pinoy fear factor: phem takes the lead in the first challenge

model and tv host phoemela barranda is leading in the first challenge with only 1 participante left to do the task. phem, who is rumored to have gone home early based on some reports, after getting two flags out of a total of eight in the challenge named as caminande sobre bariles ciratorius, or pagtawid sa umiikot na bariles in tagalog.

in this challenge, the participantes need to cross a rotating barrel suspended 5.00m above water. they need to get flags attached to the barrel and get all eight flags in order. the most flags they get, the higher points they get. in case of ties, they will resort to time quotient.

veterinarian elmer went up first and only got 1 flag. marion soon followed after he agrees to go first before jommy, also getting 1 flag. bikini contest winner gail then followed and got no flags. the other participantes got worried after gail's face seemed to hit the barrels when she fell to the water. but it was nice to know that she did not hit the barrel and she is okay.

businessman manuel, teacher lj, dancer savannah, aspiring chef jose and basketball player ram each got 1 flag after their turn. aspiring chef jose actually got up to the 3rd flag but missed the second flag. since the challenge rules says that the flags should be retrieved in order, only 1 flag counted for him.

next on the challenge was phem, who seemed to be an underdog. but her steady stance and good balance proved to be her advantage and was the only participante to get 2 flags. model jommy soon followed but only got 1 flag and eventually fell into the water.

rj was the last male to do the task and expectations were high for him to finish the the task. its his first time to experience fear factor, since he said that he has never watched the show before. but unfortunately, he failed and did not get any flags. rj got emotional after the task and even cried, after realizing that he had failed to accomplish the task for his family and he will surely battle it out for elimination.

all of the participantes that already finished the task complained of the cold weather that affected their performance. some said they really froze and could not move once they are on the barrel.

only 1 participante was left to do the task, ex-wowowee host janna dominguez.

a sneak peek on the next challenge was also shown. the consequence for the worst performer in the first challenge will deal with small crabs. the second challenge will be an escape challenge that will involve a car to be submerged in water.

survivor philippines: why kiko lost

kiko rustia has been a very strong contender since the start of the first season of survivor philippines. he is strong both physically and mentally. he has a strong alliance with jc and rob and their former tribe, naak has the numbers adv antage going into the merge. looks like everything is going his way until day 24 where he was voted out with a 5 - 4 vote in the tribal council, the biggest blindside in the game so far.

so why did kiko lose the game?

first, kiko is a big physical threat. he is one of the strongest boys left in the competition. he definitely has an advantage if the next challenges would be physical. it would definitely be wise if you vote out a physical threat the first time you have an opportunity to do so. this is the same reason why jace was voted out last week, the remaining naak members sees him as the threat.

second, aside from being a physical threat, he leads naak in strategy. he is the one that dictates who they would vote next. if you were a jarakay member, you would definitely want the leader of the leading alliance to be eliminated to cause some chaos in camp. it would definitely lead to confusion on the alliance. kiko was viewed as naak's leader, and this was confirmed with what kaye and cris told the three remaining jarakay members.

third, jc made the wrong choices at the reward challenge. he chose rob, kiko and zita to the immersion. he left kaye and cris with ex-jarakays at camp, giving them an opportunity to talk about strategies. rob, cris, jc and zita has proven their loyalty to naak; and i think it is clear that kaye and cris has the greatest tendency to switch. leaving them with marlon, who is a great strategist would definitely pave the way for them to switch to the other side, which happened.

fourth, he trusted his alliance so much that he became too complacent. when the 4 ex-naak castaways returned from the immersion reward, they did not ask kaye nor cris about what happened when they were away. they just assumed that they are loyal based on the actions that they shown when they arrived. we all know that marlon is a game player, and he would do anything to stay; they should have checked with kaye and cris that they were really loyal to the alliance.

if i were to choose the main reason on why he was voted out, i think the main reason was jc's poor choice in the reward challenge. i think if he chose marlon to go with him, this would not have happened. and him being the leader of naak made him the best target to be the one to be voted off among the 6 naak members who made it to the merge.

survivor philippines: kiko rustia eliminated, naak alliance smashed

in an unexpected turn of events, kiko rustia became the second member of the jury in survivor philippines. kiko was eliminated after a 5-4 split vote in the tribal council, 5 votes going to him and the other 4 votes going to marlon, who was celebrating his birthday at the time of the tribal council.

