Pinoy Big Brother
Template:Pinoy Big Brother sidebarPinoy Big Brother is the Philippine version of the reality television show Big Brother (the word Pinoy is a colloquial term for Filipino). It follows the same premise as its many foreign counterparts around the world: twelve Philippine residents are forced to live with each other inside a house for about 100 days (extended to another 12 days for the first season due to inefficient scheduling of nomination and eviction of housemates in the first week). It is shown on ABS-CBN Channel 2 and its international affiliate, The Filipino Channel, with snippets shown on local affiliate Studio 23. The uncut 24/7 version of the series can also be seen on the internet through streaming video and a special cable channel provided by ABS-CBN-owned cable TV provider, SkyCable.
The elimination process in the show is the reverse of the original Dutch format. At the start of the elimination process, the "housemates" (as the contestants are referred to) vote for which two (sometimes more if there are ties) fellow housemates they should eliminate. Once these nominations are chosen, the viewer votes come into play. For a week viewers are asked to vote, via SMS or voice messaging through PLDT's hotline, for whoever they wanted to stay longer in the house. The housemate with the least viewer votes is eliminated. In the final week, the one with the most viewer votes will win the grand prize package worth six million pesos (approx. $111,000) all-in-all, including the one-million peso cash prize (about $18,000), a house and lot of his/her own, a Nissan Frontier, an entertainment component system, a Yamaha motorcycle, and a livelihood showcase just for the first season alone. The second season adds an overseas tour package to the list of prizes.
Other essential elements of the Big Brother franchise are present, such as weekly and daily challenges, the confessional room, and the voice known only as "Big Brother," sometimes referred to as "Kuya" (the program uses the literal English translation of "big brother" for the Tagalog word "kuya," referring to the eldest son in the family).
The first series started with a grand entrance party on August 21, 2005, with the first primetime episode airing the next night. The finale was held December 10 of the same year, 111 days after. The second series began its run on February 25, 2007, and its finale was held 125 days later on June 30 the same year.
Overview
Television host and comedian Willie Revillame hosted the show, together with TV personalities Toni Gonzaga and Mariel Rodriguez. Toni hosts the primetime telecast which chronicles the events of the day before (unless an episode is telecast live). Mariel, on the other hand, hosts the late night edition called Pinoy Big Brother: Uplate, which updates anything viewers missed in the primetime telecast, as well as what to look forward in the next one. Willie hosted the live telecast of the eviction and the public revelation of the nomination for evictees, but only for the first season. He has not returned to the program even before the first Celebrity Edition started because of the ULTRA stampede.
Asia Agcaoili spearheaded the show for the viewers of Studio 23. Her show, called Pinoy Big Brother on Studio 23: Si Kuya, KaBarkada Mo (English: Eldest Brother, Your Buddy; the program instead prefers the translation "big" instead of "eldest" for the Tagalog word "kuya," which refers to the eldest son of the family), not only featured snippets from the primetime telecast the night before, but also featured opinion polls both from the man on the street and those sending SMS, spoof segments, unaired videos, and feed from inside the house (either live feed or footage taped earlier). Stduio 23 has stopped the practice since the second Celebrity Edition and instead resorted to airing the delayed late morning/early afternoon feeds.
Talk show host Boy Abunda hosted the post-season documentaries. It featured issues and controversies about the housemates.
The show also had its theme song called "Pinoy Ako" (English: I'm a Filipino) by Orange and Lemons. This song is also the basis for much of the background music used in the show.
Luis Manzano took over Willie's place for the Celebrity Edition. The theme song in that edition was Sikat ang Pinoy by season 1 contestant Sam Milby and host Toni Gonzaga.
On its Teen Edition, Bianca Gonzalez (a TV host and a former housemate of the Celebrity Edition) took over Mariel Rodriguez for the Teen Edition Update and UpLate, while the latter became the main host, replacing Toni Gonzaga. The theme song is "Kabataang Pinoy" (Filipino Youth) by Itchyworms. The house was renovated for the preparation for the Teen Edition by the students of the Philippine School of Interior Design.
Primers
To prepare the viewers for the program's run, two primers were aired. The first was Eto na si Kuya! (Here Comes Big Brother), which talked about the essentials of the franchise and its success around the world.
In the second primer, entitled Ang Bahay ni Kuya (Big Brother's House), Mariel and Toni indirectly gave the viewers a tour of the Big Brother house and its rooms, along with the control center and the confession booth. It also featured highlights a dry run where 12 of the network's talents stayed in the house for 24 hours and experienced the challenges and tests the housemates would experience at the start of the actual run.
The house
The house is actually located in front of the ABS-CBN studios in Quezon City.
