the 27th season of the reality show survivor; dubbed as survivor blood versus water will premiere on september 18 (september 19 here in the philippines). the show will feature returning castaways with a loved one competing with them. but they will not be competing with each other, they will be competing on opposite tribes - against each other.
the tribe of the returning castaways is named "galang" or respect (but i really prefer if it was "respeto") and the tribe color is yellow. the tribe of the loved ones is named "tadhana" which means destiny with red as tribe color.
the castaways this season are the following:
standing, starting from left:
> tyson from survivor tocantins and heroes vs villains and girlfriend rachel
> rupert from survivor pearl island, all stars and heroes vs villains and wife laura
> tina from survivor australian outback and all stars and daughter katie
> colton from survivor one world and fiance caleb
> laura from survivor samoa and daughter ciera
> gervase from the original survivor borneo and niece marissa
> monica from survivor one world and husband brad
seated, from left
> aras from survivor exile island and brother vytas
> candice from survivor cook islands and heroes vs villains and husband john
> kat from survivor one world and boyfriend hayden
it is interesting to note that this season features a castaway from season 1 (gervase) and 2 (tina); 2 winners (tina and aras) and a fourth chance for a castaway (rupert). notable loved ones includes former nfl player brad and big brother winner hayden.
this is also the show's 3rd straight season in the philippines. but this time, they are moving to the northern part of the country. the show was filmed in the palaui islands in cagayan. there are also news that the show will also feature a redemption island kind of twist.
this morning, i was able to find a sneak peek into the first seven minutes of the show. it was released in the entertainment weekly website. based on the video clips, this seems to be a very interesting season and i can't wait to start watching it; being a big fan of the show from season 1!
survivor blood vs water will air in jack tv here in the philippines; with live via satellite airing at 2pm and primetime airing at 9pm on september 19.
the municipality of los banos, laguna will be celebrating the banamos festival 2013 from september 17 to 22, 2013. the schedule of activities is as follows:
the top 8 contenders of the voice of the philippines is revealed after tonight's live show. there are only 2 contestants left surviving for each team.
the remaining contestants are:
team apl - thor and janice
team sarah - morisette and klarisse
team bamboo - paolo and myk
team lea - mitoy and radah
we are nearing the finals and the remaining artists are definitely deserving of their spots! can't wait of the semifinals next week and the finalists will benamed after next week's show!
while watching the 11th episode of top chef 10, I was really amazed on how the filipino cuisine once again gained centerstage. i know that the episode originally aired in the US early this year, the searies os only airing now here in the philippines.
chef sheldon simeon was the brains behind the retaurant named "urbano"; who he names after his grandfather. the restaurant serves modern filipino dishes inspired with simeon's roots.
the dishes served were:
kilawen - yellowtail with cilantro, spicy chili & white soy sauces
After 3 years of being champions, the UP Pep Squad placed 2nd in the 2013 UAAP Cheerdance Competition held at the SM MOA Arena this afternoon. This is the UP Pep Squad's 15th consecutive podium finish in 15 appearances in the said competition.
UP's theme this year is party, and they really made the crowd join the party through the lively music, loud cheers and great routine. It is evident that the squad's routine has one of the higher level of difficulty in this year's team. And this was proven by the numerous falls during their performance.
The NU Cheer Squad's Arabia inspired routine got the top place, garnering a total of 696.5 points. UP got 620.5 points from the judges while 3rd place DLSU Animo Squad got 596.5 points.
Kudos to the UP Pep Squad! For us, you are still the champs! UP Fight!
being a big amazing race fan for years, i was really excited for today... the premiere of our very own version of the amazing race: the amazing race philippines.
i have watched the US version since season 5 in 2004 (when it was first aired in the philippines by studio 23 because the philippines was one of the destination - just before the finale) and it is already airing season 21 right now and i have not missed a single episode since. not only that, i have also watched all episodes of the 4 seasons of amazing race asia. with that, i am really farmiliar and a big fan of the show.
the show started with all 11 teams being transported via helicopters to the starting line of the race (though it was not shown that the helicopters landed on that exact spot); the historic paco park. the season boasts of a mix of very interesting contestants. knowing filipino reality shows, it was to no surprise that there are celebrities in the cast. there are football players, a popular actress, a noontime show dancer and beauty queens. but despite these, the teams were quite interesting.
the show is hosted by derek ramsay and the winners' price amounts to PhP2 million, which is small compared to the USD 1 million (even up to USD 2 million in season 21) for its US counterpart and even half of the guaranteed price of the asian version.
the show started very well, the ambiance and the shots is really like the US version. i was really amazed on how accurately tv5 edited the clips and make it look like the original amazing race. but my excitement died down a bit when i heard the first clue being read.
the first clue told the racers to head down to the manila yacht club, where they need to find the dock. there, they need to find the marked yacht and decode the nautical phrase from the series of flags that hangs on the yacht. unknown to the racers, there are cheat sheets scattered on several locations in the place, where they can see the equivalent letters of each flag.
when i heard the challenge, i immediately thought that this challenge has been done previously in the US version, they just modified it a bit. and i immediately remembered that this was the roadblock where the cowboys (jet and cord) had difficulty finishing. so, i went through several internet sites (thanks wiki!) and found the similar challenge. it is the first roadblock in australia in the pilot episode of the amazing race season 18: unfinished business.
In the Race's first Roadblock, one team member had to scuba dive in the Oceanworld shark and ray tank and search the tank for a compass. The compass included a guide to decode a message hidden in series of nautical flags outside. The correctly decoded message instructed teams to go to the Manly 16 ft Skiff Sailing Club, find the Commodore, and tell him the password "I am Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" to receive their next clue.
they just modified it but the challenge of decoding the message from the nautical flags is the same. you can also watch the video of the episode here (hope the video survives - i just found it in youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZZa09Q1np0 )
refer to this part for the challenge explanation: 18:00 - 18:50.
this has been one of the pitfalls of localized versions of reality shows, recycling challenges from the US version of the show. this means lack of creativity and it sometimes turns off several fans of the show. this is also the case with survivor philippines, almost all their challenges in their pilot season were recycled challenges from the US version of survivor. i really hope they make more unique challenges in the next episodes.
the episode was finished even without anyone completing or even starting decoding the nautical message. this is what i hate when you covert a supposed to be one episode a week to an episode a day show. the suspense is killing the fans and it is really bitin. my definition of an amazing race episode is an episode with at least a roadblock and a detour, and i think this will not happen in amazing race philippines. this is the same adjustment i had to make for survivor philippines.
and not only that, when they showed the next challenge, i immediately recognized it again - another recycled challenge! based on what i saw, the casino challenge is the chance choice in the detour of amazing race asia season 3 episode 7. here is another challenge explanation from wikepedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Race_Asia_3 )
In this leg's Detour, the choice was between Dance or Chance. In Dance, the team members must correctly perform a lion dance routine to the satisfaction of the performance troupe. In Chance, teams must don formal attire and play a game of blackjack in the casino of Hotel Royal Macau; they must beat the dealer nine times (as denoted by the letters of the word COMPLETED) before receiving their next clue.
