american idol, survivor and the amazing race: new seasons to premiere early 2009

american idol, survivor and the amazing race will kickoff reality tv premieres in 2009. both show will start their latest season on early months of 2009.

the 8th season of american idol will air on philippine cable television via star world. the new season will premiere on january 14, 2009. another notable change this season is the addition of a new judge, kara dioguardi. 38 year old dioguardi is an american singer, song writer and record producer. she has 46 albums in billboard's op 10 album chart under her belt. she has also worked with several idols before, taking kelly clarkson, carrie underwood and david archuleta to name a few. it was also announced that due to the on going economic crisis, the show will not air its charity work idol gives back. i am still trying to get some information if qtv 11 will still air american idol since they were the once who aired the show last year.

one month after american idol, amazing race and survivor will premiere its respective new seasons. amazing race will premiere on philippine cable television via axn on february 16, 2009. studio 23 will telecast the show in philippine free tv. this is already the reality show's 14th season.

on the other hand, survivor will premiere in philippine free television via qtv 11 starting february 13, 2009. the new season is titled survivor tocantins - the brazilian highlands. another notable change this season is that this is the first time that hopefuls below 21 year old were allowed to apply. so expect someone younger than frosty from survivor china will be on the show. this is survivor's 18th season.

pinoy fear factor: manuel tops sin ronda de eliminacion

it is sin ronda de eliminacion or a non-elimination week in pinoy fear factor but the challenges are still as tough as the previous ones. the ones who will compete in the 2nd and 3rd challenges will be the ones who did better in the challenges. a reward awaits the participante who performs the best this week.

the first challenge is named colgado an moviemento. in this challenge, the participantes starts by climbing a ladder onto a revolving beam. just like in a playground contraption called monkey bars, they need to cross from one end of the beam to another. on the other end, they need to detach a flag and the time would stop. 5 of the remaining 7 participantes would advance to the second stunt. of the chicos, only rj was not able to complete the stunt. he fell just halfway off the beam. he is the one who will not continue among the boys. among the chicas, none were able to complete the stunt.savanah was the one who fell first and was also eliminated. as an added reward, four of the participantes were given a chance to talk to their loved ones via a video call. the four who had the chance were manuel, marion, jommy and lj.

the second stunt was called aranas en la cabeza y ratas. in this stunt, the participantes need to put his head inside a container with seven tarantulas on top of their head and in the container. on their left side is a container filled with 15 colored rats and 10 white rats. they need to transfer all the colored ones to the empty container on the lef. the 3 participantes with the most rats or the fastest times wins advances to the final stunt. manuel again top the stunt, completing it in only 1minute and 10 seconds. jommy was 6 seconds slower than marion (1:45 versus 1:51) which led to jommy's elimination. for the chicas, it was janna who was able to advance, finishing the stunt 3 seconds faster that lj.

the third stunt is named helicoptero volando hacia la boya. in this challenge, the participante needs to hang on a helicopter's landing rail. they will release their grip on the rail and they must land near a buoy where a flag is attached. upon getting a flag, they will swim to a platform where a vertical tube is placed. time stops once the flag is attached on the tube. the one with the fastest time wins the reward. manuel was up first. he lands quite far from the buoy but was able to catch time due to his superb swimming skills. he was able to complete the task in 1:17. marion was up next and was able to land dead center at the buoy. unfortunately, he had difficulty climbing up the platform and lost some precious time at completed the task with a time of 1:23. janna was the last one to do the stunt and was far slower than the 2 chicos. she finished with a time of 2:29.

manuel was the one who won the reward, which is PhP50,000 in cash.

shall we dance: chokoleit advances to the final round

stand up comedian chokoleit became the second celebrity to advance in the latest season of shall we dance, the search for the next dance superstar. he and his dance partner was able to beat comediene candy pangilinan and her dance partner in a samba showdown and a dance off round. at the end of the night, chocolate got a score of 8.40 versus candy pangilinan's 7.50.

chokoleit was able to top all 3 weeks of the comedian batch showdown. he was able to beat 2 other comics, namely dennis padilla and jinky oda who were earlier eliminated. chokoleit now joins joseph bitangcol, who earlier qualified to the finals, in the season finale. they are waiting for 2 more pairs to complete the finals line up.

survivor philippines: why jc won

basketball hunk jc tiuseco was declared the first pinoy sole survivor via a 7-2 vote. he even won the philippines' vote with a whopping 93% versus rob sy's 7%. he was hated at the start of the show, having given up on thye first immunity challenge which led to the loss of the naak tribe. he was viewed as a traitor and backstabber by some of the jury members.

so why did jc win survivor philippines?

first, he remained true to his allies. he stuck it out with rob and kiko despite everything that is happening at camp. kiko was very much satisfied by how jc played the game. they were on the same page. it was his loyalty to rob that prompted him to be in the final two. so his 2 main allies played a big factor on his win.

second, he was impressive in challenges. as an athlete, he is very competitive and focused. he does not give up on challenges. he does his best everytime he goes to the game and give it his all. he shared the rewards he won with almost everyone in the tribe and it was very much appreciated by most of the castoffs.

third, he was reserved. he does not blurt out his frustrations and throw out tantrums. he was the opposite of rob. rob dishes out cuss words and harsh actions at camp everytime something bad happens at tribal council. this shows how jc handles his problems and i think this made the jury feel that he is stronger emotionally than rob.

fourth, he is very likeable and has the charms that really works. with his boyish feature, jc was the hearthrob of the show. he can use his charms and his looks so you can feel that you can trust him easily. that was one of the keys why most of the castaways trusted him.

fifth, he transformed in the game. at the start, he was viewed as a schoolboy. he cant eat raw fish, he does not know anything at camplife. he gave up on the first challenge. everything was going against him at the start of the season. but he aligned with the right persons that brought him far in the game. he transformed from being a kid to a young man, winning challenge after challenge and dictating who goes next. he was an underdog at the start of the season, and filipinos really love underdogs.

