survivor philippines: palau: why vlad lost

vlad is definitely is a survivor in his own right. he overcame his insecurities and made it an inspiration to improve himself. he later on made himself look good and even became a model. he was also a former swimming varsity, so he has an edge on water challenges.

but unfortunately, he was voted out in the fourth tribal council by a vote of 5 - 2 from his fellow airai tribemates. but more surprisingly, he gave up before even going into the challenge with justine in isla purgatoryo.

so why did vlad lost?

first, vlad became too focused on playing the game rather than focusing on how to get the hearts of his tribemates. his competitive spirit got the more of him. he was playing the game too hard even though he has not won the trust of his tribemates. in this game, trust of your tribemates is the most critical thing to gain.

second, he is not a strategist at all. yes, he plans on how to go about the voting process and how to get further in the game. but he is too hasty. he is too clumsy. when he approached charles after they lost the immunity challenge, he did not see that mika was on their back. it was the critical point, i think if he got charles' votes, he could have stayed in the game.

third, he was prepared physically but not mentally. he did not anticipate that survivor is a mental a game and it is definitely a hard game to play. he has said this before he left the game, that the game is starting to affect him mentally and he needs to call it quits.

lastly, he did not exploit the fact that the original airai tribe has the advantage in numbers. he could have gathered the original airai tribe first before having talks with louie and charles. they could have voted off an original koror and try to sway the vote and eliminate cris. but the fact that they planned to vote off cris first and align with louie and charles, and he calls to vote off louie lateron; he definitely would look like a traitor rather than an ally.

but what surprised me was when he quits before even challenging justine. knowing his competitiveness, it is very uncharacteristic of him to just say it's over. you can't always have a second chance in everything and he decided to let it go away just like that. that makes him so much less of a survivor...

image is from:
http://blogs.gmanews.tv/survivor-philippines/index.php/the-castaways/4-castaways/15-vlad-the-metrosexual

survivor philippines: palau: why carol lost

carol is definitely a survivor, being a noble teacher for a long time and imparting her knowledge to countless kids in her classes through the years. upon joining survivor philippines, it was expected for her to bring into the game her motherly attitude and survival instincts. but she was voted off unanimously on the koror tribe's second tribal council on day 6.

so why did carol lose?

first, she had the motherly attitude but her younger tribemates did not appreciate her. comparing her to season 1's nanay zita, she is no where near her attitude. she was more assertiva nd a disciplinarian at heart, which annoys her tribemates. it was their complaint about her and was even discussed during the first tribal council. despite this, she did not adjust and still annoyed the other tribemates.

second, she is not a physical asset at this point. since koror has been losing in the challenges, the tribe thinks that they must keep the stronger players first to be able to win. with her age, physical condition and performance, carol is definitely a target to be eliminated.

third, she has no clear strategy nor alliance. in a game called survivor, strategy in alliance is crucial. she is the only castaway in the tribe with no clear alliance and she is seldom shown strategizing for the game. she is being overshadowed by the other castaway's strategizing skills. i think she was not ready for that part of the game and she lacks the strategy to last long in the game.

i was really surprised that in her exit interview, it seems that she did not expect that she will be eliminated. was this a complete blindside for the second straight week? with carol now in isla purgatoryo, let's see if she can win her face off with justine to stay alive and still survive.

survivor philippines: palau: week 2 highlights: isla purgatoryo revealed, carol voted off by koror

another twist was revealed last week in survivor philippines. the castoffs will be brought to another island, called the isla purgatoryo. in this island, they will be given limited rations and supplies and will live with a dog and lots of snakes in the forest. only one cast off can stay on the island. when another cast off arrives, the two cast offs will compete in a face off to determine who will stay in the island and who will go home. the one that would win will wear the immunity bracelet, which is the right eye of the idol. the one who lasts the longest will rejoin the other castaways during the merge.

both tribes received a treemail on day 4 that there are 6 chickens on the island and they need to find them. since both tribes liuves on the same island, they fought for the chicken but it was airai who go all 6 chickens.

this week's reward challenge is a mental and balance challenge. from wikipedia, here are the mechanics:

