to check in may be eliminated. it was a dash to the finish, with henry & bernie of malaysia winning the leg and a year supply of caltex fuels. rankings of the first 6 teams are as follows:

1st - henry & bernie

2nd - ad & fuzzie

3rd - sam & vince

4th - niroo & kapil

5th - geoff & tisha

6th - ida & tania

the last 3 teams were then shown struggling to get back in the race. in the nokia challenge, it was william & isaac on the advantage, having been video game players for so long. at the detour, they had a hard time finishing the task, the 2 thai teams were able to overtake them. the lead of the 2 thai teams was enough for them to take the last 2 spots. final ranking are as follows:

7th - natalie & pailin

8th - mai & oliver

9th - william & isaac

this made the south korean team the 2nd team to be eliminated in the race.

the episode was a great one, with tough challenges to go with it. the detour was tough, even the boys had a hard time finishing it. the detour was also great, there was no easier task, both proved to be hard and challenging. in the end, it boils down to commitment, perseverance and commitment. as we all know, communication is a key to this race and this is a factor that most teams really need to work on.

the episode also shown some aspects of the challengers we have not seen yet. there was natalie's breakdown which shows her soft spot. we saw henry's breakdown which was so emotional and was so different from the henry we saw in the previous leg. there was also geoff's competitiveness, i don't actually equate it to arrogance but this is what competitiveness leads to, but he must watch his actions because other teams starts to hate him.

the leg was shown for 90 minutes not necessarily because it was a very hard leg but due to the large time difference encountered. the last 3 teams are about 3 hours behind the lead pack. but if the teams were neck to neck, this would fit in to a 1 hour episode. it was great to see that flights are becoming the deciding factor in the leg. in previous seasons, flights are the great equalizers and eats up some of the team's lead.

this season proves to be an exciting season and i am already looking forward to the next leg.

picture was taken from the official site of amazing race asia season 3.

amazing race asia season 3: isaac and william eliminated

after a grueling 90 minute episode and a leg that covers 2 countries, thailand and vietnam; isaac and william from south korea becomes the second team to be eliminated in the third season of amazing race asia.

with no luck on the flight to vietnam, three teams took the back seat, namely the korean brothers, the two thailand teams, the beauty queens and mai & oliver. it was a race to the finish and the two thai teams finished ahead of the koreans. the leg was won by henry & bernie from malaysia.

a more detailed post on the episode will be posted soon.

picture was taken from the official site of amazing race asia season 3

survivor philippines: who will be eliminated tonight? - opening credits spoilers

who will be eliminated tonight on survivor philippines? that is the big question for survivor fans here in the philippines. there are some spoilers in the opening credits that would make us say that several cast aways will be safe tonight.


pic #1: kaye and cris are safe

in this picture, cris and kaye are shown in a challenge that was not in the previous episodes. another male is on the other side of kaye (crouched below the pole that i can't identify. that puts cris, kaye and another male on the safe zone.

pic #2: rob is safe.

rob is shown here on a challenge that we have not seen yet. another name on the safe zone.

pic #3: the moustache says it all

this picture shows jc with a full grown moustache and goatee, saying that he goes a long way in the contest. jc would definitely be safe.

pic #4: zita is safe

another challenge pic that would tell us that zita is safe.

that puts 5 persons sure to be safe tonight: kaye, cris, rob, zita and jc. who's in the danger zone: emer, kiko, zita, chev and vhev. my guess: one of the girls will be eliminated because of two reasons: the males has a superior number and its early in the game and they need to keep the team strong.

let's just wait for tonight's episode to find out...

survivor philippines: jarakay wins first immunity challenge!

after a hectic second day on the island, the jaranak tribe felt hunger and decided to eat the fishes that they caught raw since they still don't have fire. cris was the first one to eat, and boys soon followed. only jc was not able to eat the fish and some took it negatively.