if i were to chose the main reason why jc won, it would probably his loyalty and his transformation. he grew in the show, he was likeable and almost all the castoffs like him. even though he stepped on some toes during the game, he never lost the respect of those person and he really played the game well.

survivor philippines: why rob lost

rob sy won the last and the most important immunity challenge of the game. he gained the advantage of choosing who he will be up to in the final 2. he chose jc, his long time ally to join him in the final 2. despite having the advantage, rob still lost with a wide margin of 7 - 2, 7 votes going to jc's favor. even the text votes was against him.

so why did rob lose?

first, rob lost the trust of his allies. kiko hated his attitude when he was thinking more of the prize and not taking it one step at a time. most of them noticed how he threw tantrums every time something bad happens at tribal council. marlon also told them how he sealed a deal with him regarding the prize money. he never recovered from the distrust that was accorded to him.

second, there is still an impression that he is not strong despite his body built. being called "ampaw" by the former jarakay tribe, he was not a big factor in challenges and even gave up early on most individual challenges. the jury members might see this as a sign of giving up and not giving your best in challenges. he has not earned the respect of the jury in terms of his physical capabilities.

third, he won the last immunity challenge but chose to stick with his ally in the final 2. i think he could have a better chance of winning if he chose charisse over jc. jc is a difficult man to beat and most of the jury members like jc better than him. jc won more challenges and has proven himself in challenges. charisse has been riding the currents since the merge and has been a non-factor in challenges. charisse betrayed several persons and has not comp[letely gained the trust of the naak members. charisse could have been beaten by rob, but jc would be a difficult person to be with in the final 2.

fourth, rob's exposure in the show was more negative rather than positive. he was shown having tantrums after kiko gave him the black pearl. he was shown swearing at kiko after charisse was voted off. he had several fights with other cast offs. he took advantage of vern at the thai pillow challenge. he gave up at most challenges faster than the female castaways. is this the character that the sole survivor should have? i think this is the reason why rob lost badly in the text votes (93% vs 7%). it could have been an extra vote for him if he was projected positively on tv.

if i were to chose the main reason why he lost, it would definitely be the wrong choice of person to bring to the final 2. yes, rob build relationships in the show and he did his best, but jc is definitely not in his league. he definitely cannot beat a person so likeable and trustworthy as jc. rob simply cannot beat jc in a head to head match, and his decision simply lost him 3 million pesos and the title of being the first sole survivor.

survivor philippines: jc tiuseco is the first pinoy sole survivor

the first pinoy sole survivor is finally revealed, and it is basketbal hunk jc tiuseco, beating 17 other castaways for the title.

after 39 grueling days in thailand, jc tiuseco is named the sole survivor after a 6 - 2 votes of the jury and 1 additional votes from the philippines vote, which was determined via text voting. jc beat fellow castaway loverboy rob sy after gaining the votes from jace, kiko, marlon, kaye, cris and charisse. only zita and veronica, who is rumored to be dating rob, voted for the runner up.

jc also won in the text votes, garnering 93% of the total text votes versus the 7% gained by rob sy.

jc is from manila and a former basketball varsity player from the san sebastian college. he was viewed as more trustworthy as compared to rob and has gained the respect of the jury. he initially had an alliance with jace when the tribe was split by gender. when the tribes were mixed, he joined the alliance of kiko and rob, dictating the voting order in naak.

at the merge, naak had the advanatage in numbers and immediately voted off jace, his former ally and is a big physical threat. after that, kiko was voted out and he was really affected. from there on, rob & jc took charge of the game and voted off the jury members one by one. when there were only 5 left, jc decided to have an alliance with charisse over zita and cris. they evntually became the final three. in the last challenge, it was rob who won immunity and he chose jc to be the other person in the final 2.

jc won 2 individual reward challenges and 2 individual immunity challenge. he has previously won a car in a challenge and added 3 million pesos for being the sole survivor.

a spoiler has been released at the start of the season which said that jc is the sole survivor. the staff of the show denied the spoiler and said that 99% of the spoilers is false. incidentally, the 1% true spoiler includes the name of the sole survivor.

rob sy won 300 thousand pesos for being the runner up.

pinoy fear factor: elmer felix is the 5th participante eliminated

the last stunt in pinoy fear factor's quinta ronda de eliminacion or fifth round of elimination is named as cierre de houdini. this is an escape challenge. in this challenge, each participante will be hancuffed and put inside a plastic bag with a zipper. the key will also be hanging inside the bag. at the signal, the bag would be dropped into a pool and the participante would look for the key first and unlock the handcuffs. he would then unzip the bag, go out of the bag and swim to the fear factor logo on the side of the pool.

this is the elimination challenge. the person with the slowest time will be eliminated.

first to try the stunt is elmer. when the bag was dropped to the pool, the plastic immediately sticks to the participante's body. elmer panicked and gave the signal for the divers to help him. he did not finish the challenge and decided to quit after only 8 seconds in the water.

next up was manuel. manuel was pretty confident about the water part since he is comfortable with water. but he is a bit worried about the handcuffs. when he was dropped to the pool, he first unzip some part of the plastic so some water can get in. he then found the key and unlocked the handcuffed. he then got out of the plastic and reached the fear factor logo. he finished the stunt in and is safe.

last on the challenge is lj. with maxi wishing her luck, she is determined to finish the challenge. when she was dropped to the water, she experienced what elmer experienced. she had a hard time finding the key and she panicked. she then signalled the divers to help her get out. she did not finish the challenge.

manuel was the only participante who finished the challenge and was declared safe. it is now between elmer and lj. the time that they quit would determine who would stay. the one who stayed the longer would be safe. elmer had 8 seconds before quitting and lj had 11 seconds. it was elmer who was eliminated.

this is elmer's third time in the elimination group and his time to go. he was a member of the pump squad since he was recruited last week. he is the fifth participante to be sent home after gail, ram, phem and jose.