"With letters painted at the front and back and standing on a ledge, tribe members would try to spell the answer to the riddle being given by the host. Each member must traverse the ledge and can only touch one tribemate at a time. The first tribe to form the riddle's answer wins a point. First tribe to three wins the reward."

reward for this week is fishing gear, which they can use to get food. if koror wins, they will get their crate of supplies and is airai wins, they will decide if the crate will be given to koror, just like in week 1. in this challenge, airai decided to sit down cris since they will have difficulty on the balance part. despite this, koror still managed to escape a win with a score of 3-2. it's their first win and they got their crate at last.

at the immunity challenge, another physical challenge was done. here are the mechanics, again from wikipedia:

"Tribes squabble over a coconut placed in the middle of a field take it to their goal at the other side to score a point. The coconut could be passed between members in any way except overhead. The first tribe to score three point wins immunity."

in this challenge, no individual immunity will be awarded. at the start, both tribes scored and was tied at 1-1. goals were made by amanda for airai and marvin for koror. koror then snatched the lead after scoring the next goal. airai then tied it up and eventually won immunity by winning their third goal. koror will again face tribal council for the second straight time.

with no individual immunity at hand, carol is an easy target to be eliminated. louie seems to be the one trying to have the pole position on strategizing in koror. he has talked to almost everyone in the tribe and has been taking too many sides. talks of voying for charles and tara was also heard in the tribe. louie formed an alliance with suzuki and charles to eliminate tara and marvin in the next tribal councils.

at the tribal council, there were talks about louie's frequent swearing and how the tribe thinks about it. and then it was time to vote. and finally, when the votes were counted, carol was voted out unanimously, 6-1 by her tribemates. carol becomes the 2nd castaway voted off the island.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Philippines_(season_2)

survivor philippines: palau: why justine lost

justine ferrer is a survivor. she has been an entertainer in japan since she was 19 and has been the breadwinner ever since. she has survived descrimination because of her uniqueness and her identity but she never gave up and she always stand after each fall. she is one of the stronger characters in survivor philippines this season.

but unfortunately, she was voted out unanimously (7-1) by her tribe and became the first castways to be voted off.

so why did justine lost?

first, she bacame complacent of her alliance with the girls. before the tribal council, there were so much talks that they would vote out charles. the girls even formed an alliance (echo, tara and justine), sensing the guys had an alliance. they trusted the girls too much that she did not realize that she was also in danger.

second, despite her giving her best in the challenges, her tribemates still viewed her as one of the weakest in the tribe. with carol being safe due to the immunity bracelet that was given to her by airai, the clear ones in danger in the tribe's eyes were charles and justine. among the boys, its clearly charles being the weakest since louie, marvin and suzuki contributes so much in challenges. among the three guirls, echo has been giving the tribe coconuts and tara has a very strong personality. maybe her being in the background and not being able to compete against the 2 girls gave the tribe an impression that she is the weaker one.

third, even if the show denies it, her identity being a transgender affected her. i think the filipino culture is still not ready to accept the fact that there are transgenders here in the coubtry. i am not saying that the vote was a discriminatory vote but i think she does not deserve to go this week. i was predicting a charles boot this week. but i am proud of her, admitting the fact that she was once a man on national television is really a brave thing to do in a conservative culture that we have. and even being in the island is a big accomplishment. and i also think she admitted it too early in the game.

i think she played the game well but just fell short. let's see how she fares in the next week since i think there will be an "outcast" like twist that was used in survivor pearl island. so we are not saying good bye to her but we are still looking forward to see her in the coming weeks.

but ultimately, justine is and will always be a survivor!

survivor philippines: palau: airai reigns supreme, justine voted off

here is a recap of survivor philippines: Palau's first week. the show started off with the castaways being fetched fofrom their homes. they have a limited time to pack and they need to go with the staff to palau immediately. the emotions were high since some of them have not yet said goodbye to their loved ones. this part reminds me so much of the first episode of pinoy fear factor. i think they could have had a special primer where they showed this just like last season where the castaways were introduced during a special sunday show rather than during the first episode.