the castaways then received treemail for the immunity challenge. they then proceed to the location, and to their surprise, the teams were shuffled. the new tribes are as follows:

naak: emerson, kiko, cris, rob, kaye, jc, chev, zita and vhev
jaranak: patani, nina, charisse, veronica, jace, nikki, gigit, john and marlon

the immunity challenge involves the tribes carrying a small house where a castaway is located. along the way, they would retrieve puzzle pieces that they would solve at the end of the track. first team to finish wins immunity. naak had trouble in during the puzzle pieces retrieval and were forced to change players along the way. jaranak capitalized on this and had a big lead going into the puzzle making. nina had a hard time solving the puzzle, giving naak a chance at winning the challenge. but the lead was too much and jarakay was able to get away with the first immunity challenge of survivor philippines.

with immunity in hand, jaranak is guaranteed to proceed in the competition. but due to the fact the tribes regrouped, no one can be called safe as of now. its interesting to see how naak members would scramble to form alliances with the new tribemates. will the males capitalize on their numbers and stick together? or will the females stick together and convinve someone from the males to swing to their side?

project runway philippines: ivan raborar and ava paguyo eliminated

ivan raborar and ava paguyo becomes the latest casualties in last night's episode of project runway philippines. coming from an episode where no designer was eliminated (because ely had the weakest design but he has immunity due to his win in the wedding gown challenge in the previous episode), 2 designers were eliminated with ely surprising everyone with a win.

the episode feature a challenge from ponds, creating a dress for an everyday woman that would wow her husband. they were asked to work with a different set of models, ordinary wives with a very different body structure and parts that needs emphasis and some parts need to be toned down. they have to use some shades of red in the outfit. they had 17 hours to finish the dress.

strong designs came from ely and jaz. on the safe side were veejay, aris and mara. bottom three were philip, ava and ivan. this is the third time that both ava and ivan were in the botttom group (ava was previouly in the bottom group in the 12 legends challenge in episode 2 and the wedding challenge in episode 6. on the other hand, ivan was previously in the bottom group in the open your eyes challenge in episode 5 and the beverly hills 6750 uniform challenge in episode 7.), which eventually led to their elimination.

pictures were from http://lordmaturan.multiply.com/

survivor philippines: notes from episode 2 and 3

here are some important notes and observations from episodes 2 and 3 of survivor philippines:

> jace arrived first in the beach during the first episode and his tribe was given the larger camp site. the catch? it was farther from the location of the challenge. the boys had the larger camp site but when they arrived there, it was already dark; no chance of beilding a temporary shelter and explore the area.
> both teams had difficulty sleeping due to insects and the occasional downpour of rain
> naak is a step ahead of the boys in terms of tribe activities. the girls were able to find the water hole first, they started their shelter ahead of the boys and they hunted for food first.
> the girls are getting along well, but patani gets some of the girls irritated because she talks a lot, will this affect her standing in the tribe?
> nikki and charisse are evidently having a hard time, lagging behide in terms of working for the tribe. stepping up for naak are chev, zita aand patani.
> food search has commenced in both tribes. what did they catch? oysters and crabs for naak; fruits and fish for jarakay
> excitement is commencing: personality clashes is starting in jarakay! marlon shows his strong personality; saying his opinion on all of the issues in the tribe... quite irritating, but very interesting
> gigit steps up to be the leader of jarakay. delegates work so they can finish everything that needs to be done. work ethics of jarakay is quite impressive, finishing everything in a short span of time except for the fire, where gigit is assigned.
> marlon thinks that the other males in jarakay are forming an alliance, which is based on social status. is that called insecurity or what? he talked with cris about it and wants to form an alliance between him, cris and emer. powerplaying this early in the game may cause him an early boot. let's see how this plays off
> marlon swears a lot. can he talk without swearing? his swearing now becomes so irritating because of the beeps we hear every now and then to cover up the bad words he is uttering.
> gigit steps down as leader because ha wasn't able to fulfill his task to build fire. he steps down as mediator and let kiko lead the tribe. quitting this early in the game? sounds like strategy...
> both teams has not been able to build fire. in the game of survival, fire is an essential element; let's see which team will be able to build fire first.

