WOWOWEE!!! ;D / DECEMBER 11,2007

Aaaaahhhh...the things one must do to earn a living. Hahaha!!! 'D

I have recently transferred categories and have switched from the Red Saucy side of the business to the Yellow Fruity Side. It is actually a welcomed change, having spent the past 12 years only in Reds. It's like getting a fresh start on a new career without having to give up my tenure (and retirement package, haha!). Overall, it's been a blast. I have, since two months ago, resumed going back & forth to the plantation--something I have stopped doing ever since we transferred Reds production to Manila. Those who have been to the plantation know that it can be quite a stress relief. Wide-open spaces. Fresh air. Great food. Even if we have whole-day business sessions going on, they always seem to go at a pretty relaxed pace--as opposed to the highly-charged boardroom meetings in Manila.

Handling a new category is also like getting a new baby with a totally different personality. Whereas my Reds brands tend to be more mommy serious, talking about serious topics like cancer prevention and three times a week consumption, my Fruity Yellows tend to be lighter, more fun.

Still, it has its pros and cons. HAHAHA!!! 'D

Just last week, I found myself in a Wowowee taping (yes, isa akong Bigaten!!! Hahaha! 'D) with my groupmates Lily and Yoyo (that's their assigned code, haha 'P), to monitor the implementation of a Christmas-related segment buy. No biggie as I have done the noontime show rounds before, I thought.

HA!

The difference between Wowowee and the other noontime shows I've been to before is that in the other shows, I can quietly sit by the sidelines, totally hidden, and just make sure that everything is either done correctly (or at the very least, I can discuss the "flaws" with the production folks so they can do the corrections in time for the next segments in the series).

NOT SO IN WOWOWEE!!!

First, there is no such thing as a back stage in ABS-CBN's Studio 3. Neither is there a marked delineation between the stage and the audience. While, in general, the audience is advised not to go onto the stage because of the heavy equipment, the audience seats (and consequently, the audience) are practically part of the set design!

Second, as a direct offshoot of the first point, the audience is advised that everytime the camera is rolling, EVERYONE HAS TO BE HAPPY! As in E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. Before they go on a commercial break, everyone has to go, "WOW-WOW-WEE!!". YES, complete with gestures. (Ask me to do it the next time you see me. I already have all the moves down pat. Haha! 'D) When dancers and the hosts start dancing "Boom-Tarat-Tarat" during the opening sequence, the audience is required to sing "Boom-Tarat-Tarat" AND dance along with the people on stage! WaaaaaaaahhhhhHAHAHA!!! 'D Worst of all, when the Bigaten segment starts, everyone has to dance "Sayaw, Darling"! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 'D HALA, SAYAW!!! Hahaha! 'p

Truth be told, I rather enjoyed myself. The energy inside the studio was quite palpable. Even during commercial breaks, the entire place was alive as the floor directors "taught" the audience all the moves they would need to do once the cameras start rolling after the commercial break. It was quite hilarious, really. On one side you have the TFC audience, holding up their hand-made banners, declaring their place of origin. On the other side, you have the locals who are really there to try their luck at winning. We were seated in the "halo-halo section" where people from all walks of life end up sitting for lack of any other available seats in what would have been their "assigned area" inside the studio. Lily, Yoyo and I thought we found the perfect ploy for staying off the camera range by staying behind literal bigatens (haha) in the second row of the halo-halo section. We all thought it would allow us to sufficiently monitor the segment buy while escaping the inevitability of being shown on TV if we had stayed on the front row. So, there we were doing "Sayaw Darling" while laughing ourselves silly, secure in the knowledge that we will not be seen on national TV. Fools! HAHA! 'D Soon after the song started playing, the other "bigaten hopefuls" who got stuck with back row seats started rushing to the front, landing beside us, dancing "Sayaw, Darling" like their lives depended on it! Ngyah! Walang kawala! HAHAHA! 'D

That day, Ilong (I kid you not; that was the contestant's name) won P170,000! He was a fruit vendor who, before trying his luck in Wowowee, spent sleepless nights trying to figure out how he was going to pay for P40,000 in debt. Apparently, he would borrow capital (most likely on 5-6 basis) to buy the fruits that he would sell, only to realize at the end of the day that what he earned was only enough to feed his family, leaving his original debt unpaid. It was a cycle that he had to go through everyday until his debt ballooned to P40K. Seeing the losing contestants with their far-away look and drooped shoulders was literally heart-breaking (after all, their financial woes may be just as heavy as that of Ilong's), but I suppose the show can only do so much.

It can provide temporary relief from the drudgeries of life through entertainment.

It can grant a glimmer of hope for a better future.

Yes, it is there to help out, but it can only do so one person at a time.

***********************************************************************

While I will always remember the Wowowee experience as a noisy, fun one, I am writing down this note as a reminder to myself: to help when I can and to help as much as I can. My professor in Theology of Liberation, Father G (God bless his soul), once told us in his typical Father G tone, "God made the world to have enough resources to feed everybody. Why do people go hungry? It's because Those-Who-Have end up wanting more, instead of sharing what they have with Those-Who-Have-Not. Always remember that to have more than what you need means you are depriving others of a chance for a better life. You must therefore decide on what you need, then share the rest with the less fortunate. To be truly Atenean, you must be a man for others. To be a man for others, you must learn to live simply so that others may simply live."

Point taken to heart, Father G! =)