amazing race asia season 4 racers revealed on september 2

the racers of the fourth season of amazing race asia in axn will air on september 2, 2010 at 9pm. who will be the new 10 teams that will race for the 100,000 dollar grand prize? according to the news, this season will feature the show's first father and daughter team and will feature martial artists, tattooist, musicians and social workers.

according to wikipedia, the following are the teams:

1. jess & lani - party girls, philippines

2. richard & richard - friends, philippines

3. ivan & hilda - married, malaysia

4. ethan & khairie - friends, malaysia

5. alan & wendy - dating, hongkong

6. yani & nadine - best friends, indonesia

7. hussein & natasha - father & daughter, indonesia

8. sahil & manas - cousins, india

9. dimple & sunaina - travel buddies, india

10. claire & michelle - rebel pals, singapore

the show will still be hosted by allan wu.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Race_Asia_4

picture is from: http://www.axn-asia.com/tara

survivor philippines celebrity showdown to premiere tonight

after two successful seasons, the curtains will open tonight for the third season of the famous reality show. this season, survivor philippines will be dubbed as survivor philippines celebrity showdown where 18 celebrity castaways will vie to be the first celebrity ultimate survivor and for the cash prize of 3 million pesos. the 18 celebrity castaways are:

1. ahron villena - winner of "you're the man!" contest from abs cbn who recently transferred to gma 7

2. aira bermudez - member of the sex bomb dancers

3. akihiro sato - brazilian japanese hunk model

4. aubrey miles - - former sexy actress

5. buwi meneses - drummer of the band parokya ni edgar

6. elma muros posadas - champion track and field athlete

7. ervic vijandre - basketball player, model and ex-boyfriend of marian rivera

8. ferds recio - veterinarian and host of born to be wild with season 1 castaway kiko rustia

9. ian batherson - starstruck finalist

10. john hall - hunk model

11. karen delos reyes - former teen actress and commercial model

12. michelle madrigal - tv and movie actress

13. mico aytona - host of ka-blog of gma 7

14. moi moricampo - personal assistant of piolo pascual, appeared in a movie recently

15. myka flores - mainstay of the comedy show bubble gang

16. pretty trizsha - stand up comedian

17. princess snell - startruck finalist

18. solenn heussaff - model and make up artist

the show will also have a new host, richard gutierrez after paolo bediones moved to tv 5.

pre-launch news says that this is the most difficult season of the show yet. there are several castaways almost called it quits. news also says that there are some body part exposures from ervic, aira and pretty trizsha.

the show will be right after the network's public affairs show 24 oras.

photo is from survivor philippines' facebook fan page.

pinoy reality junkee will be back soon...

in line with the coming reality season, pinoy reality junkee will be coming back with updates on your favorite reality series. watch out soon! :)

pinoy big brother double up: 12 housemates revealed

the 12 housemates of pinoy big brother double up was revealed tonight in a special show dubbed as pinoy big brother double up: the magical reveal. the 12 housemates are as follows:

1. princess, 22, sassy vamp ng cebu
2. tom, 21, riomantic stud ng samar
3. delio, 26, simpatikong kusinero ng batangas
4. paul, 24 cebu
5. jason, 21, boy astig ng mindoro
6. melissa, inday kengkay ng gensan
7. yuri,
8. carol, conservative pharmacist ng tondo
9. mariel, 21, struggling mom ng davao
10. yhel, 26, young widow ng pampanga

as one of this season's twists, two sets of identical twins will also enter the house, though there are several differences in their features. the twins are:

toffi, 19, basket bolero ng rizal and kenny, 19, joker jock ng rizal
jp, 29, jetsetter dad ng qc and jm, 29, delightful dad ng qc

as part of the double up twists, there will be 2 big brother houses. the twins will leave separately and will switch houses once ordered by big brother. they need to keep this a secret and shall not be revealed to the other housemates. if any of the housemates notice this secret, they will be forced evicted from the house.

the first house is occupied by princess, tom, delio, paul, jason, jp and kenny.

the second house is occupied by melissa, yuri, carol, mariel, yhel, toffi and jm.

it will also be the first season that the big 4 will have charities that will also get prizes from the show.

survivor philippines: palau: why troy lost

troy is a magician, or a mentalists if that's what he prefers to call it. he is a performer and it has been his passion to entertain people. he is a people person, but unfortunately his charms and mind reading skills seems to not work anymore when he was voted off survivor philippines.
so why did troy lose?

first, he was not a strategic player. he made alliances but he was not the one who dictates who should go next. he plans poorly and is too hasty. powerplayers such as louie and tara has been overshadowing his strategic skills in the game.

second, he was overconfident. he was not considering the option that he might be going next. he let his emotions affect his judgement. it was his dislike to tara that let him vote for him but he did not hussle that much to get tara off.