upon arrival at the island, they were greeted by paolo bediones. he then asked the two oldest castaways to step forward. it was cris and carol. cris was assigned in airai and carol was assigned to koror. they will pick tribes. males will pick female members and vice versa. so the final tribes were:

airai: cris, amanda,mika, jef, vlad, troy, shaun, maya
koror: carol, justine, echo, tara, marvin, louie, suzuki, charles

then they were off to the first challenge. they were asked to navigate the island using a map. they should follow the marked path and avaoid going to the areas marked with red exclamation points. they will carry with them 2 heavy crates containing their supplies. the first tribe to get to the other side of the island wins and will take home to their camp the supplies. the losing tribe will take only the bolo. the race was pretty much even at the start with airai working as a team a little better. but it was obvious in the end that airai had better communication skills than koror, giving them the edge and eventually winning the race. so airai takes the supplies and koror settles for the bolo.

at camp, both tribes made shelter upon their arrival at the area. airai had ann easy time makinbg their shelter since they divided the labor among themselves and they easily agreed on the area. on the other hand, koror had strong personalities that they had a hard time finishing their shelter. both tribes also found their water supply and their tree mail. that night, both teams attempted to make fire but bothe were unsuccessful. they settled for body heat to warm them up. charles went down with a fever and was helped by his koror tribemates to keep warm.

there was another reward challenge in day 2. here is the mechanics lifted from wikipedia:

The members of each tribe are divided into two: one group of six puzzle seekers and another group of two puzzle solvers. The puzzle seekers, harnessed to each other, enter a partially-submerged maze to retrieve twelve bundles of puzzle pieces and exit through the opposing tribe's entrance. The puzzle pieces are passed to the puzzle solvers, who would untie the pieces and solve the puzzle. First tribe to solve their puzzle wins the second reward.

the reward is a flint so they can make fire.it was a see saw battle in the beginning, with both tribes retrieving the puzzle pieces in the maze. they even tually collected all 12 but it was koror who got out of the maze first, with airai not far behind. it is now up to the puzzle solvers. and in the end, airai's puzzle solvers were better than koror's. so it was airai again winning reward.
at camp, both tribes are now strategizing on who to vote out, despite the fact that the immunity challenge has not taken place. at koror, the guys and the girls are planning for a gender based vote. since the tribe is split into 4 - 4, the guys are planning to get jef to their side while the girls are planning to get cris to their side. in airai, carol's attitude is getting into the castaways nerves and talks of voting her off in the tribal council is intensifying.

then came the immunity challenge. here is the mechanics again from wikipedia:

Each tribe would dig out a stone monolith weighing 250 kg (550 lb) and carry it between two balance beams and over a wall before placing it on its new portal. Once that is done, two tribe members would jump into a sand pit and search for the immunity idol. First person to find the idol wins immunity for their tribe.

if koror wins immunity, they will get their supplies. if airai wins, they will decide if the supplies will be given to koror. at the start of the race, it was koror leading since they got the monolith out of the sand first. airai followed soon and caught up in the balance beam. it was the good teamwork of airai that enabled them to take over the lead. the wall was really a challenge to both teams. but airai proved to be stronger. airai was first to the pit and never looked back. it was shaun who found the immunity idol, giving airai the first immunity. koror did not even passed the wall.

the airai tribe decided not to give the supplies to koror. and their is another twist. the eye of the idol when pulled out turns into a bracelet. this is an immunity bracelet. the winning tribe will decide to whom they will give the bracelet among the losing tribe and that castaway will be safe from the vote. without second thoughts, they decided to give it to carol, who they think is the weakest among the tribe. the second eye of the idol also is an immunity bracelet. paolo got it and said that will come into play in the later part of the game.

back at camp, koror was really disappointed on their loss and they were still talking about the challenge. realizing that they were up for the vote and they cannot vote out carol, two names comes up in the chopping block. first, it was charles for being too relaxed in the challenge and having no "mind power". another name was justine since they were worried if she can still cope up in the next challenges. it was clear that louie, suzuki and marvin has an alliance. the girls (justine, tara and echo) also formed theirs. there was also some drama when charles said to tara's face that he is considering voting her off. tara was so angry that he swore at charles. the macias sisters really speaks their minds out.

