‘Pinoy Biggest Loser’: And then there were six
In June, there were 14 obese contestants aspiring to be the first "Pinoy Biggest Loser" and the winner of one million pesos, a fully furnished condominium and other valuable prizes. After grueling physical challenges that sometimes resulted in bodily injuries, intense workout sessions at the gym and emotional upheavals, that number was cut down to six at the weigh-in last Monday. Their combined total weight loss: 444 pounds. That's the equivalent of the approximate weight of Manny Pacquiaos times three and doesn't include the figures for the eight who were eliminated.
The six who are still in the running are: Larry Martin, 36, an ex-cop; Art Mendoza, 36, a former US resident and a bar owner; Angela Lupango, 26, SM employee; Raffy Tan, 22, a purchasing dept. employee; Ryan Razon, 31, (his family owns Razon's restaurant); and Leigh Villegas, 24.
When I checked the second piece I wrote about this show on June 21, I was surprised to see that I mentioned three of the six finalists: "Art Mendoza and his wife split up a year ago; Raffy Tan's loved ones were murdered; Angela Chico-Lupango cannot have a baby because she is overweight." I also wrote about Winwin Cabinta, who was the last person sent home this week: ".Not everyone shed tears at the weighing scale. How can you not think positive with a name like Winwin Cabinta? Asked why she shaved her head, the 18-year-old replied at least people would first notice her head before her figure." Am I psychic or what? I was sad to see Winwin leave because she was very open about her feelings and had a very strong TV presence.
Heaviest
One other eliminated contestant who caught my attention was Eboy Bautista, who weighed in at 481 pounds at the start of the show. He was the heaviest in the group and probably one of the heaviest in the world. Of all the aspirants, he was the one who looked like he was having the most fun. He was always cracking jokes and relieved the tension when things got serious in the camp.
Unfortunately, injuries hobbled his performance and he was eliminated on Aug. 1 after his weight loss percentage placed him in the bottom two. He left the show after dropping a total of 97 lbs., the biggest weight loss in absolute figures so far, ahead of Art, who has lost 92 lbs. from his starting weight of 341 lbs.
My only consolation is that Eboy and Winwin along with everyone who got bumped off will return in the final episode because the person who lost the most pounds outside the camp will win P300,000.
Now, for my quibbles about the show. I agree that the major criterion for eliminating a contestant is determining how much weight each one has lost, percentage-wise. Or else, it's the heavier individuals who would have an advantage. What I find unfair is that this percentage figure is determined by looking at a contestant's weight reduction compared to the previous week. To me, what's more important is the cumulative weight loss of the contestant.
Looking at the last weigh-in, for instance, where Winwin did not leave up to her name, she had already lost 27.3 % since June compared to Leigh who had the lowest weight loss percentage at 19.5%. Ironically, Leigh was adjudged the biggest loser for the week because she shaved five pounds from her weight last week, a 2.7% improvement. Based on cumulative figures. Larry topped everyone else with 32.5 %.
Over-commercializing
My other beef against the show is how the network is over-commercializing the production with casual advertisements as well as featuring products in the challenges. For instance, I'm wondering what the relevance of a battery manufacturer is to weight loss. Still the network, conceived of a challenge where the contestants had to place batteries in selected gadgets while attached to a harness.
Isn't ABS-CBN already making a lot of money from the commercials? I'm reminded of how Studio 23, also a member of the Kapamilya network, covers basketball games, where the time outs, the lay-ups, the slomo, etc. etc are brought to you by this and that product. That's overkill, if you ask me.
Back to "PBL." Everytime, a contestant is eliminated, the remaining ones are shown sporting sad faces when I have a feeling that deep inside they're rejoicing that they have not been chosen to go home. The show has emphasized the closeness of the group so that when someone leaves, people are shown sobbing while the eliminated ones show a brave front. Program host Sharon Cuneta shed tears when Winwin went home while trainer Chinggay Andrada sobbed when Eboy left.
My fearless prediction on who will emerge the winner: Art Mendoza. However, Larry will prove to be a very strong challenger.
Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.