lastly, he was not likeable at all. he was not liked by his tribemates. he annoys everyone. mika hates her and he was one of the most disliked castaways in one reward challenge. in a game of survivor, like almost equates to trust. and when people don't like you, they won't trust you.

but if there would definitely one major factor among the three that led to his downfall, it would definitely be the last one. he was not liked and he was not able to win the trust of his tribe. he was an easy target since everyone wants him out and that was what precisely happened.

image is from: http://blogs.gmanews.tv/survivor-philippines/index.php/the-castaways/4-castaways/13-troy-the-mentalist

survivor philippines: palau: why vlad lost

vlad is definitely is a survivor in his own right. he overcame his insecurities and made it an inspiration to improve himself. he later on made himself look good and even became a model. he was also a former swimming varsity, so he has an edge on water challenges.

but unfortunately, he was voted out in the fourth tribal council by a vote of 5 - 2 from his fellow airai tribemates. but more surprisingly, he gave up before even going into the challenge with justine in isla purgatoryo.

so why did vlad lost?

first, vlad became too focused on playing the game rather than focusing on how to get the hearts of his tribemates. his competitive spirit got the more of him. he was playing the game too hard even though he has not won the trust of his tribemates. in this game, trust of your tribemates is the most critical thing to gain.

second, he is not a strategist at all. yes, he plans on how to go about the voting process and how to get further in the game. but he is too hasty. he is too clumsy. when he approached charles after they lost the immunity challenge, he did not see that mika was on their back. it was the critical point, i think if he got charles' votes, he could have stayed in the game.

third, he was prepared physically but not mentally. he did not anticipate that survivor is a mental a game and it is definitely a hard game to play. he has said this before he left the game, that the game is starting to affect him mentally and he needs to call it quits.

lastly, he did not exploit the fact that the original airai tribe has the advantage in numbers. he could have gathered the original airai tribe first before having talks with louie and charles. they could have voted off an original koror and try to sway the vote and eliminate cris. but the fact that they planned to vote off cris first and align with louie and charles, and he calls to vote off louie lateron; he definitely would look like a traitor rather than an ally.

but what surprised me was when he quits before even challenging justine. knowing his competitiveness, it is very uncharacteristic of him to just say it's over. you can't always have a second chance in everything and he decided to let it go away just like that. that makes him so much less of a survivor...

image is from:
http://blogs.gmanews.tv/survivor-philippines/index.php/the-castaways/4-castaways/15-vlad-the-metrosexual

survivor philippines: palau: fan plug shoot

pinoy reality junkee was there yesterday, 29-aug-09 at gma 7 for the shoot of the new survivor philippines: palau fan plug and had some exfosure (in honor of patani...). had 6 takes though (quite nervous and they said i moved too much!)

watch out for the tv plug (hope my part will be aired...) to be shown soon!

survivor philippines: palau: why carol lost

carol is definitely a survivor, being a noble teacher for a long time and imparting her knowledge to countless kids in her classes through the years. upon joining survivor philippines, it was expected for her to bring into the game her motherly attitude and survival instincts. but she was voted off unanimously on the koror tribe's second tribal council on day 6.

so why did carol lose?

first, she had the motherly attitude but her younger tribemates did not appreciate her. comparing her to season 1's nanay zita, she is no where near her attitude. she was more assertiva nd a disciplinarian at heart, which annoys her tribemates. it was their complaint about her and was even discussed during the first tribal council. despite this, she did not adjust and still annoyed the other tribemates.

second, she is not a physical asset at this point. since koror has been losing in the challenges, the tribe thinks that they must keep the stronger players first to be able to win. with her age, physical condition and performance, carol is definitely a target to be eliminated.

third, she has no clear strategy nor alliance. in a game called survivor, strategy in alliance is crucial. she is the only castaway in the tribe with no clear alliance and she is seldom shown strategizing for the game. she is being overshadowed by the other castaway's strategizing skills. i think she was not ready for that part of the game and she lacks the strategy to last long in the game.

i was really surprised that in her exit interview, it seems that she did not expect that she will be eliminated. was this a complete blindside for the second straight week? with carol now in isla purgatoryo, let's see if she can win her face off with justine to stay alive and still survive.

survivor philippines: palau: week 2 highlights: isla purgatoryo revealed, carol voted off by koror

another twist was revealed last week in survivor philippines. the castoffs will be brought to another island, called the isla purgatoryo. in this island, they will be given limited rations and supplies and will live with a dog and lots of snakes in the forest. only one cast off can stay on the island. when another cast off arrives, the two cast offs will compete in a face off to determine who will stay in the island and who will go home. the one that would win will wear the immunity bracelet, which is the right eye of the idol. the one who lasts the longest will rejoin the other castaways during the merge.

both tribes received a treemail on day 4 that there are 6 chickens on the island and they need to find them. since both tribes liuves on the same island, they fought for the chicken but it was airai who go all 6 chickens.

