Wowowee

Wowowee
Created by	ABS-CBN
Developed by	Bobot Mortiz
Directed by	Mr. Johnny Manahan
Starring	Willie Revillame Mariel Rodriguez Valerie Concepcion
Country of origin	Philippines
No. of episodes	As of 17 February 2007, 603 shows.
Production
Executive producers	Cynthia Jordan, Harold Nueva
Running time	2 hours 30 min. (Mondays to Saturdays)
Original release
Network	ABS-CBN
Release	February 5 2005-February 4 2006 March 11 2006 – present

Wowowee is a noontime television variety and game show in the Philippines that awards cash and prizes to contestants playing various games. The show is held at the Studio 3 of the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center in Quezon City, Philippines, which premiered February 5 2005.

The show airs live Weekdays from 12:30-3 p.m. and every Saturdays from 12 noon-3 p.m. on ABS-CBN after Pilipinas, Game KNB? and worldwide via The Filipino Channel. In the United States, the show is on tape delay where a new episode airs at 15:00 Eastern time (GMT-5) and repeats at 20:55 and 04:00 Monday through Friday. On the Saturday, a new episode also airs at 15:00 Eastern time and (GMT-5) is rebroadcast at 22:00 and 04:00.

The show is hosted by Willie Revillame, with his co-host Mariel Rodriguez and Valerie Concepcion. Other members of the production includes Bentong, Owen Garcia, the floor director, and Anna Santos Feliciano, the show's choreographer who manages the ASF Dancers.

Starting on August 18, 2007. The popular segment Pera o Bayong will be replaced with the new game segment Wilyonaryo.

Show format and game descriptions

Currently, the show has seven segments.

• Introduction
• Iyugyog Mo Jackpot (closest English equivalent is 'Shake Your Body')
• Willie of Fortune
  • Questune
  • Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To? (Who Sang This Song?)
  • Search for Bigat 10 Contestants
  • Bigat 10 (Big 10)
  • Pasalog (Pass and Shake)
• Entertainment Acts
• Wilyonaryo

Introduction

Currently, at the start of every show, Rodriguez, and Concepcion welcome the audience and television viewers to the show. Then the show begins as disc jockey and musical director "D.J. Cokie" begins playing the introduction and theme music. The entire studio audience and the ASF Dancers dance along. Finally, host Willie Revillame enters the studio from the back-center set door that lifts up in the air, welcomes the audience and viewers, and sings the Wowowee theme song along with the audience and gives opening remarks. After the theme song, Revillame, Rodriguez, and Concepcion do a mini-monologue which is followed by another audience participation song, Iyugyugmo.

Iyugyog Mo Jackpot

After they sing 'Iyugyog Mo'. Revillame scans through the crowd that wants to play 'Iyugyog Mo'. When he picks 5 people that do the best of dancing to the tune of 'Iyugyog Mo' he/she moves on to the elimination part of the game. During the elimination, all the contestants have to dance to 'Iyugyogyugyogyugyog-' until Revillame picks a person. When the person is picked, Mariel or Valerie asks the contestant a question fast, the contestant has only 5 seconds to answer. If the contestant gets it right, she moves on and gets PHP500. If he/she gets it wrong or didn't have time to answer, he/she is out. The game keeps going until 1 person is left and is able to get the question right. If the only contestant gets the question wrong, he/she has to pick the remaining 4 that got out to continue (which means the people that got out, one of them still has a chance to get back in if the last person gets the question wrong). If the contestant gets the question right, he/she moves onto the jackpot round of the game. As the jackpot round starts, two ASF Dancers (Hope and Aya) give the cubes to the contestant, and rolls it down through a tube from the top of the stairs to the bottom. The contestant has to get the 'Iyugyog Mo' sign on the one thats facing up to be able to win the jackpot prize. If the contestant gets any thing else on 2 of the cubes facing up (like, Tug, Bug, etc.) The person wins nothing and another PHP5,000 is added to the jackpot for the next day. If he/she gets both 'Iyugyog Mo' on each of the cube facing up, the person will win the jackpot prize. If he/she gets 'Iyugyog Mo' on one of the cubes, they will win another PHP5,000.