surivor philippines: pilot episode review

i have been a survivor fan for years now. i have watched almost all the past 16 seasons of the us version (with the exception of survivor: the australian outback because we still don't have cable subscription then and we had crappy reception for studio 23, but i still read synopsis and episode recaps in the net). survivor has been one of the best reality shows in primetime tv, and has been one of the most successful yet.

i have waited for the debut episode of the local franchise of survivor, survivor philippines. with the great billboards and teasers that they have released, it was really a show to watch for reality tv fans like me. the deput happened last night (september 15) and the countdaown was shown in almost all the shows yesterday in gma 7 (the timer really reminds me of the countdown that is used by abs cbn before the launch or the finale shows of the pinoy big brother and pinoy dream academy). with minutes ticking away and commercials of the shown being shown every 10 minutes or so, anticipation and excitement was really triggered to the max.

the show opened with a survey of the location. the devil's island in southern thailand, which it was called, was previously inhabited by pirates and has been notorious for its wild and unforgiving environment and creatures. the location is the typical tropical location, an island with great beaches and prestine waters. location wise, it was a great location, perfect for the first season of the show.

the next scene shows the castaways arriving to the location on board a fishing vessel. another boat welcomes them with the host, paolo bediones. he instructed the castaways to jump to the waters and swim to shore. they can use the life vests scattered in the waters. it's a race to the shore, with a reward for the first one to reach the beach. the swim proved to be a hard one. some even had cramps and some grouped to work as a team. during the swim, the profiles of each of the contestants were shown.it was jace (the gym instructor) who reached shore first, followed by zita (the laundrywoman) and jc (the basketball jock). the castaways then started reaching shore one by one.

after that, paolo welcomed the castaways to the island and grouped them into 2 tribes: jarakay (the men's tribe) and naak (the women's tribe), which means crocodile and snake in thai language, respectively. tribe colors were blue for jarakay and red for naakthey were also given a trunk full of the things they need for their stay in the island. they also learned that as a reward for jace being the first man on the beach, his tribe will occupy the larger camp.
they then proceed to the reward challenge. all of the tribe members will be chained together except for one who will serve as the keykeeper and puzzle solver. the chained members would sprint to a pole and cross the pole without their feet touching the ground. they would then go to a pole where the first set of keys is attached. upon reaching the pole, the key keeper would unlock the first set of locks. after this station, there would be 4 pairs chained tofether per tribe. they would then go up a platform and traverse a zip line. after the 4 pairs are finished, the keykeeper would then unlock the last set of locks, freeing all the tribemates. the tribemates would go to a rope web one by one to retrieve 8 puzzle pieces tied to the ropes. after all the puzzle pieces are retrieved, the team would give the pieces to the puzzle solver. first team to solve the puzzle wins reward. reward is materials for the shelter.

as expected, the boys had the earlier, sprinting through the course with ease. they were first to the zip line. the girls slightly made ground at the rope web. but what gave the boys the advantage was that they first retrieved the puzzle pieces that are farthest. the boys had a big advantage and started the puzzle way ahead of the girls. but they had difficulty on solving the puzzles. the girls were able to catch up a bit and the challenge now depends on the puzzle makers. the boys were able to solve the puzzle first. jarakay wins.
the rewards were given to jarakay; a larger camp site and materials for the shelter. the losing tribe was also punished by being chained by pairs until the next challenge. they were then instructed to proceed to their respective camps. naak, given the smaller camp arrived first on their camp site. they immediately explored the area, decided where they would put up the shelter, looked for materials for their shelter and were able to find their water hole. on the other hand, jarakay, who was given the larger camp arrived at their camp later and it was already dark. they were not able to do anything and decided to call the day quits. both tribe had difficulty sleeping during their first night, due to the insects and cold weather. the episodes ends here.

let me comment on the pilot episode on different aspects. each aspect would be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest.

