Pinoy Showbiz Weblog

As with my previous post on Pinoy Big Brother having an article on Wikipedia, Asia Agcaoili, one of the show's three hosts, also has one.

Actually, anyone can post or edit articles on Wikipedia. Credit it to enterprising fans (or the managers/publicists) to post items on local showbiz personalities.

Here's the link.

Wikipedia has a comprehensive article on Pinoy Big Brother. An outline:

• Overview
• Primers
• The house
• The housemates
• Criticisms
  

Check out the article here.

In case you're not yet familiar with the Pinoy Big Brother house rules, here's a brief rundown from the pinoy big brother website:

General rules

• Housemates will have no information about or from the outside world. Housemates will be cut-off completely from friends, families and loved ones.
• The nomination process evicts people from the house.
• Everything that happens in the house and garden is filmed.
• Furniture and soft furnishings within the confines of the Big Brother House should not be moved.

Bathroom: The door cannot be locked. Housemates will have to post a given sign on the door of the bathroom to indicate if it is being used. Housemates will also be given one hour only of HOT water before bedtime.

Meals. Every day, the Housemates must decide on the daily main meal. There will be one and only one menu for this meal. If a Housemate is a vegetarian, s/he must still eat the same meal. They may only remove the meat.

Confession Room. The Confession Room is the only room in the House where Housemates can communicate with Big Brother and vice versa. A Housemate can even be summoned to the Confession Room if Big Brother feels there is a pressing issue that needs to be discussed. Failure to appear in the Confession Room when requested by Big Brother could result in disqualification. All nominations for evictions should be made in the Confession Room.

A Housemate may enter the Confession Room for the following reasons:

• Nomination
• Voluntary exit
• To share personal feelings & thoughts
• Emergencies
• Big Brother requested to talk to a Housemate
• Private counseling from a psychologist
  

Storage Room. Housemates will have access to for only fifteen minutes a day (betweek 10:00-10:15 AM). The door to the room is electronically locked and only Big Brother can open the door for the Housemates.

Environs. Housemates are expected to water and maintain the landscape. They should also keep the pool clean. Housemates are not allowed to climb onto the roof of the House or to any other structure that confines the House.

Cameras. There are cameras located all around the House and the garden, including the bathrooms. Big Brother reserves the right to broadcast anything, although discretion will also be used. Housemates are expected to clean the one-way mirrors that span the house.

Microphones. Housemates must wear their radio-mics at all times (except when sleeping, swimming, or bathing--and batteries are to be removed when communicating with Big Brother). Any attempt to cover the mics or to communicate through writing secret messages or mouthing words to the cameras is prohibited. When removed, Housemates must place their mics at designated areas.

Leaving the House. Housemates leave the House in one of three ways:

• They are nominated
• They decide to quit the House of their own free will
• Big Brother disqualifies them and asks them to leave

Once a Housemate leaves, there is absolutely NO returning to the House.

New Housemates. A new Housemate may be called in to replace any person who leaves voluntarily or who has been disqualified by Big Brother.The following rules apply:

• Housemates cannot ask the new Housemate any questions about the outside world, and the new Housemate cannot report any news about the outside world.
• Housemates must help the new Housemate adjust to life in the House.
• If the new Housemate wins, s/he will not receive the full prize money (cash prize will be computed based on her/his stay in the House).
• The new Housemate will be exempt from the next nomination round.

Forced Exit. Another way to leave the House is through the voting-out procedure, which is as follows:

• Once a week, every week, all Housemates will be called into the Confession Room one-by-one. Housemates are given 3 points to use for nominations. While in the room, Housemates nominate the 2 people they believe should leave the House. They assign 1 point to one of the people they nominate, and the remaining 2 points to the other nominee. A Housemate cannot assign all 3 points to 1 person. Housemates must give a reason for the nomination of each of their nominees.
• Housemates cannot nominate themselves.
• Housemates may not plot or scheme against a fellow Housemate. Doing so is against the rules of the Big Brother House.
• Housemates may not throw dice, draw straws or use any kind of game to select the eviction nominees.
• If a Housemate refuses to make a nomination, s/he must leave the house. Such action will be considered as a voluntary exit, not an eviction.
• The two (or more) Housemates with the highest points will be up for eviction.
• The results of the nominations will be announced to the Housemates a few hours after the nomination round. The announcement to the viewers will be made public the next day. Viewers then vote in the Housemate they want to stay in the House.

Safety Protocol/Emergencies. Housemates must undergo a fire and first-aid training before they enter the House. They will also be given a written plan for emergencies, so that they may familiarize themselves with such procedures. In the event of an emergency, Big Brother will communicate to Housemates via the public address system.

Violence. Any Housemate who becomes violent will be removed from the House immediately.

Accident & Illness. In case of an accident, Housemates may use the first-aid kit located in the living room. Housemates may also go to the Confession Room to report if additional medical help is needed. If a Housemate needs hospital treatment, Big Brother will judge whether the Housemate may return to the House. If a hospital visit is necessary, a member of the production team will accompany the Housemate to ensure there is minimal contact with the outside world. A psychologist will also be available for counseling, either on request of the Housemate or if Big Brother feels it is necessary. Counseling sessions will not be filmed nor will Big Brother listen in to the conversation. Support will also be provided for Housemates once they leave the House.