Willie of Fortune

Before the game

Revillame introduces the two groups of three "Willie of Fortune" contestants, known as the "tigasen", who will be playing against each other. All players were selected through a contestant search session held at the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center the previous day. Then, Revillame calls out the ASF Dancers. Every Saturday, Revillame calls out Mark (a child contestant before in "Willie of Fortune") to give him the Dollars. Then, the first person in each group goes to the podium and prepares for "Questune".

Before each game, Revillame conducts a quick candid interview with each contestant. After the interview, the contestants are given a chance to showcase their talents, usually by singing or dancing. In the past, contestants often danced, sang, recited poems or told jokes. Once they finish showcasing their talents, Revillame gives them PHP3,000 and $20 for their efforts.

Occasionally, they are given extra gifts, like money donated from the TFC subscribers (over time, it ranged from $5 to $100), film, or concert tickets, or music CDs (most notably the Wowowillie CD.) Since the May 29 2006 show, Revillame gives an additional PHP500 to PHP1,000 to contestants who show more "extraordinary" talent.

Questune

In this game, each of three winning "Willie of Fortune" players:

• win PHP5,000 in cash.
• advance to "Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To".

Gameplay

• Like the U.S. game show Name That Tune, the show's keyboardist plays a song and the player must buzz-in and correctly identify its title first.
• The player wins one point for each correct answer.
• If a player gives a wrong answer, his or her opponent can answer for that one point, correctly identifying that same song.
• Upon giving the correct answer, for a one point bonus, the contestant must sing the exact lyrics to that song.
• The first contestant in each group who earns two points wins an PHP5,000 and moves on to "Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To".
• The losing contestant gets a consolation prize from 3 ASF dancers which are packs of Liveraide, Taheebo, and the new addition, Fitrum, which are sponsors of the show. Added prizes are the Extreme Magic sing and Belo materials.

Contestant Searches

For each show, Wowowee contestant coordinators Gary Tejada and Chie Corpuz look and group together contestants who work at a certain place or have an interesting hobby. Upon successful personal identification verification and selection, they are asked to come in on the day of their scheduled broadcast. Since Saturday, February 17 2007, they no longer have celebrities play "Willie of Fortune."

Wowowee's previous contestant coordinators were Mon Nazerino, Ace Vidanes, and Bing Ramos.

Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To?

The three winning Questune contestants from the last round play "Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To?" against each other. This time, Revillame asks the players to identify the artist of the song that's being played by the keyboardist. The contestant who buzzes in with the correct artist wins one point.

The first contestant to win two points wins another PHP5,000 and moves on to "Bigat 10".

Search For Bigat 10 Contestants

After Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To. Revillame and the ASF Dancers dance along to Do Do Do, Da Da Da to warm up the crowd. Then, Revillame and his co-hosts goes to each section of the studio audience, says hello, allows some audience members to give shoutouts to their family and friends watching (mainly the overseas TFC subscribers who came to see the show) and selects ten players interested in winning prizes in the "Bigat 10" segment. Currently, Revillame chooses someone from each part of the audience who can become a potential "Bigat 10" contestant by letting him or her sing and dance to Do Do Do, Da Da Da. Theres even foreigners that attend the show(usually guests/significant other of the Filipinos) If your from another country(USA, UK, Australia, Japan, Korea, etc.),you are half Filipino or dont look Filipino, more likely you will be picked.

When the people from the audience get picked he/she automatically gets to vs. the winner of the Sinong Kumanta Ng Kanto 'To?. The winner of the Sinong Kumanta Ng Kanto 'To? is called the "tigasen" winner later on the show to win P10,000 or the chance to play Pasalog.