A car was used to transfer the evicted housemate from the Big Brother house to the main building of ABS-CBN. Due to the number of people gathered outside to watch the eviction, it would be rather unsafe for the housemate to walk to the nearby building. Of course, the car can't go inside the building.
It was designed with walls painted with pastel colors. It also has a garden and swimming pool. It also boasted of a multi-faith altar in one wall of the house (one which has a Bible, a Koran, and twelve rosaries), making the house the only Big Brother house that has a room set aside for religious purposes (although it is said that the Arab Big Brother house had prayer rooms). And although any form of communication from the outside world is banned inside the house, there was a large flat-screen television set in the living room, used for only 2 purposes:
- To show any video Big Brother wanted to show to any or all housemates, especially that of the TV Mass every Sunday (contrary to reports early in the first season that a priest would visit them; later on, a priest unseen by viewers would visit them), and
- To announce the names of nominees for eviction directly to the housemates and the person evicted from the house. (The housemates saw either host Willie Revillame (prior to the Celebrity Edition), Mariel Rodriguez or Toni Gonzaga, or (prior to the Teen Edition) Bianca Gonzalez talk to them during nomination and eviction nights.)
To complete the set up, 26 surveillance cameras are positioned all over the house to watch the housemates' every move, including the bathroom. For modesty's sake, however, images from the bathroom will be shown if the bathroom is used for any purpose other than bathing (such as gossiping).
The set up of the house, especially when shown on television, makes the illusion that it is a one-story house. But anybody who passes by it can easily notice that its facade is that of a two-story house. That is because the second story houses parts of the control room. The actual front doors to the house area are actually further inside.
The house interior was rebuilt for the second season. These changes include the following:
- The number of cameras have been increased to 42.
- There is a secret room built behind the confession room and a large activity area leading from the garden.
- The house has a prayer room rather than just an altar.
- The flat screen monitor found in the living area is now used to call any housemate.
- The front door now leads to the Eviction Hall next door.
- Instead of watching a TV mass, the housemates have a spiritual session with Coney Reyes, the show's spiritual adviser. This has been done since the first Celebrity Edition.
The housemates
Regular seasons
Season 1
Nene Tamayo of Romblon emerged as Pinoy Big Brother's first ever Big Winner, besting the other 12 housemates. Her win was declared on December 10, 2005, at Clark Expo, Angeles City, Pampanga. Nene garnered the highest number of votes (557,000+) among the "big four" contestants.[1]
Season 2
ABS-CBN held auditions stretching from May to June 2006 in various cities in the Philippines, as well as overseas auditions in Sydney, Milan, Tokyo, Dubai, and San Francisco, for the show's second season, which began on February 25 (originally scheduled for March), 2007, and ended on June 30 the same year. These same auditions were also held for another reality show, Pinoy Dream Academy, another Endemol franchise. This season of Pinoy Big Brother promised a bigger house, more housemates (fourteen to be exact), and a stricter Big Brother.
The "bigger house" concept stems from the fact that the house area was expanded and used in Pinoy Dream Academy. The house had been expanded with larger living and dining areas, larger bedrooms, separate restrooms, and more. The number of cameras had been increased from 27 to 42 and the front doors of the house were now at the garden, leading to the eviction hall built next door (the auditorium previously used in Pinoy Dream Academy). Previously the original front doors of the house area lead to the facade of the house.
Pinoy Ako had also been rehashed, this time sung by the band CeBaLo (Yvan Lambatan, Panky Trinidad, Eman Abatayo, and Davey Langit of Pinoy Dream Academy).
On June 30 2007 (125 days after the season premiere), at the Araneta Coliseum, Beatriz Saw was declared the Big Winner of the second season, besting 17 other housemates (14 official and 3 sub-official). She garnered about 1.5 million votes, or 30.29% of the total number of votes. This alone surpasses Kim Chiu's record for the most number of votes earned by a Big Winner.
Special editions
A 56-day celebrity version was started on February 5 2006, known as Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition.
The celebrity version is not confined only to showbiz idols. Celebrities who auditioned include athletes, stand-up comedians, ramp and commercial models, musicians, and TV personalities. Of these, fourteen were chosen for the edition's first run.
On April 1, 2006 at the facade of Central Post Office Building in Manila, starlet Keanna Reeves was declared the winner of Celebrity Edition, garnering the highest number of votes among the "Big 4" finalists, with 571,607 votes or 44.2% of total votes cast. Reeves surpassed Tamayo's vote total during the first season. [2]
The second edition, called "Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition 2," began on October 17 2007 and had a 84-day run. The show was supposed to run for only 70, but the extension was announced through a seemingly fake news report and was later implied to be confirmed by Big Brother.