Uninvited Guests. Big Brother is the only contact Housemates may have with the outside world. Big Brother will never come to the House unannounced. It may be possible, though, for people to try to reach and enter the House. If there are uninvited guests around the House, Big Brother will ask Housemates to go to the Confession or Storage room immediately. Should parachutists land in the Big Brother garden, Housemates should follow the instructions of Big Brother and they should keep the garden door locked.

This series by ABS-CBN, showing every weekend at 9:00 p.m., is actually one of the better shows that the network has come up with lately. The show is a remake of the 1973 Vilma Santos silver screen starrer of the same title.

"Kampanerang Kuba" translates literally into "hunchbacked church-bell ringer."

The series casts Anne Curtis in the lead role of Fatima, the hunchback who turns into a beautiful young lady with the help of magic and a few friends.

The cast includes veteran actors such as director and creator Edgar Mortiz, Jaime Fabregas, Eula Valdez, Jean Garcia, Cherry Pie Picache, Jomari Yllana, Malu de Guzman, Eugene Domingo, Meryll Soriano, and young actors Luis Manzano, Christian Bautista, Jodi Sta. Maria, and Patrick Garcia.

In case you're interested, following is the lyrics of the Kampanerang Kuba theme:

Filipino blogger Yuga writes that he personally knows someone who's on Pinoy Big Brother. He was actually surprised to discover that one of the contestants is a former colleague.

If you personally know any of the contestants, please share your insights here. Maybe we can help them out in their quest to own that house-and-lot, car, and PhP 1 million.

Have you seen ABS-CBN's Pinoy Big Brother webpage? As of this writing, nothing's on the site yet, except for some flash animation and links to Big Brother series in other countries.

The pilot episode aired on Channel 2 last Sunday, August 21. In case you missed it, here's the sked:

• ABS-CBN Channel 2 - Mondays to Fridays after Kampanerang Kuba (around 9:30 p.m.)
  
• With updates after Homeboy, after Wowowee, then after Meteor Garden)
• Also with "Up Late" showings before midnight
  
• Studio 23 - Mondays to Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.
• Saturdays at 6:30 p.m.
  

A viewer wrote some observations on the 12 contestants on the ABS-CBN forums:

• RICO - A bit of a show-off. Might be nervousness but he was making a lot of exaggerated movements inside the house. He looks to be dumb as a post too.
• CHIX - Parang strong woman. Bitchy. Seems to like the spotlight and isn’t afraid to speak her mind.
• JAYSON – He wasn’t kidding when he said he was big-headed. Potential to be funny (which is nice because it might make PBB more watchable)
• NENE – I like her. Her military background and not-too-shabby looks make her an interesting housemate. Might be a lesbian.
• BOB (Jun Bob) – Totally want him off. Seems to be too much of a politician. Shamelessly pimps himself to be as a potential “artista” for his family and friends daw. Give me a break…
• SAY – Shallow, rich girl. Other people cry because their father died or they are wallowing in poverty. She cried in the VTR because…her mother doesn’t like her BF and cut off her allowance. Oh boo-hoo-hoo.
• CASS – I have trouble telling who is CHX and who is CASS atm. Still under my radar. (which is always a good tactic in reality shows like this)
• JB – Bad boy turned good. He seems a bit anti-social. Didn’t see him mingling around too much.
• RACQUEL – Teacher, teacher…you’re in danger of being evicted. Stop the bossy act and don’t call them children. They must be itching to kick you out by now. Sayang. ABS broke the let’s-all-get-pretty-faces mold by getting you.
• UMA – Was prepared to dislike him but he seems to be pretty cool. The most relaxed of the bunch. In the first dining room scene, while most of the housemates we’re pissing in their pants and saying, “Let’s wait for Big Brother’s instructions before eating”…he goes, “But this is our house now.” Way cool.
• JENN – I thought they snuck in Rosanna Roces. She seems too serious, wanting to provide for her kid. Prediction: If she gets evicted, it would be a sobfest with the Big Bro audience. Awwww.
• FRANZEN – Nervous, twitchy guy. The show built him up to be a wise-cracking, representative of all the Jologs…but instead he makes half-hearted mugs for the camera and then walks around clueless around the house.

Any first impressions?

They say this local franchise of the reality-based show to be aired by ABS-CBN starting Sunday, August 21 (at 8:30 p.m., Philippine time), will be the Extra Challenge killer, the latter being a strong reality-series by rival GMA7. We'll be watching. We hope Brother lives up to the hype. ABS-CBN has been airing teasers and mini-features since a couple of months back.

What's the prize? A house and lot, a brand new pick-up truck, and PhP 1,000,000.00. PhP 1 million only? That's the equivalent of about US$ 20,000.00. Why don't they give out a million US bucks here, huh?

We'll be watching.

Are you a kapamilya? Or a kapuso? Or neither? If you don't know what I'm talking about, then I'd think you don't have a clue regarding Philippine entertainment industry. If you do, then you must have at least a vague knowledge of Pinoy showbusiness. Either way, I suggest you read on.

Here, we will talk about Philippine showbiz in general, from an outsider's point of view. We have been bombarded with showbiz talk shows almost every day, morning, noon, and night. Weekends and weekdays included. And sometimes, we get tired of the petty bickering and sensationalization.

But there must be something to it, if the major networks are pouring every effort to strut their stuff on the boob tube almost every day. They must be getting gazillions in advertising revenue because of high ratings.

So let's try to be observers and talk about what's happening. This can be as intellectual a forum as possible. Then again, it doesn't have to be.

Let's hope for the best.

Feedback is appreciated. Please email me at showbizpinoy(at)gmail.com.