Hi, guys. Anyone still here?

I haven’t been able to blog that much lately. The past few weeks have been difficult for me and my family. Coupled with Hell Season at work, I didn’t have that much time to do anything else. It was culminated with my father’s passing last week.

To cheer me up, my friend brought me to Eat… Bulaga! last Saturday. It was my first time back at the studio after almost a year. A few things have changed since then, some of which I can’t discuss publicly because I’m not yet equipped to deal with butthurt fans at the moment. I did have one thing I want to blog about.

Last Saturday, I got to experience being one of the 37 judges for EB’s ACTually game.

We got lucky to be seated at that spot where they place the judges. They counted 37 people and we made the cut. As a judge, we were repeatedly asked to do one important thing: NO BIASES. Even if you’re a fan of Alden and Maine (who are both on Team Yellow), you have to judge the game fairly. I was like, how the heck do I avoid being biased when it comes to Alden?

I found out later on that it was quite easy for me to do so. We’ll get into that.

As part of the judging panel, we were automatically given limited edition Eat… Bulaga! t-shirts. In one size. And it’s MEDIUM. Ahm, how the heck do I fit my XL-self in a medium shirt??? It turned out that I’ve lost so many inches since late last year that my shirt size is now medium. Not sure if I should be happy about it, though, I mean given the circumstances around why I lost so much weight…

Then, we were given our ‘tickets’, i.e. the boards we needed to cast our votes for either the Blue or Yellow Team.

Cut to the game proper. The Blue Team was composed of Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Allan K, Baste, Anjo Yllana and the lone female member Pia Guanio. On the opposite side, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Ryan Agoncillo, Ruby Rodriguez, Luanne Dy, Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards comprised the Yellow Team. If we talk of biases, I should be rooting for Yellow. I mean, most of my favorite Dabarkads are there.

It turned out, I voted for Blue all the way.

Admittedly, Yellow Team was better in Round 1. However, I still voted for Blue. Sorry, but I found it off when they resorted to using ‘kilig’ to get votes. I know for a fact that it’s for that reason why Yellow won that round. Quite a number of ‘judges’ were squealing in delight when the “engagement ring” came out that they didn’t bother concentrating on what the Blue Team did next. In the next few rounds, it’s like the Yellow Team focused on utilizing the AlDub kilig instead of thinking of more creative ways to use the featured item. I think that’s how the Blue Team beat them. C’mon, Jose Manalo is on the Blue Team. If that guy finds even the smallest hole of opportunity to slay the opponent, he’ll grab it. Their attack on the next few scenes, particularly on the toilet brush as windshield wiper and plastic pitcher as a megaphone was so out of the box – pun intended – even the opposing team was impressed. There was a collective round of applause from even the EB staff and crew after the Blue Team’s megaphone stunt.

So yeah. Even if I kinda let my biases kick in on the first round because my vote was actually against Yellow’s pakilig stunt and not really in favor of Blue, I believe that overall, I voted based on who I think deserves it more based on the criteria given to us, ie., Acting, Creativity and Teamwork. Sorry, Alden.

Majority of the judges felt the same way. Even if they’re mostly AlDub fans, they still dropped their biases and gave their votes and eventually the win to the Blue Team.

I almost got swayed when Alden sang an Adele song, though. More of this, please!

For those who missed the episode, here it is. Credits go to Eat… Bulaga‘s official YouTube channel.

===

I think it’s safe to say that Boss Madam has officially become Eat… Bulaga‘s flagship segment.

While the rest of us were watching Joke Nos. 1 and 2, the studio was abuzz with preparations for Boss Madam. Ms Jenny was hands-on in prepping Ryzza Mae, Alden and Mama Ten (Boss Madam, Patrick and Kendoll, respectively) for their scene. I guess Boss Madam is the new Kalyeserye?