Pinoy Big Brother (franchise)

Pinoy Big Brother, more popularly known by its abbreviated title PBB is the Philippine version of Big Brother. The word Pinoy in the title is a colloquial term used to describe the Filipino people. The show first aired on  August 21, 2005 on ABS-CBN and its international channel TFC in various countries world wide.



How it works
The Philippine version follows the premise of the original format of many foreign counterparts where in a number of Filipinos will volunteer to live in one house for a certain number of days. The elimination process in the show is the same among many foreign counterparts which is the reverse of the original Dutch format. At the start of the elimination process, the "housemates" (as the contestants are referred to) vote for which two (sometimes more if there are ties or if Big Brother hands out an automatic nomination) fellow housemates they should eliminate. Once these nominations are chosen, the viewer votes come into play. For a week viewers are asked to vote, via SMS or voice messaging through PLDT's hotline (later abolished in favor of vote cards), for whoever they wanted to stay longer in the house. The housemate with the least viewer votes is eliminated. In the final week, the one with the most viewer votes will win the grand prize package, usually includes house and lot, a car, a business franchise, home appliances, and a holiday, and is given the title the Big Winner.

Other essential elements of the Big Brother franchise are present, such as weekly and daily challenges, the confession room, and the voice known only as "Big Brother," sometimes referred to as "Kuya" (Tagalog for an elder male sibling).Pinoy Big Brother uses their tagline "Teleserye ng Totoong Buhay" or the "Real Life Soap Opera"

The Big Brother House
The iconic Big Brother house is located i n front of ABS-CBN studios in South Triangle, Quezon City.

The house is a multi-room studio and is specially designed to capture the housemates' every move. Camera cross surrounds the house, it allows cameramen inside the house record the housemates' every move without being seen by the housemates.

The set up of the house, especially when shown in television, makes the illusion that it is a one-storey house. But anyone who passes by the house can easily notice that its facade is that of a two-storey house. That is because the second storey houses parts of the control room. The actual front doors to the house area are actually further inside.

Seasons and Editions
Overall, Pinoy Big Brother had already produced 12 seasons with 4 regular seasons, 4 teen seasons, 2 celebrity seasons and 2 special seasons since it began airing on 2005.

The show has 4 editions, a teen edition, a celebrity edition, a regular adult edition and a special edition.

Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition
The adolescents chosen for this particular version are aged 13 to 18 years old, are from different cities in the Philippines, sometimes even from certain overseas countries with sizable Filipino communities. Other factors are disregarded; in-school and out-of-school youths, natural-born Filipinos and adolescents with a mixture of Filipino and foreign blood, those with intact and broken families, and even teenage single parents may be eligible as long one passes the age requirement and has a background worth exploring during the edition's run. This edition is usually done in the Philippine "summer" months of late March to early June. During this time, temperatures in the country are at their highest and most students are out of school; a regular school year in the Philippines runs from June of one year to March of the next.

Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition
The Celebrity edition follows the same premise of the Big Brother UK rip-off version Celebrity Big Brother where in Big Brother housed commercial models, actors and actresses, radio and TV show hosts, musicians, sports and fashion personalities, and even politicians in a certain number of days (the duration of this particular version of the show is lesser compared to the regular seasons). Celebrity housemates, like many counterparts abroad, play for charity, aside from themselves. Prizes given away from edition to edition can vary, but basically, the cash prize an edition's winner can receive is the same as the prize for that winner's chosen charity organization, i.e. the winner and his/her charity each win the same amount.

Special Season
Special Seasons are editions where in a different format is being applied to the show. Either, teens, celebrities and regular adults will live in the house or two editions will happen in one single season. It depends on the twists of Big Brother himself.

Theme Song
The show also had its theme song called "Pinoy Ako" (English: I'm a Filipino) by Orange and Lemons. This song is also the basis for much of the background music used in the show.

Other theme songs for the show was Sikat ang Pinoy by season 1 contestant Sam Milby and Toni Gonzaga which was used for its Celebrity seasons. A different theme song was also used for its Teen seasons; Kabataang Pinoy of the Itchyworms.

The new version of "Pinoy Ako" by Reo Brothers was released on Season 5 (All in Season)

  