There were a total of 15 individual celebrities but two pairs, namely Marylaine Viernes and Jen da Silva and Baron and Donnie Geisler, were part of the 2-in-1 housemates twist and each pair was counted as one. This brought the official total of celebrity housemates to 13. An additional housemate, Gladys Guevarra, entered the house midway of the season due to unprecedented circumstances, bringing the total to 16 individual housemates.
On January 5 2008 at the Araneta Coliseum, comedian Ruben Gonzaga was declared the winner of the second Celebrity Edition, earning the highest among the four finalists, with 506,402 votes or 32.17% of the 1.6 million votes cast. Gonzaga also became the franchise's first ever male winner in its history.
A teen version of Pinoy Big Brother, Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition, was shown in the Philippine "summer months" of April and May, when children and teenagers take their vacation from school. This edition premiered on April 23 2006, roughly three weeks after the end of the first Celebrity Edition and ran for six weeks. It featured teenagers aged from 16 to 18 years old as housemates.
Auditions in Cebu City, Davao City, and Metro Manila were held and according to ABS-CBN, 30,000 teens answered the audition call. [3] Of these, twelve are selected; eight come from the Manila auditions while the remaining four represent the Visayas-Mindanao area.
On June 3, 2006 at the Aliw Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay City, Kim Chiu of Cebu, was declared the winner of the first Teen Edition, besting 13 other housemates. Kim garnered 626,562 votes, or 41.4% of the total votes.
A second Teen Edition, called Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition Plus, has been announced. According to ABS-CBN, 15,000 teenagers auditioned; thirty were selected for the final casting call, from which fourteen were chosen to be official housemates. It had its premiere on March 23 2008 and is expected to run until mid-May.
Future editions
Auditions were held in key cities in the Philippines, as well as in Dubai, Milan, and Madrid, for the second Teen edition (see above) and the third regular season. Like the audition for the second regular season, which was also held at the same time as that of Pinoy Dream Academy, auditions for the two editions and Pinoy Dream Academy were held simultaneously.
Spinoffs
The program has led into many spin-offs:
Pinoy Big Brother: Yes or No
Due to the show's popularity, a game show segment is launched called Pinoy Big Brother: Yes or No. It is one which uses the board game format and uses questions related to the show as well as ABS-CBN's other primetime soap operas. The show is hosted by Mariel Rodriguez and it promises to give a daily studio contestant up to PhP25,000. After a week as a segment of the show, it became a separate early afternoon game show on October 24, 2005. This show was terminated after the first season ended.
Pinoy Big Brother Buzz
The popularity of the show and its former housemates spawned another show called Pinoy Big Brother Buzz, hosted by actress Anne Curtis, gossip reporter AJ Dee, and comedienne Pokwang. Like its parent show The Buzz, the show tackles events and goings-on inside the house, controversy surrounding the show, and the latest gossip about the housemates who were already evicted. This spin-off was cancelled during the run of the Celebrity Edition.
What's the Word? Thats the Word!
It was launched during the first season of Pinoy Big Brother. It is a raffle hosted by Mariel Rodriguez and airs during commercial breaks at primetime telecast. At first, it started as a trivia game show for Pinoy Big Brother, and then later, it is extended as a trivia game show for the whole Primetime Bida. It still continued even after Pinoy Big Brother's first year run ended.
It later returned as the promotion What's the Word? Guess the Word! This time, however, the promotion is by Smart Communications and it is separate from Pinoy Big Brother.
Pinoy Big Brother UpLate
Pinoy Big Brother Up-late is a late night spin-off of the reality show. It is hosted by Mariel Rodriguez, while Bianca Gonzalez hosted the program during the Teen Edition. This airs late at night to early morning, Monday to Friday, after the News & Public Affairs programs; and shows some updates, live feeds, and interviews.
This are short-segment updates shown 3 times a day, Monday to Friday, that shows daily happenings in the Big Brother house, and introduces what will be shown in the primetime telecast.
Pinoy Big Brother, the Big Reunion
On June 4, 2006, a night after the finale of the Teen Edition, a live musical special was held at the Aliw Theater (in the CCP Grounds, Manila), with all the housemates for the first season, the Celebrity Edition, and the Teen Edition gathered in one spot. The show showcased and celebrated the success of the show, especially its greatest moments and accomplishments. This was done to cap off the show's first year on the air.