survivor philippines: new twist revealed; philippines is a jury member

a new twist in survivor philippines has been revealed. the philippines will be the 9th jury member in the last tribal council, and this will be done through text voting. having 8 jury members already, there is a possibility of having a tie if 4 votes for rob and 4 votes for jc. the philippine vote will be the tie breaker vote.

here is the article from philippine enmtertainment portal ( link: http://www.pep.ph/guide/3064/Viewers-can-choose-between-Rob-and-JC-in-Survivor-Philippines )

will this change the outcome of the game? has survivor turned into a popularity contest? i like the idea of having the fan vote for the sole survivor but it would be better if only the jury will vote since the fans only see about 1/3 of what is happening in the island. the jury is in a better position to judge who really deserves to win.

but still, my guess is still the same, jc will win as the sole survivor.

pinoy fear factor: marion is safe, manuel, lj and elmer are up for elimination

the second challenge in the quinta ronda de eliminacion or fifth round of elimination of pinoy fear factor is entitled mansanas en anguilas y serpientes. in this challenge, the participantes need to transfer 20 apples from one basin to another. on the first basin, the apples are floating in water with eels and snakes. the time limite is 5 minutes. the participante that will transfer the most number of apples in the fastest time would be safe and will not participate in the last stunt for this round.

first up was manuel. manuel did not reflect any kind of discomfort while performing the stunt. he did it quickly but dropped one apple, that did not count. in the end, manuel transferred 19 apples with a time of a little more than 2 minutes.

next up was elmer. elmer did it slower as compared to manuel. he had a hard time seeing the apples since water is coming into his goggles. he failed to transfer all apples to the other container. just like manuel, elmer also dropped one apple to the ground. in the end of the time limit of 5 minutes, he transferred 16 apples to the 2nd container.

third in this challenge was lj. since lj was smaller as compared to the guys, she had a hard time reaching for the apples. she also had difficulty with the water going into the goggles, just like elmer. she also failed to complete the task and was only apple to transfer 4 apples to the 2nd basin after 5 minutes.

the last one to do the stunt was marion. marion was fast in executing this stunt and was able to transfer all 20 apples. he did it in over 3 minutes. since he is the only one that completed the challenge, he was declared safe by ryan and was told to go back to camp.

with marion safe, the 3 that would be up for elimination will be lj, elmer and manuel. this is elmer's 3rd time in the chopping block. lj will be doing the 3rd stunt for the second time and this would be manuel's first try.

survivor philippines: how i think the jury will vote

based on the past 62 episodes of survivor philippines, here is my thoughts on how each of the jury member will vote on who will be the first pinoy sole survivor:

jace, first jury member

on jc: jace's first alliance was with jc. but when the tribes were mixed, jc went to naak and jace was in jarakay. after the merge, jace expected that jc was on his side. but jc was solid with his naak alliance and voted against jace in the tribal council.

on rob: jarakay tribe generally does not like rob and even calls him "ampaw". in his proposed pecking order after the merge, rob was 2nd in his list after kiko. i think rob and jace was really not that close in the island

probable vote of jace: jc, because of their friendship

kiko, second jury member

on jc: kiko considers jc as one of the very trustworthy persons in the show. they had an alliance in the island and was really very close to him

on rob: kiko and rob also had an alliance in the island together with jc. but before kiko was eliminated, kiko was already worried about rob's behavior since he was very complacent of the naak alliance and was laready looking at the money. he also gave the black pearl to rob after his elimination

probable vote of kiko: jc, because he trusts jc over rob.

veronica, third jury member

on jc: jc and vern are both athletes. i think vern trusts jc more than rob. and vern thinks that jc was a stronger competitor as compared to rob.

on rob: remember that rob took advantage of vern during the thai pillow challenge. i think she has not forgotten that incident

probable vote of vern: jc, because of the fact that rob took advantage during the thai pillow challenge.

marlon, fourth jury member

on jc: marlon thinks jc is a strong competitor and a wise person. i observed that he never tried to fight with jc during his stay in the island. i think he respects jc more compared to rob.

on rob: marlon does not like rob. it was clear that every time rob speaks at tribal council, he mocks him and laughs at evrything he says. sure signs that he will not vote hor him.

probable vote of marlon: jc, for sure...

kaye, fifth jury member

on jc: kaye and jc had a loveteam during the naak days. she respects jc as a player in the game but she plotted to vote him out at tribal council but jc won immunity and instead, she was the one voted out.

on rob: after vevh left the game, kaye was tarzan's jane. she is close with rob but is also annoyed by him. in the last tribal council, she was also mocking rob while he spoke.

probable vote of kaye: jc

zita, sixth jury member

on jc: zita trusts jc over rob, i think. jc won reward challenges and he have asked zita to come with him in the reward. but when zita was left at camp with the jarakay members, she said that jc is one of the stronger members and she would probably vote him off.

on rob: he trusts rob but not on the level that he trusts jc. it was also seen last night that she and kaye are mocking rob at tribal council.

probable vote of zita: jc because of her behavior at last night's tribal council

cris, seventh jury member

i think i don't need to explain who cris will vote. it was obvious in his last immunity challenge and his last tribal council that cris really does not like rob and how he played the game.

probable vote of cris: jc for obvious reasons

charisse, eight jury member

on jc: jc was the one who offered her the alliance that made her last long in the game. she respects the fact that jc is strong at challenges and was strategically better than rob.

on rob: he is close to both boys but i do think that her impression that rob is "ampaw" is still there, as with the other jarakay members.

probable charisse vote: jc, for offering her the alliance

my prediction is a landslide victory for jc, 8 - 0. but this might change. i think the sure votes for jc are jace, kiko, marlon, cris and kaye. a maximum of 3 votes can go to rob, which could come from charisse, zita and vern (since rumors are spreading that they are dating now). but i would still stand by my prediction that jc will win as the first pinoy sole survivor by a landslide victory.

well, 99% of the spoilers are not true, but the spoiler that jc will win might be the true one after all.