It is also in this part of the show where overseas TFC subscribers donate money to Revillame, where it is used to give to charities benefiting the poor and to give away as extra-incentive prizes to a deserving "Willie of Fortune" or "The Ultimate Pera o Bayong" player.

Bigat 10

Before the start of "Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To?", Rodriguez scans the crowd to reveal the winner of the Hapee smile of the day, sponsored by Hapee toothpaste. The winner is given cash and prizes. Rodriguez then reveals the "Bigat 10" player who has a chance to play "Pasalog" secretly to the home viewers. Rodriguez introduces the ten "Bigat 10" players that were selected during the "Interaction with the Audience Members" segment.

The winning "Willie of Fortune" contestant in this round can:

• possibly win up to PHP100,000 in cash.
• advance to "Pasalog".

Gameplay

• Revillame calls two "Bigat 10" players to come to the podium and introduce themselves before facing the winning "Willie of Fortune" contestant.
• Revillame or Guinoo asks a trivia question.
• The first person to buzz-in with the correct answer wins.
• If the "Willie of Fortune" player wins, he or she keeps all the money.
• If the "Bigat 10" player wins, he or she gets PHP10,000 from the money holder.
• At the end of the segment, whoever gets the correct answer to the question (whether it be one of the "Bigat 10" or the "Willie of Fortune" contestant) keeps all the money left and advances to "Pasalog".
• Bonus: If the "Willie of Fortune" contestant eliminates all ten "Bigat 10" players, he or she wins an additional PHP25,000.

Before the segment was revamped on the June 26 2006 episode:

• The pot started at PHP50,000.
• Revillame called a "Bigat 10" contestant one-at-a-time.
• The "Bigat 10" contestant won PHP5,000 for a correct answer (PHP3,000 from the pot, plus PHP2,000 from Willie. Before the week of January 30, 2006, the player received PHP3,000.)
• If the "Willie of Fortune" player eliminates all "Bigat 10" players, their winnings are doubled to PHP100,000.

Pasalog

In "Pasalog", the "Willie of Fortune" or Bigat 10 player has a chance to win:

• cash from a progressive jackpot, starting at PHP20,000.
• a Sinski tricycle, Rich-O multi-cab car, Wow-a-cart from Zhon Marketing or a supply of Liveraide vitamins plus cash jackpot.

Gameplay

• Revillame introduces ASF Dancers Mariposa & Luningning and they both do a little showdown before playing Pasalog, as they get to their places the contestant picks a side of the cube in the beach balls which contains prizes from Wowowees sponsors.
• There are two beach balls and has two compartments which a cube in it, one is green/white which is Mariposas ball and the other is red/white which is Luningnings ball. the first ball has Pau limited, Taheebo, Guiding Star and Rich-o instant chocolate on cubes in two separate compartments of the ball.
• On the second ball, it contains Jackpot, Liveraide, Sinski and Wow-a-kart.
• Revillame asks the player to position each of the cubes of the two balls.
• Both compartments are then closed by both Mariposa and Luningning. Revillame tells the ASF Dancers to 'Pasalog' which they pass the balls into the crowd and the crowd passes them around. As they get back to the ASF Dancer, both Mariposa and Luningning put the ball in their place.
• Revillame then asks which ball she wants to choose as hers.
• When she picks the chosen ball the left-compartment is revealed.
  • If there is a tag on it with any of the sponsors logo, the contestant wins the prize of the that which is money, scooters, etc.
  • If there is no tag on the side where it lands, then the player wins nothing.
• Next, the right-compartment is revealed.
  • If the tag is one of the sponsors logos, then the player wins the prize that contains with it.
  • If a blank space lands, the player wins nothing.
• If no one wins the progressive jackpot that day, PHP20,000 is added on top for the next show.

If the Jackpot Prize reaches PHP200,000 above, the Special Prize reveals first at the left-compartment and the Jackpot reveals at the right-compartment.

At the end of segment, the winning contestant keeps all the winnings from all the games.

