We got game – lots of ’em!

I was walking through a crowded mall the other day when someone tapped me on the shoulder, but when I turned around I did not recognize a familiar face.

After greeting me by my first name, the friendly stranger excitedly said: "Nakita kita sa Game Ka Na Ba? Congrats! Ang galing mo!" Yes, over a month since I appeared on ABS-CBN’s brand-new game show, hosted by Kris Aquino, I am still receiving congratulatory remarks and words of praise worthy of an Olympic champion or maybe even a Nobel laureate. It’s kind of amusing yet sad at the same time (for me, anyway) that after a 20-year riding career and devoting more than half my life representing this country in international competitions, I’ve received far more compliments by winning a 30-minute local game show.

I am not insulted. It just shows how absolutely crazy Pinoys are about game shows, at least for the moment. Sports after all, (aside from basketball, of course) have never been on top of the priority list of Filipino television viewers. And when is equestrian ever on air, anyway?

The night I was a contestant in Kris Aquino’s show, all the other contestants were athletes from different sports. I must admit, it got my adrenaline running high trying to beat the other 14 competitive players to the buzzer. I beat my boyfriend, Vince, and that made victory even sweeter. Haha!

I might be disappointing some people who may have had the wrong impression of my "genius," having answered "which airline was involved in the Lockerbie Bombing" (Pan-Am) or "how many days the Iranian hostage crisis lasted" (444). I guessed most of the time. Honestly, I never liked games, even as a kid. I did not like playing board games, card games or even computer games. But when there is a million bucks at stake (and we’re not talking Monopoly money)... I hate to sound materialistic, but I was really enjoying it! The best part about participating in this particular game show was playing for what they call a

"showcase." Prior to the game, all contestants were asked to name a charity and one person he or she wished to donate a part of his or her possible winnings to. The show has since changed its format, but previously, participants were allowed to name one charity and a non-family member whose life they would like to improve, one way or another, through a non-cash gift package (i.e. a sari-sari store, tricycle, personal entertainment center, etc.) For my chosen charity, I wanted to donate computers to the Vince Hizon Foundation’s computer center program, and to my groom, Turs, as the non-family member (although he is like family to me) whose life I would like to somehow improve. It was desperately trying to secure three out of five questions under the "News in the ’80s" category that racked my nerves most, since I was playing for a full college scholarship for Turs’ four-year-old daughter Crystal. The Game Ka Na Ba? crew even took a video footage of Turs and Crystal wishing me luck, with Turs’ face full of hope that I would answer enough questions to secure a college scholarship for his only daughter. How could I fail them both?

At that stage I had already won P200,000 in cash and I was playing for a scholarship fund worth another P200,000. When I correctly "guessed" the answer that clinched the scholarship, I decided not to continue, "take the money," so to speak, and run! Call me "chicken," but I couldn’t risk the scholarship, never mind the cash. Really.

I didn’t continue playing for the possible donation of computers for the Vince Hizon Foundation. I promised Vince we could split the cash and buy computers for the Foundation’s computer centers with the other half, instead. After all, going home with a hundred thousand pesos is not bad for an evening of laughter and excitement. I can’t say I’ve ever had that much fun earning that so much money!

So, is it only the money that lures audiences across the nation to watch game show after game show on primetime television? Money is not necessarily evil, but it is certainly always a good incentive.

After having been victorious in my first experience as a game show contestant, I attempted to watch all the game shows in every channel – all in one evening. Surprisingly, it can be done. (Except for ABC’s The Price is Right, hosted by Dawn Zulueta, since it is only shown Sundays).

From 7 p.m. to as late as 11 p.m., local and syndicated game shows successively appear on our screens, in almost every local channel, five days a week. Contestants can win as much as P2 million in at least two shows, the popular Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hosted by Christopher de Leon on IBC and GMA’s Korek na Korek Ka Dyan, hosted by Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon. I never witnessed anybody winning the grand prize, although I have seen contestants playing for a million bucks, only to lose everything (well, not everything because these shows always provide consolation prizes). But if one is playing for a million pesos in one of these game shows, that only means, he or she had risked at least half a million in the process. And losing half a million bucks that was never yours (but could have been) to begin with, could be just as painful, I’m sure!

Every show has its own gimmick in order to make the game more interesting or exciting–whether it is inviting celebrity guests as supposed "helpers," such as Korek na Korek ka Dyan’s, "DOH" (Department of Help). Or "lifelines" to aid a contestant’s quest for a million, as seen in Who Wants to be a Millionaire? where contestants can call a friend or ask the audience for assistance.

My personal favorite is IBC’s The Weakest Link, hosted by the sarcastic yet funny Edu Manzano. It is the most intellectually challenging of all the game shows currently on air. This show is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Sometimes I wonder if the participants are seriously offended when they are "voted" off the team, by the remaining members, or if they are merely instructed to look dejected by the show’s director, for "cinematic effect. I mean, it is just a game, after all. Right?

Based on experience, it is much more difficult to think of the correct answers when one is a participant, facing a camera, in a studio surrounded with lights and constrained by time, than sitting in front of the television set, when one is not really trying to win and nobody has to know whether you got the right answers or not. Don’t be so hard on contestants who answer incorrectly. Not everybody knows that a cufflink, not a "kernel" is used to secure a man’s sleeve! (Question asked in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? where the contestant answered incorrectly.)

Contrary to popular opinion that the current influx of game shows in local television will lead to its own demise, I think these shows are here to stay for a long time. In these trying times, the only thing to hold on to is hope. In this case, game shows give people hope of becoming instant millionaires.