Survivor

I know of many friends, colleagues and acquaintances that are now hooked with Survivor Philippines in GMA 7. The ratings have been impressive despite its late time slot and I know that most of the cast-aways have made their marks in the minds of the Kapuso viewers (or should I say Filipino viewers since many friends, colleagues and acquaintances who are self-confessed Kapamilyas are also watching this show?). Patani Daño has now realized her dream of having “exfoshore” since I heard she co-hosted with Lucy Torres in the latter’s show in QTV when Wilma Doesnt was out. And I am definitely sure there will be more “exfoshore” to come for her. There had been a spoiler as well saying that JC Tiuseco will be the Sole Survivor as apparently, someone overheard the staff and crew of Survivor talking in a coffee shop somewhere about this. This was of course denied by the host, Paolo Bediones and he stressed that the Sole Survivor will remain unnamed until the finals night. As of this time, the winner is known only to the show’s Program Manager and all of them, from the host to the cast-aways to the staff and crew were all guarded by Confidentiality Agreements (hmmm, sounds familiar) they have signed prior to the show. A legal case awaits those who’ll spill the beans.

If you are familiar as to how all Survivor series are done (I am actually not but thanks to my friend Yeth for explaining to me), you’ll know that the shooting and taping has long ended before the actual airing of the show starts. The final two contenders will be revealed only on the show’s last week of showing and the previously voted-out cast-aways will be the ones to choose who between these final two will be the Sole Survivor. Since GMA’s version is franchised, I believe that they are bound to follow the same practices and principles as the Mother Survivor has. That said, I agree that the spoiler article or even the discussion in the coffee shop are not true. I’ll also stress my reasons later in this entry as to why I personally do not believe JC will win the title.

I am really fond of reality-based shows. From Search for a Star to PDA Season 2, I think I only missed all Star Circle Quests and PBB Season 1 and Teen Edition 1; the rest of all these shows I followed religiously, regardless if it’s from GMA or ABS and yes, IBC 13 (Search for a Star was aired by VIVA in IBC 13). Of course, I always have my bet and statistically, I am in the 60% to 70% win in betting. My winners’ circle included Sarah Geronimo, Erik Santos, Jennylyn Mercado, Jonalyn Viray, Mike Tan, Ryza Cenon, Marky Cielo, Sam Bumatay, Gerald Santos, Yeng Constantino, Beatriz Saw, and Keanna Reeves. I also had an entry airing my sentiments as to how my votes for Robi Domingo of PBB Season 2 were not counted and felt that there had been manipulations by ABS in their vote tabulation. At least for Survivor (under the impression that GMA will follow the mechanics of the mother show), the winner will be chosen by the cast-aways themselves. Safe way of selecting the winner, huh!

And now, talking about bets and since Survivor Philippines is the ‘in-thing’ nowadays, let me enumerate my bets and my thoughts on each of them:

My Top Five would be Zita, Cris, JC, Jace and Kiko. Originally, I am rooting for Patani, Niña, Zita, Cris and JC but since the first two already left the Ko Tarutao I gave Jace and Kiko my final two slots. And surprisingly, I am more “makamasa” now unlike before when I am rooting for the ones who are well-off, good-looking and capable to earn a spot in the local showbiz (Patani, Zita and Cris are usually not my type for bets). I guess watching the many shows and seeing how the unlikely contenders win the top plum made me more mature in accepting the fact that no matter how much I spend for the text votes, the producers, the director and the people behind the show will hand-pick the winner (here I go ranting again about the Robi Domingo scam).

Now why them? My original choices:

Patani - we all love the girl. Simplicity and innocence wise, she captured the hearts of the many viewers. The “yaya” has now become a household name. I think her being very vocal that she’s only after the “exfoshore” worked for her. And my, her comic antics are all natural! Cast her in Bubble Gang please!

Niña – had it not for her injury, I know Niña will get a long way in the show. She is fair, just and very competitive in all the challenges and she has this strong personality which her tribe mates in Jarakay sees as a threat, especially when it comes to forming alliances.