Entertainment acts

This segment, which is presented after "Pasalog" every Monday through Friday and after "Introduction" every Saturday, presents either a dancing number featuring special appearances by well-known singers and dancers along with the ASF Dancers, live music from a musical group or artist(s), or a foreign celebrity promoting something ie Kpop singer Eugene promoting her soap opera or WWE wrestler Mick Foley promting WWE Raw in early 2006.

Pera o Bayong (Cash or Bag)

This final segment of the show offers a player a chance to win either:

• PHP1,000,000 or PHP2,000,000 in cash
• a house and lot package, offered by Globe Asiatique
• a jeepney, offered by W.L. Foods

The game has two parts:

Part one

The first part is an elimination round in which 50 contestants (100 contestants on Saturdays), selected by the show-sponsored cell phone text contest, answer multiple-choice questions with four possible answers. Each answer is given a color section on stage, Berde (Green), Pula (Red), Dilaw (Yellow) and Asul (Blue) which is used to indicate "none of the above".

Rodriguez and Guinoo ask a question. After the question is asked, the contestants move to the section they believe is the correct answer. Contestants who get the answer right advance to the next question, while the others are eliminated from further gameplay.

The rounds continue until one player is left standing. He or she then wins PHP20,000 and advances to the final part of "Pera o Bayong" to play for the grand prize.

However, if all the players do not go to a section which has the correct answer, the game is over.

"Uwi? Hindi? Lipat?" (Leave? No? Transfer?)

Since the May 27 2006 episode, during the later stages of part one, Revillame offers cash to each contestant in a color section and asks the question, "Uwi? Hindi? Lipat?".

• If a contestant says "Uwi", he or she accepts the cash offer and leaves the game immediately.
• If a contestant says "Hindi", either:
  • Revillame increases the cash offer and asks the question again.
  • or the game continues as he or she stays in their color section.
• If a contestant says "Lipat", he or she moves to another spot that he or she thinks is the correct answer.

In the past, Revillame has offered contestants between PHP1,000 and PHP50,000 in cash and to leave the game.

Part two

In the final part, there are ten "bayongs" with different colors. In the New Year's episode, Revillame added another prize to the bayong. Inside four of them contain PHP1,000,000 cash, a house and lot package, a jeepney, and PHP2,000,000 cash.

First, the contestant chooses three bayongs he or she believe has a prize in it.

The contestant then chooses one of the remaining three bayongs. Once the contestant chooses the bayong of their choice, Revillame calls in Milagring or Maria to bring up the content of the bayong, a prize box, and positions it next to the cash board.

Revillame then offers cash in exchange for the selected box.

• If the contestant says "Pera", he or she receives Willie's cash offer and the game is over.
• If the contestant says "Bayong", Revillame would either:
  • increase the cash offer and or
  • or reveal the content of the prize box.

After the deal ends, the contents of the bayongs that contain a prize are revealed to everyone.

Production notes

Previous Wowowee co-hosts

• Iya Villania (February 5 2005–June 17 2006) - Hosting a dancing show called U Can Dance on ABS-CBN, a mainstay in ASAP '07 and is currently a video jockey on Myx.
• Kat Alano (February 5 2005–June 17 2006) - Currently appears on the teleserye Ysabella. She recently won the MTV Philippines VJ Hunt 2007
• Janelle Jamer (February 5, 2005–May 31, 2007) - One of the original three co-hosts of Wowowee.
• Roxanne Guinoo (March 17, 2007–July 31, 2007)

Theme music and show soundtracks

The following background music is currently played and directed by former disc jockey and sound effects director Angelo "DJ M.O.D." Macanaya. The Philippines own Disco Mix Club disc jockey, "DJ Coki", has since replaced DJ M.O.D. as the main disc jockey.