at tribal council, justine's identity was revealed. justine is a transgender, a man who underwent operation to become a woman. it was revealed to the koror tribe in day 2 when the suzuki told louie that he thinks justine is gay. louie then told tara and tara told echo. echo was the one who asked justine and she confirmed it. she said that it was a complement that they did not notice it at first.

then came the votes. here are the votes:

charles
justine
justine
justine
justine
justine

5 is enough so justine is the first castway to be voted off this season. the final score is 7 - 1, only justine voted for charles. it was a complete backstab at week 1. justine never saw it coming. she though that everyone was voting for charles.

in the primer for next week, it was shown that justine is not eliminated yet. she was brought to a new island and will live there. and she might be able to join the game again. this is the same concept used in survivor pearl islands where the outcasts (the third tribe) competed in week 7 against the 2 tribes. if they placed first, 2 of them will come back to the game. if they placed 2nd, only 1 can come back. it was burton and lil who rejoined the castaways after the challenge. so

let's see how the philippine version works.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_Philippines_(season_2)

survivor philippines palau: premieres in philippine tv on august 17

last year breakthrough hit in philippine reality television, survivor philippines will launch its second season, survivor philippines palau on monday, august 17 in gma 7. this season, survivor will go to palau, the same location where the us version's 10th (survivor palau) and 16th (survivor micronesia) was filmed.

the new set of 16 castaways are:

> louie ang (24, pasig) - an IT professional and is dubbed as "the chickboy"
> mika batchelor (25, palawan) - "the sexy chef" who is a chef and restaurateur in palawan
> cris bolado (39, quezon) - dubbed as the "gentle giant;" the oldest among the men but definitely the most recognizable one, a former basketball player who has played in the PBA
> echo caceres (20, bicol) - "the spicy bicolana," a call center agent and her family's breadwinner from albay
> amanda coolley van cooll (25, mindoro) – “probinsyanang tisay,”
> charles fernandez (21, dagupan) – a general labor construction worker in alaska
> justine ferrer (29, caloocan) – “the beauty queen,” worked as a singer in Japan before but now owns a buy and sell business and managed a baby ultrsound company
> jef gaitan (22, laguna) – “the girl next door,” a model who stopped school since 18 to focus on her career
> carol gementiza (45, iloilo) – “istriktong guro,” the oldest among the castaways, and a public school teacher for more than 20 years
> marvin keifer (18, cagayan de oro) – “the ultimate crush,” the youngest among the castaways; he is swiss – filipino and is a backpacker and environmentalist; had tv exposure before through qtv 11’s hired where he won to be a model of a designer jeans company
> tara jane macias (19, cebu) – “taray queen,” an english tutor and is said to be the sister of season 1 castaway, chev macias
> vlad nesas (24, las pinas) – “the metrosexual,” an industrial design major, varsity swimmer and model
> troy perez (27, manila) – “the mentalist,” a biology major, works ina bank and is a magician
> shaun rodriguez (31, zambales) – “the hot dad,” a PR staff in Manila’s city council office, has experienced bankruptcy when his investment was lost due to the closure of a mining company he invested in
> maya segovia (32, batangas) – “the lady pilot,” a military officer and a pilot of the philippine air force; considers herself a man trapped in a woman’s body
> sadatsugu suzuki (21, tondo) – “japinoy hunk,” grew up in japan for 18 years but stayed pinoy and now studies criminology in emilio aguinaldo college

the castaways will be divided into 2 tribes namely, koror and airai which are also tribe names in the us versions that were shot in the same location (koror in survivor palau and airai in survivor micronesia). more twists will definitely be introduced this season.

so, who will be the second pinoy sole survivor? watch so you will know.

source: http://blogs.gmanews.tv/survivor-philippines/

survivor philippines: season 2 audition dates and venues announced

after a successful first season, gma 7 has announced the auditions for the second season of the hit reality show survivor philippines. who will become the next sole survivor after baketball heartthrob jc tiuseco in season 1?