survivor philippines: why charisse lost

charisse was one of the underdogs in survivor philippines. based on her profile, having lived a comfortable life and not being an outdoor person, she was one of the early picks to go. but her focus and determination was really great and her social skills made wonders. she proved to be one force to reckon with.

so why did charisse lose?

first, she really has a disadvantage on the physical aspect. a petite girl like her is simply not a physical threat. she never won any of the physical challenges for individual immunity. winning immunity is one of the assurance to last long in the game and being strong physically plays a big factor in this game.

second, the jury likes her and her social skills are great. this might sound a bit conflicting since social skills will take you long in the game. but at this stage of the game, you will think who you can beat at the last tribal council. being an adorable person, charisse can easily get the votes of the jury, thus being a threat to win the title.

third, in her alliance with jc and rob, she was never assured of the final two. after kiko was voted off the island, jc and rob did not trust kaye and cris anymore. but they still voted with them to eliminate vern and marlon. after that, they offered an alliance to charisse. charisse gladly accepted the offer knowing that she is definitely the swing vote. but she took the offer despite never being assured of a spot in the final two. so in the end, jc and rob still stood by their pact and went on to become the final two.

i think the main reason why she was eliminated was the alliance of rob and jc, and they never assured her of a spot in the final two. i already expected that her only hope of getting to the final two was winning the immunity challenge. but she did a greaqt job. i think of all the blogs that i made on why each cast off lost, this one is the hardest to make. this is because i can think of more reasons on why she lasted long as compared on why she was voted off. i think she did play well and i was really hoping she can win this season. hope she will be back if an all star season will push through.

survivor philippines: charisse becomes last jury member, final two revealed

anna charisse yacapin becomes the last member of the jury after being eliminated in the 14th tribal council in survivor philippines. charisse was voted off by rob and chose jc to be with him in the final two. charisse and jc did not vote because their votes would cancel out since they would only vote for each other after rob won immunity.

charisse was really an underdog at the start of the competition. no one expected her to last till the final three. she is a fashionista and kikay. she used har charms and good social skills to compensate on her physical weakness. she was one of the brains that started the girls alliance in jarakay. after that, she played with marlon at the start of the merge and stayed close with the naak tribe. her efforts payed off when after kiko was voted out, jc and rob trusted her over kaye and cris. the alliance with jc was the one that made her last till the final three.

charisse accepted her elimination calmly and said that she was happy whatever happens and wishes the 2 guys good luck in her exit interview. she lasted 38 days in the island and was the last female standing. she was able to win an individual immunity challenge in day 26 and was the only one in the final seven castaway that did not get to enjoy any of the rewards.

with charisse gone, survivor philippine's final 2 was revealed. the final two are basketball hottie jc tiuseco and loverboy rob sy. the 2 guys will battle it out for 3 million pesos in the last tribal council.

pinoy fear factor: aspiring chef jose sarasola is the fourth participante eliminated

in the last stunt for the quarta ronda de eliminacion or fourth round of elimination, the challenge is named as arrastrado en el concrete (being dragged on concrete). in this challenge, the participantes need to hang on to a handle attached to a pick up truck moving at 50 kph at a distance of 160m. they will be wearing a metal suit that will heat up to 100 deg celsius that could burn their skin due to the friction of the suit and the road. when they reach the line of fire, a blast will be herad and they need to let go of the handle. once they let go, they need to stop at the fear factor logo. the one farthest from the logo will be eliminated.

lj got nearest the logo. she was able to stop using her hands. she was only a meter and 5 centimeters from the logo. one of the pump squad members is going home. jommy was a meter and 50 centimeters away from the logo. jose, who was not able to hear the blast and released the handle late was more than 3 meters away from the logo. with this, jose was the one eliminated from the competition.

jose was allowed to stay one more day at camp to celebrate his birthday. he was really one of the unlucky competitors, having been bitten by snake twice in the challenge and having several hard falls in past challenges. he was one of the original pump squad member and was even the one who gave the name of the group. this was his 3rd time in the elimination group in 4 rounds and was eliminated.

survivor philippines: rob wins last individual immunity challenge

the last individual immunity challenge involves strength and endurance. in this challenge, the castaways needs to hang on a handle attached to an inclined platform with a water drum. water is released from the drum, making the platform slippery. the angle is increased every fifteen minutes. the last survivor holding the handle wins immunity and gets the chance to choose which one of the remaining 2 castaways he will bring to the final 2.

the challenge started quite even since the platform was almost horizontal. the scorching sun was also a challenge since they are facing the sun. this went on until the second level. on the third level, almost all of them are struggling because of the exhaustion and heat. the water is also causing them to slip.

charisse was really struggling at this point. she cannot hold on any longer and she gave up after 47 minutes. it was only between rob and jc at this point. rob found a comfortable position, sitting down near the handle and relied on arm strength to hold on. jc was really struggling and cannot hold on any longer after almost an hour in the challenge.

rob was declared the winner and now has a tough decision to make on who to vote out and who to take with him in the final two.

shall we dance: jinky oda eliminated

in lucy torres-gomez's birthday episode, the three remaining comedians battle it out for a slot in the finale of the 2nd batch of this season of shall we dance: the search for the next dance superstar. all three numbers are inspired by movie themesongs.

first up was candy pangilinan. she did a moulin rouge inspired number with the song lady marmalade. the number was okay with nice moves and some injection of humor. but the judges felt that the ballroom steps was quite easy and they expect more from candy.

next on the stage was stand up comedian chokoleit. his number was inspired by the movie kung fu panda with the song kung fu fighting. they had a good routine and they had great partnership. the judges thought that they had good energy and they connected well. but they expected a more serious dance next time to show chocolate's capabilities as a bal;lroom dancer.

last up was comedian and whitening pill endorser jinky oda. their number is inspired by the hit movie dreamgirls with the song and i am telling you i am not going. she was a bit stiff at some points and they were sometimes offbeat. they even struggled at their last pose. the judges think that the routine was good but she was holding back a bit.

