Prologue
Of course you know by now that we won our very first episode and lost on the second. And even though we didn’t enjoy our losing the game, we did enjoy the entire experience as a whole, thanks for the wonderful staff of Pilipinas, Game KNB? namely Ms. Aida B. Gonzales, Ms. Melanie Navarro, Ms. Beautiful (the happy and gay staffer who entertained us a lot), Ser Pogi (I guess he was Floor Manager, other than Sir Mel Feliciano), Mr. Mel Feliciano (sorry for that crazy line I blurted out… it’s just that I am genuinely a fan of Ms. Anna), Mr. Headwriter, and most importantly, Cairman Edu Manzano.
I’ve been an avid viewer of Pilipinas, Game KNB? even when Ms. Kris Aquino was still hosting the show. It was the only trivia show I can consider which rivals the now defunct Digital LG Quiz and my childhood fave Battle of the Brains. Plus, they added the entertainment bit through interviews and bloopers, and by far my most fave show in Philippine TV (even before I competed in the show). Me and my family, whenever we get together, always always (note: two “always’s”) watch the show and compete with each other, see who gets the highest score. My being a loyal viewer of PGKNB trained me for last week’s episode.
“What? Companions?”
March 17, 2009, 12:28PM. I was texted and saw “Hi, this is Melanie Navarro…” from my iPhone. I thought she’s just another spammer, and then I opened it, saw that it was a huge text. It said that I was pre-selected thru electronic raffle for Game KNB. Of course I got delighted ‘coz I’m a real fan of the show, but then I saw this part of the message: “Pls bring with you 2 Companions/Teammates of ur choice” and so I asked myself, if this were a scam, and if the texter was a scammer, then she should’ve told me I should go alone to some remote place. Then I realized, “teammates”? “Companions”? That time it was Tuesday and he wants me to have teammates on the next day, so I scrambled and looked for teammates. That time, Marte was working in the office, so I asked him if he could join me. I expected him to say no, maybe because it wasn’t his thing, but then again, he will be a good asset to the team. To my surprise, he said “Yes”, and we started hunting for another teammate.
Later, Wali came by our office, doing his usual “visits”. Then I thought, why not include a Masters Degree student in the team? Again, I was expecting him to say no because he has work, and he’s pretty devoted to it, but again, I was surprised for him saying “Yes” to the stint. The next day, we decided to go to the auditions.
“Dammit! We will be late!”
After waking up around 10AM, and 1 full hour of lunch (I eat real slow), me and the gang met up in UP, knowing we might be late for the audition. When we got to the ABS-CBN compound, we had no idea where to go or where to park. With that, we went to the actual contestants’ waiting place around 30 minutes late. Good thing the auditions didn’t start yet. Big sigh of relief!
Tired and Groggy, but Energetic at the End
When we finally lined up for the auditions, we were already tired and groggy. We haven’t experienced any audition this big (I auditioned before for the defunct MTB for Pls. Konek segment) so we got tired without any reasons for being tired. The staff were accommodating and very patient for “stray” contestants (it’s easy to get lost inside the compound).
Tired and groggy, we still lined up and finally, we went inside the GKNB studio, with the old format’s set back then, seggregated us from “texters” and “companions”, texters in the lower level of the set, companions on the higher podiums. We had an exam (won’t give full details about this) but I have to say we kicked ass in the exams, except for the part when I answered “Pacers” for a baseball team and they answered “San Jose” for Jamaica’s capital.
After the exam, they told us that the teams they will be calling will “go home” and should text more to be accommodated for next auditions. These teams failed to make it for the next audition (which is the interview part). Holding our breath, we hoped there’d be no “Jofell” mentioned in the team members who failed. Until the last team was announced was when we sighed relief and exclaimed joy.
“Celibacy is the Best Policy”
And then, the texters were reunited with the companions.
The “hosts” of the auditions were really funny and energetic. They started calling out names in order of descending cumulative scores. We were in the top ten (and I guess that time I had the top grin). Each team called (and there were like 60 teams of 3’s in the studio) will have to introduce themselves and provide conversations with the “hosts” so they would know each team’s personality, whether they see us as interesting teams, and maybe put us up for casting on the first few episodes.
I say we made a mark that time ‘coz I genuinely heard people laughing, listening on our stories. I remember I said we were roommates, and we sleep together in one foam bed, and others laughed. I said we had a motto and it’s “Celibacy is the Best Policy” and everyone, sans the hosts who didn’t hear it, were laughing. The hosts asked us to spell “Celibacy” and I blurted out “S-E-A-L-…” and I stopped. One of the hosts, IMO the cutest one, Miss Navarro told us she’ll remember us, that they won’t forget us.
After the auditions, we went home, with high spirits and expectations.
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