MANILA, Philippines?Is this going to be the year of TV game shows? After lording it over the daytime and prime time programming slots for several seasons now, some telenovelas have been dipping in popularity even as their production costs have been going up, up, up?a double whammy that may have prompted some producers to opt to do generally less expensive game and quiz shows instead.
Thus, as of last month, local TV screens featured shows like ?Pilipinas Game Ka Na Ba,? ?1 vs 100,? ?Wheel of Fortune,? ?Jeopardy,? ?Takeshi?s Castle,? ?Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader,? ?Don?t Forget the Lyrics? and ?K, The P1 Million Videoke Challenge.?
And, only last April 21, two new competition shows made their bid for viewers? nod??The Big Show? on GMA 7 (before ?Eat Bulaga?) and ?The Singing Bee? on ABS-CBN (after ?Kung Fu Kids?).
?The Big Show,? hosted by Ogie Alcasid, turns out to be ?big? in a visual scene: Its games aren?t merely updates on traditional Pinoy games; they also go the extra mile to visualize those games in engaging and creative ways.
Thus, its first game, a take-off on tumbang preso, had each of its three competing teams literally ?wearing? a huge slipper and trying to be the first to hit a giant ?can? with a nervous man inside running like heck to get out of their way.
One team was then eliminated, and the remaining contestants next made their appearance dressed to look like giant coconut trees?complete with nuts! Other visually engaging games followed, until the winning team tried to win the jackpot prize by hitting a giant claypot while blindfolded.
The twist here was, they didn?t hold a stick, they were the stick: Each member of the team was stuffed into a ?wooden? costume and tried to hit the suspended pot like a battering ram. Again, a novel visual touch.
Ogie added to the fun with his breezy comments and the tongue-and-cheek rapping, and more visual oomph was provided by his bevy of plump, overweight and literally ?big? show girls. Unfortunately, the chunky babes did little to enliven the show otherwise?perhaps more work can be done in this regard for future telecasts.
The initial impression the show made was decidedly positive, and we liked the fact that its first contestants were household help, giving the show an agreeably masafeel. We worry, though, that the weekday program would quickly become predictable.
To make sure this doesn?t happen, the production?s think tank has to continue creating and innovating in terms of the games played in the program, and how they are entertainingly visualized.
Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis first made waves a year ago, when she won UK?s TV talent contest ?The X Factor.? She had massive Christmas No. 1 hit with ?A Woman Like this,? with an amazing 50,000 downloads in the first half-hour alone. The single sold 600,000 copies on its first week, making Leona the fastest-selling female debut artist of all time.
Her first album, ?Spirit? displays Leona?s stunning vocal range. ?Bleeding Love,? the first single released from the album, is creating a stir in the United States as the highest gainer in the Billboard 100 charts. In the Philippines, the single raced to No. 1 in the dwRX countdown Top 7 charts. ?Spirit? is now available at leading record stores.
?The Happening?
Set to open on June 13, ?The Happening? by M. Night Shyamalan, stars Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher in the midst of an unusual event that threatens the future of mankind. The global catastrophe literally has the planet fighting back against humanity, infecting people with a neurotoxin that makes them want to kill themselves.
?Mirrors?
For his part, Keifer Sutherland top-bills ?Mirrors,? a different kind of thriller directed by Alexandre Aja (?The Hills Have Eyes?). Sutherland plays a security guard in a long-closed department store ravaged by fire, who discovers that the store?s mirrors harbor a horrific secret that threatens him and his family.