when the scores were in, it was again chokoleit's team that got the highest score of 8.50, followed by the pair of candy pangilinan with a score of 8.33. jinky oda and her partner got the lowest score of 7.50 and got eliminated. chokoleit and candy will battle it out next week for the chance to join joseph bitangcol in the finals of the show.

survivor philippines: why cris lost

cris cartagenas has been a survivor all his life. he has been separated with his wife and has been racing his child. he has worked as a company driver and also has been driving a taxi to provide for his family. he has been thinking that he had failed his father and he has kept this as an inspiration and motivation so he can keep his focus in survivor. but despite all of this, cris became the 15th person out of the show.

so why did cris lose?

first, he was a physical strength. he is strong and has proven himself that he can keep up with jc in all of the challenges. he has won a reward challenge (spear throwing challenge) and an individual immunity challenge (the balancing challenge). being a physical threat is a ticket to elimination in survivor. of course, if someone can beat you in a challenge, you would want him out the first time he can be eliminated.

second, he lost the trust of his alliance. having stabbed kiko rustia in the back previously, cris (together with kaye) has lost the trust of rob and jc. he made things worst when he voted for charisse in the 12th tribal council instead of kaye, who he said he was voting. jc and rob's trust never came back after that and they decided to let him go.

third, he made a strategic move too late in the game and did not followed it up with another. yes, he was able to eliminate kiko with the help of the ex-jarakays but he did not followed it up with another strategic play. he then went back to the naak alliance, voting out vern and marlon in the next 2 tribal council, not sensing that rob & jc are still watching his every move. he simply played the game too late.

fourth, he was not a strategic player at all. he went to the game without a game plan and failed to adapt to the complexities of the game. going against strategic players like charisse, rob and jc; he was really not on their league and he was simply outplayed by the three.

if i had to pick the main reason why he was voted off, maybe it would be lack of strategy and lost of trust. he played the game too late and he was not able to bring back the trust of his tribemates. he was not able to adapt to the complexity of the game but he really played it up until the end.

pinoy fear factor: lj, jommy and jose are in danger of elimination

the second stunt in the quarta ronda de eliminacion or fourth round of elimination is named transferendo cucaracha. the participantes needs to transfer cockroaches from a circular container in a barrel to a square box on top of another barrel a couple of meters away. also on the container were worms to make things more difficult. time limit for the challenge is 2 minutes. the 3 participantes with the lowest number of cockroaches will compete in the third stunt and will be in danger of elimination.

marion was up first. he did it very quickly but after the challenge, he was all red and his face was very itchy. all the other contestants experienced the same thing and most of them complained of the scent of the cockroach. elmer was the most unfortunate one, since during the challenge, he was able to swallow a cockroach. savanah's face was a bit swollen and she was numb at the mouth area. jommy had the hardest time in the challenge since he confessed that he was really afraid of cockroaches.

despite having swallowed a cockroach, elmer topped the challenge, having transferred 543 cockroaches. coming in second was rj with 543 and marion with 345 cockroaches. among the girls, janna got the most cockroaches with 327 followed by savanah with 325. the three that will be competing in the last stunt are lj (318), jommy (305) and jose (295).

survivor philippines: cris is the 7th member of the jury

cris cartagenas became the 7th member of the jury and the 14th person voted out of the show after another intense tribal council. cris was voted off with a 3 - 1 vote, with all of his tribemates voting against him and jc received his vote. cris was a member of the naak alliance but voted against kiko in a move to go further in the game. but he returned to the alliance in the next tribal council.

just before the immunity challenge, cris was talking with charisse of a possible alliance and vote off rob. charisse was the swing vote since jc and rob are voting together but charisse could side with cris to force a tie. unfortunately, jc won immunity but decided to take a brand new car as a reward. he gave immunity to rob. charisse decided to go with jc who earlier offered her an alliance with rob.

cris lasted 37 days in the island. he won an individual reward challenge in day 27 where he assigned each one a meal to it. he also won the previous individual immunity challenge where jc gave way for cris to win. he has his ups and downs in the show and was one of the more exciting castaways.

with cris gone, the final three was revealed, jc tiuseco, charisse yacapin and rob sy.

survivor philippines: will the survivor car curse haunt jc?

in the us version of survivor, there is a thing called the "car curse". in all of the seasons where there is a car reward, all the winners of the car never made it as sole survivor. here is a summary of previous winners of the car reward challenges and the sole survivor for that season:





looking at the table, it is clear that out of 13 season with a car reward, all car winners never won as sole survivor. even yau man who tried to avoid the curse in survivor fiji by giving the car to another castaway (dreamz) did not escape the curse.


last night in survivor philippines, jc tiuseco chose to keep the car rather than keep immunity. will the car curse haunt jc? will the curse reach the philippine version of the show? let us watch the finale next week to see if the curse still holds true.

survivor philippines: jc wins new car, gives rob immunity

survivor philippines' 7th individual immunity challenge is a combination some elements of previous challenges. first, they need to roll the large ball that they used in 4th immunity challenge to a mat. once the ball is on the mat, they can proceed to the second station, where they need to roll a long fabric on their body from a pol and release it by rolling over the sand. after that, they need to run to the next station, where an eating challengeis located. they need to eat 4 thai local delicacies.

after they finish all 4, they will climb a vertical wall and cross a cargo net. at the end of the net, they will run to a sand pit and retrieve 7 blocks. they will place all blocks on a table. each block contains thai symbols for the days of the weeks. they need to arrange the blocks in the correct order. if they are wrong. they need to go to a cheat table and go back again to rearrange the block. if its already correct, the castaway would raise his flag. first castaway to finish wins immunity.

in the first challenge, jc still got the early lead on the ball, followed closely by rob & cris. jc was the first one on the second station and was also the first to finish. on the eating challenge, cris finish first and was the first in the wall climb and cargo net but jc quickly caught up with him. they were neck to neck in the sandpit. rob also caught up. while the men were in the sand pit, charisse slowly but surely caught up with them and eventually joined them in the sand pit.