the audition is open to all individuals 18 to 39 years old, physically and mentally fit and can last in an unfamiliar terrain for 39 days. audition dates and venues are as follows:

feb 26 - 27 - csi, the city mall lucao in dagupan
mar 3 - 4 - sm city baguio
mar 9 - 10 - lcc mall - naga
mar 12 - 13 - sm iloilo
mar 15 - 16 - sm city cebu
mar 18 - 19 - sm davao
mar 23 - 24 - sm lipa
mar 27 - 28 - sm north edsa
mar 29 - 30 - sm mall of asia

source: http://www.pep.ph/guide/3400/Survivor-Philippines-Season-2-will-begin-nationwide-auditions

local reality shows announces new seasons for 2009

several local reality shows has announced that they will stage new seasons this year. at least 3 local shows have announced their plans through the teasers that is shown in their respective networks.

first on the list is the original reality artista search on tv, starstruck. after leaving the air for three years, the show that produced mark herras, jennelyn mercado, marky cielo, ryza cennon, yasmin kurdi, aljur abrenica, mike tan, lj reyes, mart escudero and jris bernal among others will stage a comeback this year. also rumored to host the show is the original host, nancy jane and drew arellano. as a prelude to the show's comeback, they will stage a reunion of the show's alumni and auditions will commence sometime in 3Q 2009. the show is rumored to be dubbed as starstruck: the elite comeback.

next on the list is the most successful reality show from abs cbn, pinoy big brother. teasers has been shown in almost all shows of abs cbn, alerting all housemates wannabees to be ready for the auditions are coming soon. after season 1's nene tamayo and season 2's beatriz saw, another set of housemates will battle it out to be declared the season's big winner.

last on the list is last year's reality show to beat, survivor philippines. gma 7 has been showing teasers on the show's forthcoming second season. after season 1's jc tiuseco, another set of castaways will set foot on yet another 39 days of challenges and triumphs in a remote island in a nother country.

survivor philippines: season 2 auditions will be on march

after a successful first season of the reality show survivor philippines, gma 7 will hold auditions for the second season by march, as a local newspaper revealed. the seen scene article in the entertainment wrote on its january 7 issue the following:

Scene : Magkakaroon ng Season 2 ang Survivor Philippines dahil naging matagumpay ito sa telebisyon. Magsisimula ang kanilang audition sa March 2009.

i think the great ratings and huge fanbase prompted gma 7 to have a second season. for sure, thousands of fans and challenge seakers would again flock to the audition venues and try their luck in the show. we wuill wait for the formal announcement from gma 7 regarding the audition schedules.

link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=429686&publicationSubCategoryId=96

survivor philippines: is season 2 a sure thing already?

based on the forums on survivor philippines' official site, season 2 is still in the drawing board and is not yet a sure thing despite the high ratings of the show and the fan clamour for it. but on the december 3 issue of pilipino star ngayon, it looks like survivor philippines season 2 is a sure thing already. here is an excerpt from nitz miralles' article:

Masaya ang una sa maraming selebrasyon ni Paolo Bediones ng 10th year niya sa showbiz at sa pagiging host. Marami siyang ipina-raffle na gifts at lahat ay nag-uwi ng regalo. Nangako ang TV host na masusundan pa ang pakikipagkita niya sa press dahil marami siyang mga susunod na projects next year.

Special guest sa okasyon ang 10 castaways ng Survivor Philippines na naunang na-vote out at kasa­ma sila sa game. Present sina Kiko Austria, Gigit, Patani, Emerson, Marlon Carmen, John Lopez, Kaye Alipio, Vern Domingo, mommy Niña at Vhev Gador.

Sa December 12, na ang finals ng Survivor Phi­lippi­nes at ia-announce ang winner sa isang live show na gagawin sa Studio 6 ng GMA Network (akala namin outdoor ang finale para mas ma-feel ang ambience). Tapos na rin ang Tok! Tok! Tok! at wala pang next show si Paolo, pero malaki ang posib­ilidad na magkaroon ng season 2 ng Survivor Phili­ppines. Ang balita nga namin, sa January next year na ang audition at March, sisimulan ang shoot sa lugar na mapipili.

In the meantime, magko-conduct muna siya ng hosting seminar sa gus­tong maging host at tatapusin ang sinusulat na libro. Kasama rin sa plano niya ang ipakanta ang mga compositions sa mga kaibigan niyang singers.

will the season 2 announcement be made on the finale that is why they are not confirming anything so far?

source: http://beta2.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=420636