My Showtime Experience!

After the tour (as told in a previous blog entry) and  being seated inside the studio, the first thing me and my companions noticed was how small it was compared to what we expected. We didn't sit in the front lines but we were close enough. We were just a little higher up. entering took time. The audience members needed to be filed in orderly and controlled. A short and tight sort of hallway, I guess, led to a few steps and into the seating area. 

The small 'hallway'...

Sitting down and staying put was quite hard due to 

excitement. We kept raving about what things we would do if we were approached by one of the hosts; if we were called to the stage; if we were asked to perform live on national television. We were asked by one of the events people (I think that was what he was) what school we were from. Now, I was not from their school and so was my friend, Kim's stepsister, but we just tagged along and said we would be happy to say we were from their school. The relevance of them knowing what school, was for the division of the airtime. For those who don't know, the start of every show, begins with the introduction of the hosts and regulars on the show followed by a dance taught earlier to the audience. They go to commercial break then the people of the audience - who come from all around, not just the Philippines, but the world - a chance to greet whoever they want to greet. We were given a sheet of colored paper to create a sort of banner to say where we were from - or in our case, the school. Immediately after receiving the paper, one of us got to writing down the name of the school and those we wanted to greet. Good thing we got a sheet of paper because Robert, the source of all our tickets, was chosen as the representative to speak if ever we were given the chance to greet and he was typing everything on his phone. There were so many of us that he had to make a list in order to not forget anything. There were 13 of us in total, so you could only imagine. 

Eventually, we got everything settled and just waited and chatted as the other seats in the audience were filled with people. Based on what we know, the scheduled tie for the show to officially start was around 10:30 or 11, we were practically holding a countdown. A few minutes before 10:30, some of use decided to go to he restroom, just to be sure that when the show started, we would have no need for restroom breaks. Of course, being girls, we have this thing where we rarely go to the restroom alone. Yeah, we go in groups, stick together. We ended up leaving only the four boys who were with is in the studio, watching over our things and our seats. They said it was okay...

The 1st restroom we got to was full of people and I even remember that one or to of the stalls was out of order, so the line was so long that we practically had to open the door for everyone to fit. Luckily, someone who worked there passed by and  saw the long line, since we were the ones who just arrived and at the end of the line, she gestured to us and pointed us to another restroom close by. When said thanks and when the door to that restroom was opened, it was empty aside form one person who was already on her way out. We did our business and didn't miss the photo opportunity.

We rushed back to the studio since one of use received a text from Robert saying that we better be heading back. I noticed when we got back that the music was louder and the studio seemed just a tad brighter. We sat back down in our places and got talking again. As eleven o'clock went by I started to wonder what was up, and why the show was running late. I was reminded that there was still a live ongoing NBA game on air (Heat vs. Bulls) and that it was most likely the reason of the delay. A TV was pointed out to me, the game was on. 

"Piolo Pascual"

Later on, there was a voice on that spoke to us asking us if we were ready. The crowd cheered and then came an introduction. The voice said that Piolo Pascual, as in Piolo Pascual, one of the most known heartthrobs and Philippine A-listers of today was about to come on stage. There was this drum roll then *toink, it wasn't him. He was part of the crew of the show - probably a producer - and he asked us right away why we looked disappointed. He explained and apologized for the delay and explained that it was due to the time the basketball game was taking up. He was also there to get us hyped up for the show and tell us the rules. He told us to be happy and to make sure that we had a good time. Cellphones during the shiow were not allowed and so was picture taking whenever the show was on-air. Picture-taking during commercial breaks were allowed. Inappropriate movements like picking of the nose and stuff like that were not encouraged (haha), he said this because there have been a number of times where people were caught on camera doing such things and it was just not pleasant nor necessary. We were then taught the dance moves that were to dance at the beginning of the show, it was fun yet unexpectedly more tiring than it looked. 

After that, we were left to rest and wait a few more moments until the show would start. Once again, this was another photo opportinity. Smile!

Finally, we were told to get up off our seats. The show was to start in a number of seconds. Theme sone of the show blasted in the studio, bringing everyone back to life. The hosts were introduced, along with Vice Ganda (constant judge) and we started the dance routine we were taught only a few moments ago, followed by Anne Curtis' random move, and then off to commercial. We got a chance to catch your breath and to wipe off beads of sweat that formed on our foreheads.

The show returned with the opening spill of the hosts and of course the introduction of the judges. 2 judges were to be somewhat a surprise that day because it was a Monday (every Saturday, judges were voted off of the show and sometimes there were occasions where the all except Vice Ganda were changed). Judges were Vice Ganda, Ryan Bang, and Regine Angeles. Surprise judges were model Andrew Wolff and beauty queen Shamcey Supsup. 