the blocks proved to be hard to find. jc and cris already have 6 a piece. rob already has 5 and charisse has 4. it is still everybody's game up to this point. the castaways was fighting not only the scorching sun but also the pain of digging for a long time. with luck on his side, jc found his last block. he then ran to the cheat table. rob stopped digging, and just watched jc. cris was teasing him that he only depended on jc and was confident that he will not be voted off.

jc came back to his table and arranged the blocks. paolo checked and confirmed it correct. jc then raised his flag and paolo declared him the winner.

to the castaways' surprise, paolo revealed that jc would have a choice. he can keep immunity and be safe in the tribal council or he can chose to keep a brand new car and give up immunity. if he keeps immunity, he needs to give the car to someone else. jc chose to keep the car and give rob the immunity necklace.

will jc's choice of the car payoff? being a big threat physically and strategically, he is now vulnerable to being voted off the island. also, the us version of survivor has this thing called "car curse" since all the winners of the car challenge all failed to become the sole survivor. will ujc fall to this curse?

pinoy fear factor: manuel tops another challenge, elmer now a member of pump squad

the first challenge in the quadra roda de eliminacion or fourth round of elimination is named as travesanio el aire. the participantes needs to traverse 3 beams. the first level is a balance beam. after reaching the end, they need to go up the ladder to the second level, which is a pole. the men needs to traverse the pole hanging upside down while the girls can do it while sitting on top of the pole. after reaching the end, they need to pull themselves up and climb up another ladder. the third level is another balance beam but it is thinner as compared to the first beam. at the end, they need to get the flag. fastest time wins the challenge. the one who is least successful in the challenge will have a consequence.

manuel was the first one to try the challenge. having been one of the strongest in the contest, the pump squad has been aiming to beat him. but manuel was unaffected by the threat. he still finished the stunt the fastest at a time of 1minute and 50 seconds.

of the men,. manuel, elmer, jommy and rj finished the stunt. marion almost made it. he reached up to halfway of the third level but eventually fell off due to the strong winds. the winds also affected jose's performance. he fell of after only 1.50m in the first beam.

of the chicas, only janna was able to finish the stunt but he did it over 10 minutes, which is the time limit of the challenge. lj reached up to about 3/4 of the second level. savanah fell after about 3 meters at the first level.

the most unsuccessful participante in this challenge was jose.

after announcing that manuel was the winner, ryan informed him that he can give one of the chicas immunity and he will play in the second challenge or he can keep immunity and be safe in this round. manuel thought long and hard on his decision and eventually ended up keeping the immunity for himself.

back at camp, the pump squad was looking for another member. during the last stunt, rj already said that he is eyeing someone to become a member of the pump squad and they will talk to him. the one they are targeting is no one else but elmer. elmer agreed to become a pump squad member.

survivor philippines: paolo bediones reveals details about the finale and reunion show

in an article from philippine entertainment protal, paolo bediones reveals some of the details about the finale and reunion show of survivor philippines. actually, for the loyal fans of the show, these are not new details since this has been released in the forums. theuy will tape the reunion episode after the finale and will air it on december 14, 2 days after the finale. here is an excerpt from the article:

PEP: Paolo Bediones reveals details about Survivor finale

First time na ginawa ni Paolo Bediones na todong nag-share ng blessings sa entertainment press kahapon, December 2, sa Windmills & Rainforest restaurant sa Sct. Borromeo St., Quezon City. Ito ay bilang bahagi ng kanyang year-long 10th anniversary sa showbiz."

Kasama na rin sa celebration natin ang pasasalamat ko sa entertainment press dahil naging mabait kayo sa akin sa loob ng 10 years ko sa business. Yes, may mga times na may intriga, may accusations sa akin. But still, naging mabait kayo sa akin, hindi n'yo ako pinahirapan," nakangiting wika ni Paolo.

Maaga pa lamang ay nasa venue na si Paolo upang i-check ang last details ng affair. Kinuha na ng PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) ang pagkakataon upang kausapin si Paolo nang solo.

SURVIVOR UPDATE. Humingi kami kay Paolo ng update sa finale ng Survivor Philippines sa December 12 na gaganapin sa Studio 7 ng bagong GMA Network Studios sa Jamboree St., Quezon City.

"Magsisilbing reunion ito ng 18 castaways," simula ni Paolo. "Sa first part, ipapakita ang eight members ng Jury at ang final two. Tinapos na naming lahat ang challenges sa Thailand at pagkatapos bumoto ng Jury, naka-seal na ang name ng winner. Hindi rin nila alam kung sino ang nanalo at kahit ako ay hindi ko alam kung sino. During the finals, a few seconds bago ko i-announce ang winner, saka ko lang malalaman kung sino ang tatanggap ng three-million cash prize.

"May ipapakita rin kaming recap ng mga nangyari sa isla during the challenges. Ipapakita rin ang pagtatalo-talo ng Jury, na kinu-question nila kung bakit ‘yon ang napiling final two. It will be an emotional night dahil everyone joined for the same purpose, pero isa lang ang mananalo.

"Pagkatapos ng grand finals, magte-taping na rin kami para sa reunion show na mapapanood sa Sunday, December 14. Ito naman yung reaction ng mga naunang lumabas na castaways matapos nilang mapanood kung ano ang nangyari sa show, at kung ano ang nabago sa kanila pagkatapos nilang sumali sa Survivor Philippines."

Sa kasalukuyan, apat na lang ang natitirang castaways sa Survivor Philippines: sina Charis Yacapin, Cris Cartagenas, JC Tiuseco, at Rob Sy.

Bilang host ng Survivor Philippines, may nabago rin ba kay Paolo?

"Yes," sagot niya. "Ngayon, mas gusto ko ang simple life. Na-appreciate ko ngayon yung mga small things na hindi ko naisip na magagawa ko. It's true na maayos akong nakakatulog sa isang bunk doon, na kasama ko ang may 91 all-Filipino production crew ng show. May bathroom, may electric fan, pero walang special things dahil wala namang hotel doon. Resort ‘yon na ginamit ng mga castaways."