a twist was also revealed after kiko was voted out. a black pearl which supposed to be carries a curse was given to kiko. he has to pass the pearl to another person who is formerly a tribe mate. this tribe mate would get an additional 1 vote on the next tribal council. kiko did not think twice and gave it to rob. his main reason was his attitude during the immunity challenge and his attitude at camp.

the vote came as a surprise to four former naak members, namely kiko, rob, jc and zita. during their immersion after the reward challenge, kaye and cris was left alone with the former jarakay members. they were convinced by the jarakay members that they would be the first to go when only the 6 of them are left. after sometime, they agreed to vote out kiko to save their place in the tribe.

with the old naak alliance now broken, it is exciting to see how the tribe dynamics will change. will marlon continue to control the game or will naak put their differences behind and move forward again together?

pinoy fear factor: pilot episode recap

the pilot episode starts with the host, ryan agoncillo talking about the motorcycle accident that happened 7 years ago that lead to his fear of riding motorcycles. but now, life goes on and ryan has conquered that fear. in this sense, 12 filipinos will come to argentina to face and conquer fear and win 2 million pesos and a house and lot.

the 12 participantes were fetched from their houses and their stories were told one by one on their way to argentina. their trip was an almost 40 hour journey that spans 3 continents. from the philippines, they will stopped at kuala lumpur, then to johannesburg, then capetown and finally, buenos aires.

the participantes were introduced one by one. here is the order that they were introduced: kargador from divisoria rj, tv host phem, aspiring chef jose, balikbayan marion, stand up comedienne janna, veterinarian elmer, model gail, basketball player ram, businessman manuel, ledge dancer savanah, model jommy and preschool teacher lj.

the participantes then arrived at camp fear, or what they call in argentina as el campo miedo. the first thing they did was raise the philippine flag in the camp while shouting viva filipinas! it was quite corny with all the shouting, i think it could have been executed better.

the next day, the participantes was shown getting to know each other. they jogged and exercised together. a love team was also formed this early in the competition. savannah confessed that she has a crush on ram. the girls invited ram in their room and interviewed him. they also played a game where savannah needs to guess which among the boys is ram only by touching their abs. but ram is not among the choices.

the participantes then faced their first challenge, caminando sobre bariles ciratorius, in tagalog it is pagtawid sa umiikot na bariles. the participantes need to cross a rotating barrel suspended 5.00m above water. they need to get flags attached to the barrel and get all eight flags. the most flags they get, the higher points they get.

elmer was up first, and got only 1 flag which he grabbed just before he fell into the water. the next contestants will be shown on the next episode.

pinoy fear factor: format explained in show's primer

the format of the much awaited pinoy fear factor was explained in a 15 minute primer aired last night after sharon. each week, the participantes will go through 3 challenges. the first challenge will split them into 2 groups. the first group will be the ones who performed better in the challenge while the other group will be made up of the ones who did not do the challenge, failed to complete the challenge or the ones who did poorly in the challenge.

in the second challenge, the first group will batltle it out to be the top 3 to qualify for a reward on challenge 3. the second group will battle it out to be their group's top 3; because the bottom 3 of the second group will battle for elimination. in the third challenge, the top 3 of the first group will battle for a reward while the least successful participante in the second group will be eliminated.

pinoy fear factor will be aired nightly during weekdays after i love betty la fea.

shall we dance: new season's first group revealed

after a successful first season, the newly reformatted dance reality show, shall we dance, the search for the next dance superstar opened its new season with a new format. in this season, the contestants are split into 3 groups with four pairs each. the pairs in each group will compete against each other, with only 1 pair per group advancing to the finals.

the first group was composed of actor baron geisler and partner michelle valdez, model akihiro sato and partner vicky huyatid, star circle quest alumni joseph bitangcol and partner hannah marciano and the original pantasya ng bayan joyce jimenez and partner jc maralit.

the first episode of the new season showcased the groups dancing skills, with baron showing his swing moves while the three other pairs chose to dance the salsa. the show ended with joseph and hannah on the top spot with a score of 8.33. a tie followed, with akihiro & vicky and joyce & jc garnering ana average of 7.43. baron & michelle was in last place with a score of 6.90.

the episode was a non-elimination episode and all 4 pairs will still battle it out in the dance floor next week.