• "Wowowee" (dance remix): This cut is presented as a remixed dance version of the original and is currently played at the start of the show. Performed live by Revillame, Guinoo, and Rodriguez.
• "Boom Tarat Tarat": This cut was used as an opening number and during "Interaction with the Audience Members". The first version of the dance remix premiered August 3 2006. The second version, featuring a faster tempo and techno, club-style drumming, premiered on November 27 2006. The third version, featuring a normal tempo and non-Christmas lyrics premiered on January 1 2007. The full holiday, non-remixed version is featured in Revillame's Christmas CD, Namamasko Po.
• "Puppy Mo Ako": This cut is a remixed version of the original that is used when the ASF Dancers come out to introduce the "Willie of Fortune" portion of the show in instrumental form. Song performed on album by Revillame.
• "46": Mariposa and Luningning dance to this song during the new "Pasalog" portion. Performed by Revillame.
• "Buksan Mo": Mariposa and Luningning danced to this song during the "Pasalog" portion. Performed by Revillame.
• "Beep Beep Beep": This cut is used during "Pera o Bayong" player eliminations, performed by Revillame.
• "Bow Wow Wow": This cut is used during "Pera o Bayong" player eliminations, performed by Revillame.
• "Jok Jok Jok": This cut was used during "What's the Joke? That's the Joke.", performed by Revillame.
• "Tango Boogie Cha-Cha": Presented as a dance remix, this cut is used during "Pera o Bayong" player eliminations, performed by Revillame.
• "Wankata": The dance remix version is used during "Pera o Bayong" player eliminations. The regular version is used whenever a host, a cast member or a contestant makes a joke. Performed by Revillame.
• "Follow the Leader": This cut is used as a winning cue when a contestant wins "Pera o Bayong." Written and performed by a 1980s American hip-hop performing group, The Soca Boys.
• "Played Alive": This is played when Revillame thanks the TFC subscribers for their support, and right before the bayong is revealed. Performed by Safri Duo.
• "Have a Good Time" ("Goodbye, I hate to see you go..."): This cut is used as a losing cue when a contestant loses in "Pera o Bayong". Recorded in the United States and performed by Sue Thompson in 1962. Recently, the newest losing cue is a cut from the 1989 song "Sayang na Sayang" by Manilyn Reynes.
• "Wowowee": This regular version of the theme song is used going into and coming out from commercial breaks and as a closing song. Performed by Revillame and the song's lyricist and composer Lito Camo.
• "Crazy in Love" (by Beyonce): This is normally played for young ladies during the "Bigat 10" segment and a performance for some Willie of Fortune contestants.
• Songs that "Willie of Fortune" contestants dance to include "Pump It" and "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas, "London Bridge" by Fergie, and "Beep", "Buttons", and "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls.
• During rare moments in Pera O Bayong, sometimes Revillame dances to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean".

Also, all live background music, especially accompaniments to songs sung by contestants during the Willie of Fortune's "Questune" segment, is played by musical director and keyboardist Elhmir Saison.

Remote broadcasts and world tours

During its run, the producers were able to take this show on the road and visit places around the Philippines and the world.

Philippine remotes

• East Gate Center in Pampanga, September 30 2006.
• Lim Ket Kai Mall, Cagayan de Oro City, September 16 2006.
• CSI, The City Mall in Dagupan City, November 26 2005.

For these recent editions, the contestants for "Willie of Fortune" were six celebrity models or dancers. With them were their audience partners the women or Revillame hand-selected while in the crowd after the "Interaction with the Audience Members" segment.

Wowowee world tours

• Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • July 6 2007
• Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
  • July 8 2007
• Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
  • September 3 2006 at the Thomas & Mack Center
  • September 8 2007 at the Orleans Arena
• Los Angeles, California, United States
  • December 2 2006 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
• New York City, New York, United States
  • October 22 2005 at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York
• Reno, Nevada, United States
  • May 27 2007 at the Lawlor Events Center
• San Francisco, California, United States
  • June 30 2005 at the San Francisco Civic Center during the Fiesta Filipina 2005
  • June 11 2006 at the San Francisco Civic Center during the Fiesta Filipina 2006
• Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • October 2 2005 at the Sydney Fiesta Kultura Bankstown Paceway Grandstand

Wowowee's special shows

Alay sa Kapamilya

Alay sa Kapamilya was a program organized by ABS-CBN as observation for the PhilSports Arena stampede victims. It preempted Wowowee for six days until the network decided over the fate of the variety show. Eventually, ABS-CBN decided to temporarily cancel the variety show until its return on March 11 2006.