Doon ko na-realize na dapat ay hindi tayo mag-aspire ng mga bagay na hindi naman natin kailangan, na dapat tayong mag-share ng blessings natin sa ibang tao. Doon, nagkaroon din ako ng Bible study sa grupo. Malaki ang naitulong no'n sa amin sa loob ng 45 days na nag-stay kami sa Thailand.

source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/137291/PEP-Paolo-Bediones-reveals-details-about-Survivor-finale

survivor philippines: is season 2 a sure thing already?

based on the forums on survivor philippines' official site, season 2 is still in the drawing board and is not yet a sure thing despite the high ratings of the show and the fan clamour for it. but on the december 3 issue of pilipino star ngayon, it looks like survivor philippines season 2 is a sure thing already. here is an excerpt from nitz miralles' article:

Masaya ang una sa maraming selebrasyon ni Paolo Bediones ng 10th year niya sa showbiz at sa pagiging host. Marami siyang ipina-raffle na gifts at lahat ay nag-uwi ng regalo. Nangako ang TV host na masusundan pa ang pakikipagkita niya sa press dahil marami siyang mga susunod na projects next year.

Special guest sa okasyon ang 10 castaways ng Survivor Philippines na naunang na-vote out at kasa­ma sila sa game. Present sina Kiko Austria, Gigit, Patani, Emerson, Marlon Carmen, John Lopez, Kaye Alipio, Vern Domingo, mommy Niña at Vhev Gador.

Sa December 12, na ang finals ng Survivor Phi­lippi­nes at ia-announce ang winner sa isang live show na gagawin sa Studio 6 ng GMA Network (akala namin outdoor ang finale para mas ma-feel ang ambience). Tapos na rin ang Tok! Tok! Tok! at wala pang next show si Paolo, pero malaki ang posib­ilidad na magkaroon ng season 2 ng Survivor Phili­ppines. Ang balita nga namin, sa January next year na ang audition at March, sisimulan ang shoot sa lugar na mapipili.

In the meantime, magko-conduct muna siya ng hosting seminar sa gus­tong maging host at tatapusin ang sinusulat na libro. Kasama rin sa plano niya ang ipakanta ang mga compositions sa mga kaibigan niyang singers.

will the season 2 announcement be made on the finale that is why they are not confirming anything so far?

source: http://beta2.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=420636

survivor philippines: rob wins individual reward challenge

in this week's reward challenge, the castaways would participate in an series of challenges. first, they need to cross a rope bridge using two planks. if the castaway falls, he would return to the starting point. after reaching the end, they would run to the second station where they would start a fire on a can. after successfully starting a fire big enough, the castaways would run to a water drum on the other end and get water and fill the other can on the other end of a lever. once enough water is on the can, the can with the fire would be lifted up. if the fire is large enough, the wich would ignite. first person to set off the gun powder at the end of the wick wins reward.


reward would be an overnight stay and massage treatment ina spa in krabi.


when the challenge started, jc put on an early lead, blazing through the rope bridge. rob and cris was pretty much even and not far behind and charisse was running last. jc got to the fire station first and had his fire going as rob & cris reached the station. he attempted to light up the wick but his fire was not enough. it was pretty much even at this point with all the survivors trying to get their fire going. rob tried lifting the fire, then cris but both failed to light the wick. jc tried again and was again unsuccessful. rob had an idea to put sticks on a vertical position, so when it burns, it would reach the wick. rob tried again and was able to light the wick.


paolo declared rob the winner. he also informed rob that he would be able to choose another castaway to share the reward with. without second thoughts, rob chose jc. charisse and cris was told to go back to camp while rob & jc was transported to krabi to enjoy their reward.

survivor philippines: why zita lost

zita is a strong woman, both inside and out. she raised her children by herself and has been working as a laundrywoman until now. she is physically strong and has proved herself in several challenges. she has superb work ethics has camp and has been cooking for the tribe since the start of the contest. she is a fighter, she is definitely is a survivor. but despite all of this, zita was still eliminated and became the 6th jury member of survivor philippines.

so why did zita lose?

first, zita is a physical threat to the other castaways. she is the strongest female left in the game and she has proven that she can challenge any of the boys in the challenges. she has won a reward challenge and an individual immunity challenge. she can always beat anyone in any challenge.

second, she trusted the naak alliance too much. she trusted jc and rob too much that she did not think that they can blindside her. she was definitely not expecting to be voted out that night, since the other naak members promised her that they will tell her that it was her time to go.

third, she is not a strategic player at all. unlike charisse, kaye or cris, zita never made a strategic move in the game. most of the time, she votes out the person that her naak tribemate says. she never argued about it. being left in the island after a reward challenge with the ex-jarakay members, she had the opportunity to swing over and make her move but she did not.

fourth, she is too likeable. being likeable is not a good thing towards the end of survivor. from having the numbers, strategy shift to who i can beat in the final tribal council. if you would bring zita to the final two, she would definitely beat you. she has the sympathy votes of the jury, being an old lady trying to raise her children by herself. she never had any grudge while in the island, except probably for marlon. the jury likes her and would definitely vote for her.

i think the main reason for her loss was lack of strategy and being too likeable. in the endgame, its not about loyalty or kindness anymore, its strategizing who i want to keep and who i can beat in the last challenges and in the final tribal council. but she played the game well and with integrity. for that, i really admire her and hope she would be included in the survivor philippines all stars, if the season will push through in the coming years.

survivor philippines: zita becomes sixth jury member

laundrywoman zita ortiga became the sixth jury member of the reality show survivor philippines. in an unexpected tribal council, zita was voted out of the chalam tribe with a 3 - 1 - 1 vote, 3 votes against zita, 1 vote against jc and 1 vote against rob. jc, rob and charisse voted for zita, cris voted for rob and zita voted for jc.