my mvp: luis palaganas, jr is named the first most valuable pinoy

after weeks of auditions, scrimmage, practices and matches, luis palaganas, jr is named the winner of tv 5's basketball reality show, my mvp: most valuable pinoy. the 25 year old former university of the east red warrior from tarlac bested 11 other finalists to bag the title. he has been an early favorite and has been given the longest playing time in the game due to his contribution.

the finale first name the 2 wildcard contestants. out of the 11 who came back to the try outs, james abugan and jerry orera was named to the top 12. after that, the final game against the pba legends, who beat them during their first match up was shown. the pba legends team was comprised of nelson asaytono, bobby jose, jun limpot, gerry esplana, alvin patrimonio, vergel meneses, jerry codinera, nandy garcia, adonis sta. maria, ato agustin, peter martin, ronnie magsanoc and rey evangelista.

the first half of the game was really a close fight, the first quarter ending at 22-all and the half ending at 51-49 with my mvp having the advantage. at the second half, the my mvp team slowly pulled away, kleading by 5 points after the 3rd quarter, 78-73. the team never looked back, leading by as much as 15 points. the game ended with a 109-101 win by the my mvp team.

special awards was also given out at half time. raymond montaniel was named mr. flawless and reneboy banzali was named mr biofresh body.

the mythical five was named after the game. the mythical five were julio magbanua, leemore boliver, robby david, alwyn elinon and luis palaganas, jr. all the other contestants were given php50,000 each and gift cheques from sponsors. the mythical five was given php100,000 each with special prizes and gift certificates from the sponsors.

after that, the winner was named. the 5 was trimmed down to 3, elinon, david and palaganas; with palaganas emerging victorious. he won php500,000 with various prizes from sponsors david's salon, van heusen, reyes barbeque, julie's bakeshop, nature's spring, timex, samson institute of science & technology, forever flawless and welcoat paints. his total winnings sum up to 1.5 million pesos.

image is from http://www.pep.ph/guide/2890/TV5%E2%80%99s-My-MVP-airs-finale-today,-Nov-9

celebrity duets season 2: bayani fernando is declared the season's winner

after 12 weeks of intense competition, mmda chairman bayani fernando became the champion of the second season of celebrity duets. bayani fernando bested the 2 other finalists designer jc buendia and basketball player turned comedian turned politician joey marquez. previously eliminated contestants were fitness guru and host cory quirino, former miss international melanie marquez, celebrity chef jl cang, soccer player phil younghusband, and beauty queen carlene aguilar.

on the last night of competition, each finalist sang a duet with their favorite partner that they have previously sang with. bayani fernando partnered with pilita corrales, joey marquez sang with kempee de leon and jc buendia chose allan k. in the second round, they each sang with a new partner. bayani sang with basil valdez, jc sang with jonalyn viray and joey sang with pops fernandez.

but in the end, it was bayani fernando's text votes that was on top, earning him the top spot. as the winner, he will receive 1 millio pesos; half of which will go to his chosen charities; caritas manila and child house.

project runway philippines: 13th look twist before the final runway show

just as the final 3 designers of the first season of project runway philippines is waiting for the final runway show, they are again up for a big surprise. after arriving at an sm mall, they were greeted by the host of the show tersa herrera and the in house designer of sm mall. they were informed that they need to create a 13th look for their collection and models will arrive soon so they can choose their models.

to their surprise, male and not female models arrived. they need to create a 13th look that is a male garment that would look cohesive with the rest of their collection. the order they choose was determined by darw lots. aris choose first, then veejay and philip was last.

another twist was also revealed. hey will finish the garment with the help of an assistant designer. during the reunion show, they were asked that if they were given a chance, with which designer would they want to work with again. veejay answered aris and jaz, aris replied that it would be mara and philip choose mara and lord. they got their wishes. the final pairings were veejay & jaz, aris & mara and philip & lord.

pictures of the final collections are already available in the net and here is a peek on the 13th look of the designers:

the leftmost garment is by aris, the middle one is by veejay and the last one is by philip. the winner will be announced during the last episode to be aired on november 12, 2008 at etc.

images are from http://gallery.clickthecity.com/thumbnails.php?album=1879&page=1

survivor philippines: who will be eliminated: kiko or marlon?

episode 40 of survivor philippines ended up with suspense. after reading the first 8 votes, marlon and kiko are tied with 4 votes each. and holding the last vote, paolo said "at ang sampung taong aalisin sa isla at ang ikalawang member ng ating jury..." then the closing credits showed up. so who will be voted out?