Pinoy Big Brother Über
This is the show's late afternoon edition (as opposed to the primetime edition) and replaces UpLate as the show's main offshoot. Hosted by Mariel Rodriguez (later entered the house as Special Celebrity Houseguest; Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition 2) and Bianca Gonzalez, this is also the show's interactive portion wherein viewers can participate. There is buzz ongoing that Big Brother will add 2 new housemates to the Teen Edition Plus named Lee Singson of Sta Mesa and Gardy Meneses of Valenzuela.
Criticisms
On its first week alone, the show was already given a stern warning by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Philippine censoring body for cinema and television, saying that the show airs content that is definitely not suitable for children, such as talk on contraceptives and very "intimate scenes". ABS-CBN is reported to have acknowledged this and had promised to make an "improved" show more suitable for younger audiences in the coming weeks.[4] As a result, as scenes like these are unavoidable at times without interference, each episode begins with a warning reminding viewers that some scenes in the show that are not suitable for young audiences.
In spite of this, though, the scenes that were deemed to be way beyond the parental guidance rating given by the Board were still shown. In this light, MTRCB ordered the program suspended for one episode. As compliance, the program was not aired on September 25, 2005, the day after the 2nd eviction night. [5]
Columnist Nestor U. Torre of the Philippine Daily Inquirer has also given a doubtful but optimistic stance on the show, saying that while the scenes are chaotic and challenges in the first week were way too mundane and cheesy, he is hopeful that more compelling tasks would be given to the housemates in the future and the housemates' personalities will become clearly defined.[2]
However, Torre wrote in a later article that in the first week alone, the show emphasizes more on creating controversy (such as sex) rather than exploiting the potential psychological factors and showcasing human nature.[8]
Despite this negative publicity, ABS-CBN itself has reported that the show is so well liked that it extended its run to all seven days a week. In fact, not only its on-air talents have defended it, but viewers themselves (as shown on ABS-CBN programs) can attest to it. It also inspired the creation of fansites.
Later in the second season, film director Jose Javier Reyes, who previously sat in as one of the jurors in ABS-CBN and Endemol co-produced reality show Pinoy Dream Academy, lambasted the program, stating the show wanted to bring "everyone who had a face and a body." Reyes added that the program was a boot camp for Philippines' Next Top Model, had disturbing behavior from certain housemates, and describing the challenges as "meaningless." He concluded that the whole ordeal was an audition for a new Star Cinema (ABS-CBN's movie production company) or for an episode of ABS-CBN's drama Maalaala Mo Kaya.[9]
In reaction, the show's director, Laurenti Dyogi, defended the program by giving clarifications on certain issues presented by Reyes, especially the fact that housemates actually learn something, citing Nel Rapiz's atonement of not urinating in a public place again. But Dyogi admitted that there is no way please all of them, especially on their sensibilities. In fact, Dyogi divulged that Reyes already told ABS-CBN about his article even before it was published.[10]
Other criticisms against the show, such as allegations of voyeurism and proliferation of vices, are also common in other versions of the Big Brother franchise.
Theme song conflict
- See also: Orange and Lemons
There have been allegations saying that the melody of "Pinoy Ako" (included in the album with the same name) has been plagiarized from the song "Chandeliers" by 80s British band Care. Orange and Lemons and the song's composer Jonathan Manalo claim that while Orange and Lemons may have been influenced by British rock, they stressed that the two songs are completely different from each other and assured that Pinoy Ako is a completely original one.[11]
However, musical correspondent Giselle Roque (who has connections to Care) claims in a separate article that Orange and Lemons and Manalo were "pressured" to come up with a theme song for the show within a week, hence the creation of "Pinoy Ako" which is very similar to "Chandeliers."
BMG Music (now Sony BMG Music Entertainment) that owns the rights to Care's "Diamonds And Emeralds" album from which "Chandeliers" came from is yet to issue a statement or take legal actions if it so warrants.[12]
Casting allegations
There are also rumors circulating through e-mail claiming that Uma Khouny, Cassandra Ponti, and Sam Milby were just hired by Pinoy Big Brother and did not audition for it at all. To prove these rumors wrong, the show actually aired some footage to show that the three indeed auditioned for the show.[13] Although Uma and Cass made it to the final four (or "Big 4" as they were called), they ended up as also-rans. As for the Youth Alliance of the Philippines, the group that is said to author the original e-mail, its existence is still being determined.
Labor violations
A Philippine Daily Inquirer article published in early 2006 said that both Uma Barum Khouny and Sam Milby were reportedly fined by the Department of Labor and Employment for failing to get an Alien Employment Permit, a special permit permitting non-resident foreigners to work in the Philippines, before actually participating in the show. Uma and Sam (Israeli and American nationals, respectively) were reportedly fined (ten thousand Philippine pesos for Uma and forty thousand pesos for Sam) each for failing to get permits. However, the article said that Uma applied for his permit after the end of the first season.