Performers or contestants that day were pretty good. Our scorecards were handed out during the 1st or second commercial breaks after Kuya Kim Atienza briefed us on how he wanted us to handle them and how we shouldn't raise them until the right cue (when he says "Score mo, Show mo!"). He even practiced us a little, and Kim, the one who invited me, and another one of us raised her scorecard without the cue and kind of got - for a lack of a better word - warned, but it was okay, we just laughed it off, nothing serious.

I don't know about the rest of us, but I know that I was pretty determined to get at least one picture or word with one of the hosts or judges. I told  them that we should at least try to get the attention of one or some of the judges. They decided to wave and kind of be a distraction during one of the commercial breaks, Regine Angeles was quite unsure whether we were waving to her or to Ryan Bang. We weren't sure either, but since she was already sort of talking to us, we told her it was her and gestured clicking motions and clasping our hands together saying please and  that we would love to get a picture with her. She said okay and gestured that we should go up. We were surprised that she agreed just like that, and made our way to the stairs leading up to the judges' tables. When we were half-way up, the director (I think) blocked us and told us she was sorry, but we weren't allowed there. As she told us that, Regine pretty much heard her, because she was behind. The director looked back, shook her head and said that it was up to Regine if she was gonna go down. Annoyingly, some people who weren't quite bold enough decided to suddenly pretend that they were bold and approached before we could even do anything about it and got dibs on the first picture with Regine as she got down on audience level. I came closer as fast as I could and told her that we were actually the ones who called her down and I saw like a flash of recognition in her eyes and took a picture with us. She even hugged us, kissed our cheeks and continually said thank you. She was so nice! Nice way beyond what anyone expected her to be.

During anther commercial break, we were lucky enough to get Ryan's attention, and I think Regine actually helped us. He went down and we literally jumped off our seats, rushing and trying to get ahead of those people nearer the judges' area who - like what happened with Regine - weren't asking for anything from the judges, but were quick enough to get to them first. As usual, we didn't get dibs, and we sort of scrambled to get close enough. I decided to go all the way and remove being shy. I got to him first and was next to him. After the picture was taken, he told us thank you and I thanked him too, but asked if I could hug him before I left. Hey, a lot of girls didn't even ask to hug him, they might as well have jumped him (:P kidd). He smiled and we hugged and I said thanks again before getting the camera from Robert so he could get a picture as well. 

During another break, we noticed that there were people crowding at the foot of the stage. A few of us hurried towards the stage, past a guard or two telling us we couldn't, and got a picture with Vhong Navarro. Billy was closest so we gestured for pictures and he gave a smile and a slight nod. We were about to go to him when one or the guards stepped in front of us, as in blocking our path telling everybody that we've had enough and we were given the opportunity. We returned to our seats and I was told that if we would have gotten past that guard, we could have gotten a picture with Anne Curtis as well. Robert felt disappointed of course. He was totally crushing on Anne.

Look at Vice Ganda's face!

Another surprise during the show was the sudden visit of Green Rose star, Jericho Rosales (I would consider him an A-lister, as well). He arrived with a bouquet of flowers, saying that we was actually already heading out and just stopped by. Automatically Billy and Vhong teased Vice Ganda, but as most of the time, the odds weren't quite in Vice's favor. Jericho gave the roses to his Green Rose co-star, Anne. A big number of the audience went wild as he came on stage. One particular girl in the front row was to thrilled, Billy Crawford and/or Vhong noticed her. She was lucky enough to get a hug from Jericho and even a nose-to-nose moment! Jericho even offered Nerds candy for his the flowers being given to Anne instead of Vice. The audience motioned for Vice to have a nose-to-nose moment with Jericho as well. That lead up to all sorts of foolishness. Vice Ganda started singing to Jericho, they through people to the wall. It was all so spontaneous and funny. Even some of the contestants, along with Billy got thrown against the wall... All playfully of course!

 Overall, the show was such a great experience! We had so much fun, but the first thing that was on our minds when we got out was food. FOOD. We were starved.   We had a little trouble in the car deciding where to eat and get cooled off since it was just after mid-day, scorching hot and the air-conditioning in the van happened to be broken. 

We ended up settling for Shakey's Tomas Morato and hung-out and chilled out there while satisfying our appetites. As you could probably tell by now, we wouldn't miss a Photo-op if our lives depended on it. Lunch was definitely an opportunity. Group Photo! Watching showtime was such an experience that we're actually trying to plan watching again. Watching the show requires and evokes so much energy that it's tiring, but definitely  worth it!

Watch past Showtime episodes here!