first is the location. the location is great, great beaches with crystal clear water. the history of the islands (pirate story) also gave it an edge. the snakes, sharks and crocodiles shown also gave it a feel of adventure (i wonder if the cast aways would encounter such creatures). a typical tropical survivor location, much like borneo or pearl island. this location is very close to pearl islands, due to the terrain, environment, weather and pirate history. but i think it would have been better if the first season of survivor philippines was shot in our homeland. survivor japan already shot a season in siquijor. last year, survivor france shot a season in caramoan. i think they can find a suitable location with the same environment here in the country amongst the 7,100 plus islands. i would give this aspect a 3 out of a possible 5.

second, the opening credits and music. the opening credits was a bit lame. maybe due to the monotone background music. as compared to the opening music of the us version, the local music lacks the highs in the beats that would make your heart pound the first time you hear it. the opening credits which introduces the survivor also was quite boring, too dragging and lacks excitement. i would give this aspect a 2 out of a possible 5.

third, the cast aways. a survivor season is only as good as its cast. they would give you all the drama and the shows excitement through their clashing personalities, triumphs and conflicts. the casting crew gave us a good mix of people, from ordinary peolple (a laundry woman, a yaya, a waiter), people from the urban areas and the city (the call center agent, business woman), models and athletes. its a common strategy for the initial season of reality shows to include recognizeable celebrities to get audience share. for this season, celebrities include veronica, the bemedalled taekwondo champ; jc, the basketball jock and jon, who is tagged as a "mechanic" but is a folded and hung model. the males looks almost the same, great looks with great bodies. i still need to watch more for their personalities. for this aspect i give them a 4 out of a possible 5.

fourth, the host. jeff probst is definitely a tough act to follow. so many people were elated when gma 7 announced that survivor philippines' host is paolo bediones. with his vast hosting experience with extra extra, s files and extra challenge to name a few, he really has an advantage. but surprisingly, he did poorly on the pilot episode. he sounded monotonous, far from the up beat tone he previously has. he sounded nervous, i don't know why. i hated it when he instructed the cast aways to jump to the water, his spiel goes something like this: "hanggang dito na lang ang fishing boat na sinasakyan nyo. kinakailangan nyong tumalon sa tubig at lumangoy papuntang pampang... (a long silence) ito ay isang unahan." its sounds lame and it seems that he forgot his line due to the long pause. i also hated his voice over during the swim to the beach. he sounded amateur. for this aspect, i would give the show a passing mark, 3 out of a possible 5. i know paolo can do a better job.

fifth, the tribes. the cast aways were divided into 2 tribes, jarakay and naak. they were divided by gender; jarakay is the men's tribe and naak is the women's tribe. this is the same grouping that the survivor amazon used. its okay but i would prefer to see a mixed tribe to establish dynamics and prefer to see this grouping on a later season. for this i give the show a 3 out of a possible 5.

sixth, the reward challenge. the challenge was a grueling one. i already saw the attributes of the race in different challenges in the us version. it was a good challenge, a lengthy challenging one that combines physical endurance and mental toughness. the props were also good, with the exception probably of the puzzle pieces (because the puzzles from the us version really looks better). i have yet to see the immunity challenge but as of now, i would give this aspect 4 out of a possible 5.

seventh, airing schedule. survivor philippines is shown every day at the primetime slot at about a little past 9pm in the evening. since it is shown every night, some days i would assume would not have challenges shown but will showcase the group dynamics of the tribes. its like stretching a single episode of the us version from 1 hour to 5 hours and chop it to 5 episodes. what does a survivor fan wait for in a good survivor episode? its definitely great group dynamins, a great reward & immunity challenge, lots of schemming and back fighting and an awesome tribal council. this would definitely not be all shown in a single episode, which most survivor fans don't like. imagine watching reward challenge on monday, group dynamics on tuesday, immunity challenge on wednesday, scheming to survive on thursday and tribal council on friday. it would be boring to wait for such a long time for the tribal council. for this aspect, i give them a 2 out of a possible 5.

and lastly, editing. a good episode mainly relies on good editing. its the ability to scan which scenes to show and how to integrate them for the viewers to easily understand the flow and making it look cohesive. i think this is the slowest paced survivor show i ever saw. editing was not good, some scenes are boring and shiftings from one scene to the other was also not good. this was also the case in the early episodes of the amazing race asia, which drastically improved as time goes by. i hope this would also happen to survivor philippines. for this aspect, i would give the show 2 out of a possible 5.