My Top Five (as of this writing):

Zita - the “labandera”. Her purpose of joining the show was really noble. She only wants the best for her seven children. She has jumped from one house to another and worked as a helper. Now in her mid-life years, she joined Survivor only to bring her youngest kid to school and give this child the education Zita herself was deprived of.

Cris – I like his comic antics. Cris is not the strong one ~ physically and mentally. But the way he treats his tribe mates, how he contribute to the challenges and the tasks and how he simply alleviate the boredom of the Naaks in their everyday stay in the island are really commendable. If I could cast Cris in a show, I’d like him to join Ariel and Maverick in this duo’s current show (don’t know the name for it’s on a late night timeslot) or in Nuts Entertainment with him joining the Balakubak portion.

JC – the sometimes weakling in the physical challenges yet the most handsome guy in the show. JC’s advantage is his good looks; win or lose, JC will surely get his claim of celebrity status. I’d like GMA to cast him in their shows that are lined-up, provided that they will give the boy the proper workshops and trainings. Or he can be paired with Chris Tiu (another GMA 7 promising star/TV host) in a sports-related show.

Why did I say though that JC will not win the title? Well, like what I’ve said, he is perceived to be weak in the challenges. I think the cast-aways are wise enough not to choose a winner which has not shown them that he or she deserves the honor of being the First Sole Survivor. Hello, this is still a physical and tactics show! Let’s face it as well, JC is a star-material (I’ve said that!) and this is just his ticket to fame! For me, he actually does not need to join Survivor; he only needs to do VTRs and attend auditions.

Jace – the strongest contender physically. I just don’t know if mentally, Jace has it (sorry, it’s too early to say!). Jace is the rough version of JC. While JC is the boy-next-door, Jace is the action star material. He has resemblance with Leandro Muñoz (for sure, you can’t remember who he is!). Jace should also join showbiz and should try auditioning for the sidekick role of Robin Padilla in his upcoming “Totoy Bato” show (with Regine Velasquez as the leading lady, hehehe mabanggit lang si Lola Regine! By the way, her Kim Samsoon bowed with an impressive rating as well!).

Kiko – Niña’s male version, Kiko plays the game by-the-book and by principles. He is such a good sport and a good tribe mate, making sure that he is doing his job and contributing all he can for the benefit of the Naak tribe. I like it when he was kidnapped by Jarakay when Naak lost in the immunity challenge. Though with another tribe and must be a pleasing visitor and slave to them, Kiko confessed that his loyalty is still with Naak and realized that even if they frequently lose the challenges, the bond that ties them is far better than the Jarakay’s.

I always tell my co-Survivor fans that I like the Naak tribe more than the Jarakay. Challenge-wise, Naaks are weaker than Jarakays but many would agree that the Naaks is a ‘family’ while Jarakays are divided by their alliances and their individual goals of winning the Sole Survivor title. If I may say, it was a mistake grouping these people who possess either strong or greedy personality in one tribe. When Gigit and Niña went out, I knew the clashes and the culture will remain in the Jarakay tribe for long not unless someone from amongst them would initiate to ‘bind’ the team. I really dislike Marlon and have cursed him so much while watching the show every night; how he boasts and acts as if he is in control of everything (not to mention his in-genuine loyalty by joining both alliances in Jarakay tribe) are sure down-falls for him. I just hope that in the next few weeks he’ll go out. And I hope as well that show business will not open its door to this self-centered and greedy monkey!

Well, the show will run till its finals night on December 6. Surely, there will be more twists and events that will happen while we’re all waiting for the Big Day. My top 5 may make it or not but whatever their fates would be in the competition, I will surely finish this show till its final episode. Thanks to GMA for this Survivor Philippines; the ratings that the show is getting is well-deserved. And I hope the milestone that you have just started does not end here. More Survivors to come!

Note: "exfoshore" is from a friend and reader, Migs Miguel. Just giving him the proper credits! Thanks Migs.