Monday, June 05, 2006

And The Big Winner Is... Kim!

By Jerry Donato
The Philippine Star 06/05/2006

Dreams do come true. These are perhaps the first few words the ecstatic Bahay ni Kuya housemate Kim Chiu uttered when her name was called as Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Teen Edition Big Winner during the reality TV show’s grand finale the other night in a fairy-tale fashion held at the Aliw Theater in Pasay City.

The winner’s royal court was comprised of Mikee Lee, second placer; Gerald Anderson, third placer; and Clare Cabiguin, fourth placer.

The other teen edition’s housemates were Jamilla Obispo, Brenda Fox, Olyn Membian, Matt Evans, Fred Payawan, Joaqui Mendoza, Niña Jose, Bam Romana, Mikki Arceo and Aldred Gatchalian.

Before the Big Day came, The Final Four were treated to the bucolic Hundred Islands in Alaminos City, Pangasinan. As expected, Kim, Mikee, Gerald and Clare went to this summer getaway blindfolded and were grounded in a private resort. Big Brother asked them to perform tasks and the last week of the show saw them doing a balancing act on a rope, cleaning a certain part of the beach, scuba diving, coral replanting and clam transferring.

In one of the tasks, Gerald was found cheating the weight of the collected garbage by putting some stones. Kuya decided to evict him off Big Brother House.

This made Kim, Clare and Mikee miss Gerald and conclude that he (Gerald) was out of the race. Just like a forgiving parent, Big Brother gave Gerald another chance to stay in the race after accomplishing a task which required him to gather rocks in the pool and create a message expressing his feelings.

The competition in the teen edition was unpredictable. Televiewers thought that Aldred, the good-looking valedictorian from Pasay City, would emerge the winner. After a one-week stay, however, he made a voluntary exit and left the house. Reason: He missed his family.

Jamilla’s touching story and reason for joining PBB led many to believe she would give fellow housemates stiff competition. Mommy Jam to her fellow housemates, all Jamilla wanted was for her one-year-old son to have a much-needed cleft palate operation. Jamilla, whose story is somewhat similar to Celebrity Edition Big Winner Keanna Reeves’, endeared herself to her housemates and televiewers with her maturity and devotion to her son.

The 42-day run of the reality TV show saw girls swooning over the arresting looks and masculinity of Matt, Fred, Gerald and Mikee, the resident genius. They thought one of them would be the next big winner.

Kim remained consistent as a shoo-in for the top prize. With her Chinese features, Kim is perfect as a lead star in a chinovela. But this was not the reason why she clinched the top prize. Kim won the hearts and sympathy of her housemates and televiewers when she sang a Chinese song which speaks of true friendship.

Not only that. She showed her dancing skills, too. Kim had also the rare chance of recording the song with her favorite duo, M.Y.M.P.

On hindsight, what carried the day for Kim was her being true to herself and her determination to accomplish all the tasks Big Brother prepared for the teen housemates.

Just like in any Cinderella-inspired story, PBB Teen Edition ended happily – perhaps ever after – for its Final Four.

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