all in all, out of a possible 40 points, the show earned 23. still on the average range and lots of room for improvement. i was really disappointed about the pilot episode since survivor is a very good material and the production really failed miserably. there are so many episodes to go, i hope they would improve. i would still be watching the show but most of my colleagues were very disappointed already that they decided that they would not continue watching at all. i think the show needs to go back to drawing board and look on how to win back their lost audience. it critical to amuse the fans on your pilot episode and i think it did not happened here. leasson learned... hope gma 7 does damage control.

amazing race asia season 3: episode 1 review

after several months of anticipation, the amazing race asia finally debuted on axn last night. being dubbed as "the toughest race ever"; race fans all over asia expects an exciting season ahead of us. having been a fan of TAR and TARA, i myself has been waiting for the premiere of the show to see how tough this season will be. from the racers revealed special episode, we saw how diverse the casting has been for this season. compared to the other 2 seasons of TARA, i think this is the most diverse mix of racers we ever had. but it is still full of racers with celebrity status in their hometowns (it includes former beauty queens, tv hosts, actress, actors and models); which has been a norm for the past seasons of TARA.

the race started in bangkok, thailand and was kicked off by an eating challenge. last season also had an eating challenge on the first episode (the balut challenge in manila). they were tasked to eat bugs, frogs and scorpions, which are local delicacies in thailand. some of the teams had a hard time doing the task. henry and bernie finished first and was first to leave; followed by the beauty queens from thailand and the philippine team. the next teams finished closely behind them, with sam & vince finishing last in this challenge.

the next task was to proceed to a caltex station and clean a car. henry & bernie got lost and were overtaken by the beauty queens and the geoff & tisha.teams arrived at the gas station surprised, for they found out that they would be cleaning a passenger bus rather than a "car" which was stated on their clues. i think this is the most amazing car wash chellenge in amazing race history. most of the teams had a hard time finishing the task. it also rained while they were doing the task, which was a great help and a morale booster for them. sam & vince also provide comic relief at this point of the race (remember the munchkin cleaning the bus?). despite arriving in the station 2nd to the last, henry & bernie managed to finish first.

the next task was to sign up and board the bus that would take them to wat phai rong wua. the first 3 teams woiuld be on the 1st bus, the next 3 teams on the 2nd bus and the other teams on the last bus. mai & oliver took 2nd place but did not read the clue and left the gas station. this allowed neena & amit and the beauty queens to overtake them and go on the first bus. the second bus left with geoff & tisha, mai & oliver and ida & tania. the other teams took the last bus.

at wat phai rong wua, they were tasked to find their clues that were placed randomly on statues. the place contains hundreds of statues and what was worse was that it was already dark when they arrived. another catch was that the bus that they used getting there will leave the place exactly 20 minutes after they arrived. the teams from the 1st bus had a hard time finding the clues. the 2nd bus arrived soon and some of the teams did well, finding clues ahead of the others. mai & oliver and geoff & tisha was able to catch the first bus. henry and bernie boarded alone on the 2nd bus. all the other teams were on the last bus.

the teams then went to chiang mai, thailand where they encountered a detour, a choice between rice or race. in rice, they would pound rice to make rice cake and on race, they are tasked to drive a buggy along an 8 kilometer dirt track. most teams choose rice. i think only ida & tania and william & isaac choose race. but some teams switched to race after a grueling time pounding rice. the first team to finish the task was mai & oliver, followed closely by geoff & tisha. these 2 teams has been working together half of the race so they decided to go to the pit stop together and decide who will check in first by rock, paper and scissors.