in my opinion, cris's vote is the deciding vote. after telling jarakay on night 22 that he would vote out kiko if he does not win immunity, cris's actions after the immunity challenge says otherwise. he talked too much with rob and it seems that he is still weighing his options. marlon is definitely next line in naak's pecking order since vern won immunity and it was evident in the votes.

but during the tribal council, paolo again stressed that kaye and kiko was not chosen by jc to go to the reward which was the reason why kaye and cris jumped to jarakay. sensing that they have decided who they will keep to the final 4, cris and kaye felt they would be the first to go if the 6 naak members are left. kaye was decided to make her move to last longer and cris soon followed.

so who do i think will go on monday? fearless forecast will be kiko. i am about 80% sure that kiko will go next. cris would definitely make his move to stay in the game longer. and this is the only time that he can do this. he should take advantage of this opportunity or he would not last long in the game if kiko survives. this is simply because the alliance of kiko, jc and rob will definitely look for the naak member that voted for kiko and cris and kaye would be their main suspect since they are the ones left with jarakay on night 22.

image is from http://www.allaboutidolshows.com

survivor philippines: veronica wins second individual immunity challenge

taekwondo champ veronica domingo won the second individual immunity challenge on day 23 of survivor philippines. the immunity challenge was an endurance challenge. a bahay kubo was set up on the beach with 9 partitions. each cast away will occupy one partition. on each side of the partitions are 3 rungs, one is 1 inch wide, another is 3/4 inch wide and the last is 1/2 inch wide. on paolo's que, the cast aways will step on the the 1 inch rung and avoid falling off. when a cast away falls off, he is out of the game. after 20 minutes, they would transfer to the 3/4 inch rung. after 20 more minutes, they will again transfer to the 1/2 inch rung. the last person on the rung will be declared the winner.

the first 20 minutes was quite easy for almost all the cast aways. but just before the first 20 minutes ended, paolo brought out a plate of chips and ice cold softdrink; which will go to the first person to quit. just after all of them transferred to the middle rung, rob stepped down and went for the plate of chips.

after 10 more minutes, paolo then offered a plate of spaghetti and drinks; which marlon accepted gladly. the remaining 7 cast aways all lasted the second round and eventually transferred to the last rung.

after 45 minutes, kiko then gave up. charisse was really struglling and eventually gave up after more than 50 minutes. then jc slipped just before the 1 hour mark. nanay zita soon followed the others after 1 hour and 46 minutes in the challenge.

paolo then offered a plate of fried chicken meal to the 3 remaining cast away just before the 2 hour mark. marlon immediately convinced kaye to come down, sensing that she is already struggling. kaye came down after 2 hours on the challenge.

cris and vern are the only ones left in the challenge. cris was doing this for his father, so he can be proud of him. another hour passed, cris was now in pain and vern is still calm and relaxed. vern even offered a handshake to cris. it was now dark and a bonfire was set up to light the challenge area. another hour passed and cris was really struggling and crying. saying that his father would get angry if he quits. but he evntually called it quits and stepped down, giving vern the immunity.

vern is the second female castaway to win the individual immunity, after zita won iundividual immunity on day 20. looks like the girls are performing better than the male cast aways in immunity challenges.

image is from http://www.allaboutidolshows.com/

amazing race asia season 3: ad & fuzzie escapes elimination

the singapore team of ad & fuzzie escaped elimination in the ninth leg of the third season of amazing race asia. after finishing the leg last, they arrived at the pitstop and was informed that the leag was a predetermined non-elimination leg and as a consequence, they need to check in first in the next leg or they will incur a 30 minute penalty.

geoff & tisha, who was first in the last leg almost checked in last. they got lucky because sam & vince and ida & tania did not use the u-turn, which would make them finish the other detour. ida & tania actually liked to use the u-turn but they forgot to bring their picture with them. geoff and tisha then used the u turn since they know that they are battling third place with ad & fuzzie.

the final rankings for this leg is as follows:

1st - sam & vince (hongkong)

2nd - ida & tania (malaysia)

3rd - geoff & tisha (philippines)

4th - ad & fuzzie (singapore)

will this eventually lead to ad & fuzzie's elimination? or will they come back and take one of the top three spots in the finale?

image is from the official site of amazing race asia season 3: http://amazing-race-asia.axn-asia.com