The Gameshow

I never thought that I would be on TV... Well, you may not have seen me in that game show since there were like a 100 of us but I was there. I was part of the "mob" during the pilot episode of Endemol's game show 1 vs. 100 in the Philippines. The game show did not really hit the ratings I guess since the show did not last that long in Philippine TV.

I tried my luck to join this game show out desperation. Well, I needed extra cash so why not give it a try. I tried sending an entry through SMS (text message). Luckily I got a phone call from the TV network informing me to report on a certain date and time since I was selected to be on the game show. When I got to the TV station at around 9:00 AM we were instructed to fill out a form for personal details. We were then brought to a studio and there was like about 250+ of us there. All the while I thought that once your SMS was selected then you're in the game show already. I did not realize that there would still be a pre-qualifying test and actual auditions that we had to do before being selected to be "really" on the game show. Still, luck was on my side, I passed the "exam" which was mostly general trivia questions and was instructed to have my photo and thumbprint taken for identification the next time we will be asked to return to the TV network. This was about 12:30 PM already so were instructed to go for lunch come back after an hour for the actual auditions. When we got back to the studio after an hour, we were then asked to fill out a form again which was somewhat like a contract. We were then instructed to think of a song that we can sing in front of everyone... huh??? sing??? why??? I was joining a game show not a singing competition. I was now thinking of backing out, why and how in the world can I sing in front of 100+ people? I only sing in the bathroom. But then I was thinking I was there already and a little song, may it be out of tune, might win me some money. Desperate as I am to earn some extra money, I still continued on. After gathering all the "guts" that I have in every last nerve of my body, I went in front and got ready for what the "host" would instruct me to do next. My angels were still beside me, the host asked me to introduce myself and some other silly questions that I replied with some humor and that was it. Yes, I was not asked to sing anymore. We were then let go around 5:30 PM and was instructed to wait for a call as to when the taping of the game show episode would be. This was the first day of this saga...

Two days later I got a phone call from the TV network again at around 9:00 PM and the lady was congratulating me. I was selected to be on the TV ad that will be used to introduce the game show and was instructed to report for the TV ad shoot at 9:00 AM the following day. What??? I have work you know… A regular job that gives me a living… I can't just be on leave from work at such a short notice... I asked if I can call them back and see if I can be out from work. Of course, I can't call in sick just for this reason. My regular job is not worth sacrificing for this one day shoot. I called the network back and gave my apologies but I cannot be absent from work the following day and was still hoping that they will let me participate in the game show itself. The lady then said there is no guarantee when they will call me again. Well, I thought, that was the end of it...

Then there was another call about 2 days later. I was now informed that we will start taping for the pilot episode of the game show. Wow! This is it! I'll be on TV!!! :-) I was instructed to report again to the station at 3:00 PM the following day. I thought I will just leave a little early from work to be able to make it to the taping. I then got a call the next morning saying that the taping will be moved to 5:00 PM. Good that I did not have to leave work early since we really are off by 4:00 PM. Right after work my husband, whom I think was more excited than I was, drove me to the station. We waited for an hour just to be informed that the taping will be postponed till 5:00 PM the next day.

The following day my husband brought me to the station again right after work. I asked my husband to come back for me after he gets a text message that I can be picked up already. I was not sure how long the whole thing would take. So there we were, almost 100 of us who got in for the initial episode of 1 vs. 100. We were instructed to register then we were shown a series of episodes of the game show from other countries to have an idea on how it goes. We were then instructed to wait... 6:00... 7:00... 8:00 PM... still nothing. Since we were just waiting and doing nothing, we got to introduce ourselves to one another... share stories... more stories... total strangers now sharing frustrations on the long wait that we are experiencing, doing nothing, tired and hungry, waiting for what will happen next... Around 9:00 PM we were brought to the cafeteria. We were given free dinner... yeah, how "lucky" we are given free dinner at 9:00 PM. After dinner we were then brought to the studio where they do Deal or No Deal. We were briefed on what to do during the game show. Spirits were up again thinking that we will start the game soon. 10:30 and were instructed to "WAIT" again for the next instruction... 11:00... 12:30AM.. I am now sooooooo frustrated, tired, thinking of going home and sleeping... Why am I doing this to myself? What do these people think of us? Yeah, it's almost 1:00 in the morning and I have to be up at 5:30 to be ready to go to back to "my world". I was feeling stupid already that we had to be waiting and waiting and waiting. It's like they are slapping your face, making you feel that you should be grateful to them that you get to be on TV, and all this wait and frustration is the price you have to pay... Finally at 1:00 AM we were transferred to another studio. We were then seated according to the numbers given to us earlier. The show was about to start... AT LAST! The host was Mr. Edu Manzano and the celebrity contestant was Ms. Ai Ai de las Alas. Questions were easy but a bit confusing. I was out on the second to the last question and did not win anything. It was fun but the long wait and frustration was not worth it. All I was thinking then was I wanted to sleep already. Did not even get to text my husband to pick me up coz I can't stand to wait anymore. I just called a cab and went home. More frustrating was we were not even given anything in return for all our effort. Well, I know that they are not obligated to compensate us but then an act of appreciation for all of us who made their launching episode would be appreciated… a shirt, pen, notepad, key chain, or just anything to say “thanks for your time”. Well I got nothing out of it but then again I guess it was still an adventure and I got to meet new people. A once in a lifetime experience… ONCE IN MY LIFETIME, never will I go through all that again!!! Or who knows???