'15 Minutes of Fame'
Many have criticized ABS-CBN for giving all the Big Brother housemates management contracts and television projects, even before exiting the Big Brother house. This is without auditioning or the standard workshops in which ABS-CBN talents must go through to obtain said projects and contracts. Since the debut of "Pinoy Big Brother," many of ABS-CBN's programs have featured former Big Brother contestants in roles, denying the chance for the dozens of ABS-CBN's existing talents from attaining television projects. Many of the Big Brother contestants have proved to be unexperienced; however, ABS-CBN insists on its plan to flood the airwaves with Big Brother contestants taking part in almost all ABS-CBN programs.
Censorship issues
In a March 22 memorandum, the movie-TV board took the network to task for airing the "naughty actuations" of a female housemate later identified as Dionne Monsanto of Cebu by MTRCB chair Ma. Consoliza P. Laguardia. According to Laguardia, Dionne "inserted her hands in the underwear" of Zeke Dimaguila of in the March 20 episode. In the same memo, the network's representatives were invited to a meeting on March 27 at the board's office in Quezon City. As a result of the hearing, Laurenti M. Dyogi, PBB director and ABS-CBN business unit head, wrote a letter to Laguardia. In the letter dated March 27, Dyogi stated that the network would issue an apology to viewers who may have been offended by Dionne's behavior. As promised, show host Toni Gonzaga said sorry on PBB's March 27 episode. Laguardia also expressed satisfaction that the camera is no longer focusing on Dionne. In his March 27 letter, Dyogi assured Laguardia that PBB would avoid giving exposure to Dionne. Dyogi also promised that the show would check the behavior of Dionne, through a reprimand and a directive from Big Brother. Dionne was also prohibited from having any interaction with Zeke from March 28 to March 31. Dyogi's letter said, "Big Brother would also remind all housemates to conduct themselves properly while they are in the house."[14]
Vote manipulation
On days after Nel Rapiz's eviction from the House on June 23 2007 during the second season, an anonymous e-mail coming from an "MA Masscom graduate" who claimed to work for the show as a "conceptualizer" and is said to be involved in the voting procedure divulged that on the night in question, Wendy Valdez was in fact the lowest vote-earner, but she was not evicted because "administrators" wanted her relationship with Bruce Quebral "to give it one last shot." The e-mail also mentioned that the author is said to be part of the screening process and the existence of "talent auditors" in the show and it has already drawn the fates of each housemate.
In response, the management and staff of the show clarified that the allegations are pure fabrication. The management said that no conceptualizers and talent auditors exist in the show since the show's concept is already created in the Netherlands, where the franchise originated. Furthermore, no conceptualizer was involved in the screening process, which selected the Top 30 auditioners to be screened for the show (not the Top 100 as the e-mail claimed). Furthermore, the entire tabulation of votes was done electronically and it is closely monitored by a third-party accounting firm since the start of the open voting, the results of which are totally unpredictable. In fact, according to management of the program, Nel and Bruce were really the lowest vote earners and the trend did not change when Bruce was evicted three days after Nel. Furthermore, the e-mail referred to Director Laurenti Dyogi, business head of the program, as "direk dyogi," not "Direk Lauren" or "LMD," as those who are involved in the show call him. This makes clear that the author of the e-mail was not even a part of the show (or even ABS-CBN for that matter) as he or she had claimed.[15]
While these rumors and criticisms persisted, Wendy eventually reached the final four, but did not win the second season.
References
- ^ ABS-CBN Interactive
- ^ Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition > Articles > Keanna Reeves is the Celebrity Big Winner
- ^ http://www.you.inq7.net/vid_vibe/04202006/vid8-1.htm
- ^ http://news.inq7.net/entertainment/index.php?index=1&story_id=48294
- ^ Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2 :: Home
- ^ http://www.pinoybigbrother.com/Portals/0/News/mtrcb1.jpg
- ^ http://www.pinoybigbrother.com/Portals/0/News/mtrcb2.jpg
- ^ http://news.inq7.net/express/html_output/20050903-49024.xml.html
- ^ Big Brother has a lot of explaining to do by Jose Javier Reyes, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 17 2007
- ^ Lauren Dyogi defends "Pinoy Big Brother" Season 2 by Divine Enya Mesina, the Philippine Entertainment Portal, May 30 2007
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ :: Welcome to Manila Bulletin Online ::
- ^ Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2 :: Home
- ^ Naughty housemate gets PBB in trouble, Philippine Daily Inquirer Online
- ^ PBB Management Answers Letter of So-called PBB Insider, Pinoy Big Brother website
External links
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