Chinoy Teener From Cebu Wins Reality TV Show

First posted 07:06am (Mla time) June 05, 2006
By Bayani San Diego Jr. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

CHINESE-FILIPINO Kimberly “Kim” Chiu of Cebu was declared the big winner of “Pinoy Big Brother’s Teen Edition” during the finals held at the Aliw Theater late Saturday night.

Kim bested 13 other housemates in her month-long stay inside the Big Brother House, garnering a whopping 626,562 text votes or 41.4 percent of the total -- twice that of her nearest rival Mikee Lee who only posted 313,032 votes or 20.7 percent.

Filipino-American Gerald Anderson of General Santos City placed third with 293,234 votes or 19.4 percent, while Clare Cabiguin of Bukidnon was fourth with 279,390 votes or 18.5 percent.

Kim’s prizes include a condominium in Chateau Valenzuela, an adventure package, a four-year college scholarship from AMA Computer College and P1 million in cash.

Resplendent in a puffy white Larry Espinosa gown, Kim was also the crowd favorite in the 3,000-seater Aliw Theater. Her fans cheered her on, brandishing banners in support of the 16-year-old Cebuana and her
“love team” partner Gerald.

Just what made Kim stand out from among the 14 housemates, who in turn were narrowed down from over 30,000 hopefuls that auditioned?

PBB director Lauren Dyogi said that it was Kim’s natural charisma that endeared her to viewers. “She’s wholesome and very pleasant. She laughs a lot. That was how she coped with the stress of their 42-day stay in the PBB house.”

Kim reportedly told Randy Dellosa, resident psychologist of PBB, that she didn’t have a clue. “I am just happy that my parents and siblings now see me in a different light. My sisters were surprised to learn that I could sing.”

(ABS-CBN did not allow the winners to be interviewed by anyone from the press until after their exclusive appearance on “The Buzz” yesterday at 4 p.m.)

Dyogi added that Kim had a wide fan base. “We cannot discount the large Chinese and Visayan votes. Also, a lot of Filipinos are fascinated with Chinese culture because of all the Asian telenovelas.”

In the end, Cebuano charm won the day.

“She also sings Chinese,” Dyogi pointed out -- almost as an afterthought, as if in response to the media critics who had dismissed previous PBB alumni as untalented.

Women power

For the third straight time, woman power reigned on the ABS-CBN reality show after Kim topped the Teen Edition.

In the show’s first season, Nene Tamayo emerged as big winner; in the Celebrity Edition, it was Keanna Reeves.

Just what is the significance of PBB’s all-female lineup of winners? Is it a reflection of the Kapamilya network’s largely female/family-oriented demographic?

Is it a validation of the supposed “matriarchal” nature of Philippine society?

More than a talent search, Dellosa believes the show serves as a “social experiment,” a Rorscharch Test if you will, in which “we can study how the public is reacting to people-watching.”

It’s not just an experiment in voyeurism, he said, but it can also be a study on the voting patterns of Filipino televiewers.

“If you read the PBB forum online, the reasons the viewers post for favoring certain housemates can be trivial,” Dellosa points out. “It can range from something as shallow as good looks to as obvious as regional affiliation.”

Reformat

Dyogi also revealed that PBB was going to be reformatted into a talent search, called “Pinoy Dream Academy,” in its next full (three-month) season in August.

This is probably the network’s answer to “Philippine Idol,” which premieres on ABC 5 in July.

“Pinoy Dream Academy is actually a separate franchise, also from Endemol, the same Dutch company behind Big Brother,” Dyogi explained.

“In London, it’s called ‘Fame Academy.’ In France, it’s ‘Star Academy.’ In Spain and Italy, ‘La Academia.’ It’s a lot like PBB in the sense that the students live together. But the difference is that they will be trained to be performers. Big Brother won’t be around. Instead, there’ll be a principal and different instructors who will give workshops on singing, dancing and other aspects of performance.”

But will “Pinoy Dream Academy” go head-to-head with “RP Idol”?

RP Idol, look out

“I think ‘RP Idol’ will just air twice a week, but ‘Pinoy Dream Academy’ will come out nightly,” Dyogi said. “We just want to give PBB a rest this year so that viewers will miss it. We want to protect the PBB franchise.”

Sheldon Bailey, supervising producer of Freemantle Media (“Idol” producer) and consulting producer of “RP Idol” told the Inquirer in an earlier interview: “The Idol franchise has been successful in 35 countries. We are confident that it’ll wipe out copycat shows anywhere in the world.”

Roberto Barreiro, managing director for TV operations, sales and marketing of ABC 5, asserted that in the Philippines, “Big Brother” had “evolved from a naughty, almost soft-porn show (in Europe) into a charity, socially-relevant program.