this week's reward challenge is a mental and balance challenge. from wikipedia, here are the mechanics:

"With letters painted at the front and back and standing on a ledge, tribe members would try to spell the answer to the riddle being given by the host. Each member must traverse the ledge and can only touch one tribemate at a time. The first tribe to form the riddle's answer wins a point. First tribe to three wins the reward."

reward for this week is fishing gear, which they can use to get food. if koror wins, they will get their crate of supplies and is airai wins, they will decide if the crate will be given to koror, just like in week 1. in this challenge, airai decided to sit down cris since they will have difficulty on the balance part. despite this, koror still managed to escape a win with a score of 3-2. it's their first win and they got their crate at last.

at the immunity challenge, another physical challenge was done. here are the mechanics, again from wikipedia:

"Tribes squabble over a coconut placed in the middle of a field take it to their goal at the other side to score a point. The coconut could be passed between members in any way except overhead. The first tribe to score three point wins immunity."

in this challenge, no individual immunity will be awarded. at the start, both tribes scored and was tied at 1-1. goals were made by amanda for airai and marvin for koror. koror then snatched the lead after scoring the next goal. airai then tied it up and eventually won immunity by winning their third goal. koror will again face tribal council for the second straight time.

with no individual immunity at hand, carol is an easy target to be eliminated. louie seems to be the one trying to have the pole position on strategizing in koror. he has talked to almost everyone in the tribe and has been taking too many sides. talks of voying for charles and tara was also heard in the tribe. louie formed an alliance with suzuki and charles to eliminate tara and marvin in the next tribal councils.

at the tribal council, there were talks about louie's frequent swearing and how the tribe thinks about it. and then it was time to vote. and finally, when the votes were counted, carol was voted out unanimously, 6-1 by her tribemates. carol becomes the 2nd castaway voted off the island.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Philippines_(season_2)

are you the next big star: geoff taylor and francesca farr are declared the winners

after weeks of competition and elimination, geoff taylor and fracesca farr were declared the grand winners of the talent show are you the next big star? geoff beat fellow finalists alex castro and jay perillo while francesca edged out camille cortez and xyrene parsad.

both winners won one million pesos, a condominium unit from avida, a management contract with gma artist center and recording contract with gma records.

celebrity duets: season 3 contestants revealed

after 2 successful seasons of the localized reality show celebrity duets, gma 7 will launch another set of contestants for its third season. this will start on august 29 and will replace another talent search, are you the next big star which was concluded last night.

the contestants this season includes:

> veteran actress and director gina alajar
> fashion designer maxi cinco
> entrepreneur joel cruz
> photographer nicollo cosme
> champion boxer nonito donaire, jr
> beauty queen janina san miguel

> model akihiro sato
> actor and producer jomari yllana

the show will still be hosted by couple regine velasquez and ogie alcasid. the judges for this season are freddie santos, danny tan and season 1's grand winner tessa prieto valdez.

image is from: http://www.starmometer.com/2009/08/19/celebrity-duets-3-contestants-revealed/

survivor philippines: palau: why justine lost

justine ferrer is a survivor. she has been an entertainer in japan since she was 19 and has been the breadwinner ever since. she has survived descrimination because of her uniqueness and her identity but she never gave up and she always stand after each fall. she is one of the stronger characters in survivor philippines this season.

but unfortunately, she was voted out unanimously (7-1) by her tribe and became the first castways to be voted off.

so why did justine lost?

first, she bacame complacent of her alliance with the girls. before the tribal council, there were so much talks that they would vote out charles. the girls even formed an alliance (echo, tara and justine), sensing the guys had an alliance. they trusted the girls too much that she did not realize that she was also in danger.

second, despite her giving her best in the challenges, her tribemates still viewed her as one of the weakest in the tribe. with carol being safe due to the immunity bracelet that was given to her by airai, the clear ones in danger in the tribe's eyes were charles and justine. among the boys, its clearly charles being the weakest since louie, marvin and suzuki contributes so much in challenges. among the three guirls, echo has been giving the tribe coconuts and tara has a very strong personality. maybe her being in the background and not being able to compete against the 2 girls gave the tribe an impression that she is the weaker one.

third, even if the show denies it, her identity being a transgender affected her. i think the filipino culture is still not ready to accept the fact that there are transgenders here in the coubtry. i am not saying that the vote was a discriminatory vote but i think she does not deserve to go this week. i was predicting a charles boot this week. but i am proud of her, admitting the fact that she was once a man on national television is really a brave thing to do in a conservative culture that we have. and even being in the island is a big accomplishment. and i also think she admitted it too early in the game.

i think she played the game well but just fell short. let's see how she fares in the next week since i think there will be an "outcast" like twist that was used in survivor pearl island. so we are not saying good bye to her but we are still looking forward to see her in the coming weeks.

but ultimately, justine is and will always be a survivor!