Pangarap at Tagumpay, Mga Kwento Sa Likod ng Wowowee

Before the March 11 2006 relaunch of Wowowee, the show aired Pangarap at Tagumpay, Mga Kwento Sa Likod ng Wowowee (Dreams and Success, The Story Behind Wowowee). The show dramatized the success stories of the variety-game show's winners. The five-episode drama package was broadcast March 6–10 March 2006.

Wowowee honors overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Lebanon

On the August 2 2006 episode, Wowowee with cooperation with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) produced a special edition saluting and featuring female Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who returned from Lebanon where a war was present in that country. They were all invited to see and participate in the program. The "Willie of Fortune" contestants that day were close friends of the OFWs, while an unspecified number of OFW's participated in "The Ultimate Pera O Bayong". All the winnings won in "Willie of Fortune" and "Pera O Bayong" were combined together and evenly distributed to all of the OFWs in the audience.

At the end of the program, a grand total of PHP1,390,000 in cash was distributed evenly to all of the OFWs in the audience.

On August 5 2006, instead of the usual celebrities appearing on the Saturday edition in "Willie of Fortune", close friends of OFW's working in Lebanon played. Before "Pasalog", a Chinese businessman donated PHP1,000,000 to all of the players.

Controversy

Wowowee tragedy: Philsports Arena stampede

Further information: PhilSports Arena stampede

At around 06:30 local time on February 4 2006, at least 73 people were trampled to death and more than 300 were injured when a stampede broke out at the PhilSports Complex (formerly ULTRA) in Pasig City, where the first anniversary celebration of Wowowee would be held at noon. The crush began when the organizers of the show began handing out tickets to people in the crowd, many of whom had been camping outside the stadium for days.

Illegal recruiting

In the January 6 2007 episode of XXX (an investigative current affairs program of the same network), it was revealed that Ace Vidanes, the program's contestant coordinator, made arrangement with illegal contestant recruiters to recruit contestants for the show's Bigaten in a 60-40 Deal. 60% will go to the contestant while 40% will go to the illegal recruiters. A former Bigaten contestant revealed this setup to Wowowee and XXX. An entrapment operation was arranged. The illegal recruiters were caught. The illegal recruiters pointed Ace Vidanes as their boss. Before correspondent Julius Babao had the chance to get the side of Ace, the show's management decided to terminate Vidanes' employment.

In the January 8 2007 episode of TV Patrol World, a former contestant showed himself in the news program as someone who was tapped by Ace Vidanes as a contestant for Wowowee. He was asked by Ace to pretend that he is a shoemaker in order for him to join the noontime show since they are looking for shoemakers for a particular episode.

Raffle Text Scam

In another episode of XXX, a female fan of Wowowee received a text message, coming from Wowowee, saying that she won a raffle draw. When she went to Wowowee, it was revealed that there was no raffle draw being held.

May 12, 2007 Wardrobe Malfunction

Actress Eda Nolan exposed her breasts while dancing. Nolan, one of the cast members of the youth-oriented show “Gokada Go” on ABS-CBN Ch. 2, wore a tube dress for the number. Because of this, the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) has given Wowowee a consecutive 3 episode suspension.

See also

• ABS-CBN
• List of Philippine television shows
• The Filipino Channel

External links

• ABS-CBN Forums: Discuss Wowowee
• ABS-CBN Wowowee's Willie of Fortune Audition
• Wowowee:Television and the perils of peddling dreams
• A look into the Wowowee tragedy
• "The Power of the Media: on 'Wowowee' Tragedy"