zita lasted 35 days in the island and has been tagged as one of the strongest contender for the sole survivor title among the castaways. she had previously won an individual reward challenge and won the first individual immunity challenge. she was a member of the naak alliance but was voted out by her allies. she works the hardest at camp and has proved herslf in several challenges.

zita was obviously disappointed of the result of the tribal council and was unaware that she was to be voted out next. in her exit interview, she was crying and she said that she was surprised that the others voted her out. she said that it was an agreement that if it was her turn to go, they would inform her beforehand. she also reminded them of karma, that if they will do go, they will receive something good and otherwise.

survivor philippines: cris wins individual immunity challenge

this week's immunity challenge will surely test the top 5 castaways endurance. in this challenge, the castaways will stand on a plank on top of springs. initially, all castaways will hold on to 2 ropes attached to a frame around the plank. they need to balance themselves and avoid falling off. after 30 minutes, one hand on the rope will be removed. after another 30 minutes, they will free both hands. after another 30 minutes, they need to lift one foot from the plank. the last person on the plank wins immunity.

all 5 castaways were pretty much even in the first hour of the competition. after one hour, fatigue from standing for an hour starts to set in. all boys decided to lean on the frame and both girls decided to sit on the plank. the boys are now fighting back aches and the girls are fighting numbness on their butt. after approximately one hour and 20 minutes, zita lost her concentration and fell off the plank.

after 1 hour and 30minutes, when it was time to release one foot from the plank, rob fell off and was eliminated. on his interview, he said that he threw the challenge since he observed that charisse was very comfortable with her position and jc and cris would definitely last long. it was a wise decision to just watch since he feels comfortable with his alliance.

no one of the three remaining survivors budged after 4 hours on the plank and it was already dark in the area. fatigue is really setting in. switching to a more comfortable position, charisse lost her balance and fell off the plank after staying for 4 hours and 10 minutes. it was a battle between the 2 former naak members. jc was offering something to cris through some hand signals. jc then stepped down from the plank and gave cris immunity.

this is the first individual immunity win for cris. of the 5 remining castaways, only rob has no individual immunity win. the immunity made cris's 2 votes due to the black pearl curse useless. all plans to vote him out will also be cancelled. who will be voted out next with all these developments and the surprise tribal council which was held on the same night of the challenge?

pinoy fear factor: phoemela barranda eliminated in tercera ronda de eliminacion

phoemela barranda became the third participante to go home to the reality show pinoy fear factor. phem was eliminated after the third challenge in the tercera ronda de eliminacion or third round of elimination. the challenge was titled bicicleta atraves de vidrios.

in this challenge, the participantes need to ride a bicycle and pass through 5 evenly spaced 6 mm thick glass and break them. the participante with the least number of broken glass will be eliminated. in case of ties, the on with the shorter distance that the bicycle traveled (basis is the back wheel) will be eliminated.

being the bottom 3 in the previous challenge, jose, jommy and phem are the only ones competing in this challenge, the others are already sfe. first to try the stunt was jommy. he easily breaks the first glass but failed to break the second glass. he sets the bar low and the 2 other contestants only needs to break 2 glasses to be safe.

fresh from being bitten twice by snakes in the previous challenge, jose tried the challenge after jommy. having severe back pains as result of the snake bites, jose poured all his energy and managed to finish and break all 5 glasses before falling off his bike. he is now safe.

the last one to try was phem. phem already admitted that she is not good at biking and she has not practiced it. she started slowly and bumped into the first glass straigh on, failing to break it. since she failed to break any glass, phem was eliminated from the competition.

her elimination came after her first try of the second stunt, having gained immunity in the first stunt of the first 2 rounds of elimination. in her exit interview, she said that her greatest disappointment was that she failed to beat fellow participante jommy, who is perceived to be very arrogant. she also wanted a better ending to his stint in the show because she was really disappointed that she failed to break any of the glass in the stunt.

shall we dance: comedians make up second batch, dennis padilla eliminated on first week

after joseph bitangcol qualified to the finals, another batch was revealed sunday in tv 5's dance reality show, shall we dance, search for the next dance superstar. four comedians took the dance challenge and are now up against each other. the second batch includes dennis padilla, candy pangilinan, jinky oda and chokoleit.

as expected, their numbers were injected with funny scenes and good pinch of humor but the judges seem to see the lack of basic ballroom steps and expect more of the dancing the next time. but all were unanimous that all four pairs did well in their projection.

chokoleit topped the night with a score of 8.67. candy pangilinan took second place with a far 7.67 score. jinky oda was given a grade of 7.50 and dennis padilla got the lowest score of 7.50. most were shock to learn that they were immediately eliminated since last batch, the first episode was a non-elimination episode. dennis accepted his fate lightly and vowed to enroll in ballroom dancing classes and continue dancing.

survivor philippines: kaye and marlon in showbiz central, kiko and nikki in all star k

it was survivor cast off galore again in gma 7 last sunday.

the two latest cast offs, marlon carmen and kaye alipio first guested in gma 7's showbiz talkshow, showbiz central. kaye confirmed that she had already talked with kiko regarding the incidence where they decided to vote against him. they are okay now. marlon, on the other hand, answered the issue on his detractors. he said that he is not bothered by them, because if they don't like him, he also does not like them. kaye was also asked on what she thinks of marlon, she quickly answered that marlon is really the opposite of what we saw on tv. she also revealed that among the cast aways, marlon is the only one that she trusts and he is the only one that knows her secrets.

in primetime, castoffs nikki and kiko joined in all star k! the one million peso videoke challenge. for their bonifacio day episode, they featured contestants who are tagged as palaban which includes inspector corpus of the lie detector test in showbiz central, dj mo twister, carlene aguilar, gay activist dan and starstruck alumni rhea nakpil. kiko lasted until the fourth round and nikki was the last one eliminated. carlene aguilar went on to win the episode. other castoffs that has joined the show was chev, gigit, nina and patani.