upon arrival at the pit stop, mai had a hard time going to the mat, arriving last after oliver, geoff and tisha. but they were lucky as mai won the rock, paper, scissor m,atch with tisha and they checked in first. geoff & tisha checked in second, acknowledging mai & oliver's help in this leg and they said the that they deserve to check in first (hope this would bring them good karma in the next legs... and this made them more likeable). sam & vince originally arrived 4th but did not paid their taxi so they have to go back. 3 teams overtook them and they checked in 7th. neena & amit got lost on their way to the pit stop, they checked in last and were eliminated. team stadings are as follows: mai & oliver (thailand), geoff & tisha (philippines); henry & bernie (malaysia); natalie & pailin (thailand); ida & tania (malaysia), william & isaac (korea), sam & vince (hong kong), ad & fuzzie (singapore), niroo & kapil (india) and neena & amit (india).

it was great that for the first time in TARA history, the first leg is an elimination leg. it would definitely be so predictable if this was a NEL. it would also get boring. it was definitely a great episode, the tasks proved to be challenging and the racers were great. but i think they still need to step up more to live up to the tag line "the toughest race ever." i've seen harder challenges in TAR and earlier seasons of TARA. but we have more episodes coming in the next weeks so we expect harder tasks and challenges.

my early favorites are geoff & tisha and henry & bernie. i did not like the fact that mai considered quitting after finishing the first leg on the top position. i know that the race is really beyond her comfort zone but joining TARA needs so much mental preparation. there are hundreds of teams that applied for the position and it would be a shame giving up your slot that way. my wildcard would be sam & vince because they seem to be enjoying themselves in the race. my darkhorse would be william & isaac.

it was a great episode and i am very much looking forward to next week.

photo is taken from the amazing race asia season 3 official website. this blog is also published in my multiply account: http://diyeysiaquino.multiply.com/

reality television in the philippines

unknown to many, most of the tv shows that we watch today are classified under the genre called "reality tv". so what exactly is reality tv? i quote this definition from wikipedia:

"Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors."

reality tv has 2 basic elements; it is unscripted and it is portrayed by ordinary people. it covers a wide range of formats from quiz shows, dating games, social experiments, job search and many more. it mirrors our lives and that what makes the viewers relate to these shows. it also shows our dream life that we all want to achieve.

it has unconsciously overtaken telenovelas, variety shows and dramas as the most popular show format. it has increasingly been more popular over the years. even philippine local channels has started producing these kind of show. one of the earliest reality show is gma 7's extra challenge, which showcase popular celebrities in different challenges. there were also several talent searches before, such as star search shows star circle quest (abs cbn) and star struck (gma 7) and singing contests such as star for a night (ibc 13), pinoy pop superstar (gma 7), star in a million (abs cbn), and even dance contests such shall we dance of abc 5. today, existing notable locally produced reality shows are qtv 10's may trabaho ka! which was reformatted to hired! and gma 7's kung ako ikaw and tv 5's talentadong pinoy.

several foreign reality shows has also been localized such as big brother (pinoy big brother of abs cbn), america's next top model (philippines' next top model - rpn 9), american idol (philippine idol - abc 5 and recently, pinoy idol - gma 7), star academy (pinoy dream academy - abs cbn), celebrity duets (gma 7), project runway (project runway philippines - etc), survivor (survivor philippines - gma 7) and fear factor (pinoy fear factor - abs cbn). there is also an asian version of the amzing race which is shown in axn. several foreign game shows were also localized such as deal or no deal, wheel of fortune and family feud.

reality tv has definitely captured a great audience in the philippines. one proof is the tremendous text votes during the finale episodes of local shows such as pinoy dream academy, pinoy big brother and philippine idol. we are speaking of millions of votes. the recently concluded pinoy dream academy season 2 almost had 2 million votes. this has also been acknowledge by amazing race asia, and they did include at least a team from the philippines in each season.

reality tv has also catapulted the career of several artists after participating or winning their repective shows. some notyable products of reality shows are sarah geronimo, christian bautista, eric santos, sheryn regis, gerald santos, jonalyn viray, yeng constantino, jayr siaboc, sam milby, jayson gainza, zanjoe marudo, gerald anderson, kim chiu, mark herras, jennilyn mercado, matt evans, melissa ricks, katrina halili and christine reyes. and the list goes on...

reality tv has definitely earned its mark in philippine tv. being a reality tv fan, its really good to know that it has earned a good following in the philippines and its still here to stay.