Pinoy Big Brother, later known by its retroactive title Pinoy Big Brother: Season 1, is the first civilian edition and the first-ever season of the reality television series Pinoy Big Brother.
The series aired on ABS-CBN for 112 days from August 21, 2005 to December 10, 2005.
Nene Tamayo of Romblon emerged as the first-ever Big Winner of the series, taking home the grand prize package worth ₱6,000,000 (approx. $111,000) all-in-all; including a house and lot worth ₱2 million, a cash prize of ₱1 million, livelihood showcase worth ₱2 million and a brand-new Nissan Frontier Titanium.[1]
Background[]
Series Format[]
The debut season of Pinoy Big Brother set the format used in the succeeding seasons of the series. The season adopted the original Dutch format, wherein the contestants called housemates must nominate two people and those nominated must face the public vote, with the viewers voting to save the housemate they want to stay. Whoever has the least amount of votes will be the one evicted during eviction nights that happen every other week, similar to its Dutch counterpart.
Throughout the season, the housemates must accomplish weekly tasks given by Big Brother in order for them to gain a shopping budget. This budget will determine how much they can spend on their groceries. The tasks require a team effort and communication to succeed. Losing a weekly task means that they have to deal with weekly rations for the entire week.
However, in contrast to its international predecessors, Pinoy Big Brother delved deeper into the social experiment aspect of the series, integrating elements of value formations, most especially promoting Filipino values and respecting Filipino culture in the show.[2] The Philippine version of Big Brother also focused on the concept of pagpapakatotoo, or in English, authenticity, making it a primary element in the series. Due to the show integrating Filipino culture and values, the series also explored various facets of what it is like to be a Filipino, adding nationalistic and cultural aspects within its narrative from subtle elements in house interiors to life lessons shared by Big Brother. [3][4]
Casting[]
For its casting, ABS-CBN presented the new reality series with a teaser that asked viewers the question Gusto mo bang maging BIDA for 100 days? (lit. Do you want to be the protagonist for 100 Days?) as early as May 2005. Unlike the succeeding seasons with open casting, the first season's casting was done through a phone call and a private interview. A total of 25,000 people auditioned for the debut season.
Out of the 25,000 auditionees, 30 finalists passed the callbacks before the Final 12 contestants, whose ages ranged from 18 to 31 years old, got chosen for their interesting personalities and appealing life stories. To add further security measures, the finalists had to pass psychological and physical exams. [5]
Theme Song[]
Main Article: Pinoy Ako
The debut season of Pinoy Big Brother introduced a theme song entitled Pinoy Ako (I'm a Pinoy), performed by the alt-rock band Orange and Lemons. The band first performed the song during the series' live launch. Later in the season, an offcial music video was released featuring the season's best bits.
The song's message implies the essence of being a Filipino and the importance of showing and believing one's authentic self without pretensions. The song became an instant hit in Philippine charts since its official release. Since its release, it has been the official theme song of Pinoy Big Brother and has been the basis of most of the soundtracks used in the reality show.
Hosts[]
Filipino variety show host, Willie Revillame, along with singer, actress, and presenter Toni Gonzaga, as well as host and actress, Mariel Rodriguez were announced as the main presenters for Pinoy Big Brother's debut season.
The three hosts had designated duties throughout the show; Toni presenting and narrating the primetime weeknight episodes, Mariel hosting the late-night companion show, Pinoy Big Brother: Uplate, and Willie hosting the weekend live shows (eviction and nomination nights) accompanied by her female co-hosts.
Primers[]
Prior to the official live premiere of the series, ABS-CBN aired two primer programs to prepare the viewers and officially introduce the viewers about the show and its mechanics. The first primer entitled "'Eto Na Si Kuya!" (Here Comes Big Brother!), introduced the mechanics of the franchise and its worldwide success. The second primer entitled "Ang Bahay ni Kuya" (Big Brother's House) aired with Mariel and Toni indirectly touring the purpose-built Big Brother House, from inside the house up to the behind the scenes rooms such as the control room and the camera runs. The second primer also aired highlights of the 24-hour dry run with 12 of the network's talents.
The House[]
Nestled within a thriving commercial district, the purpose-built Big Brother House across the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center is a 1600 square meter (17,222.26 sq. ft.) multi-room studio with an exterior and facade that resembles a typical two-story house, suggesting a "homey ambiance". The Pinoy Big Brother House was built by Architect Arnold Austria, with ABS-CBN's resident production designer Nancy Arcega designing its interiors. With its lot previously home to an abandoned mid-century house turned warehouse, the old house was torn down to make way for the Big Brother House which was built within three months and cost around P12 Million to P13 Million as Architect Austria stated.
Inside, the house had bright and colorful walls. It also had five windows with lots of natural light coming in. Interior Designer Nancy Arcega revealed that it was done in such manner so the place wouldn't look dark on television. She also added that there were no studio lights used in the house and made sure that the house will feel like a real home. Arcega stated that the house was made to be modern, but also featured noticeable Filipino elements by using local materials and local colors. [6]
The house layout is composed of 2 separate bedrooms for men and women, a living area, kitchen and dining, storage room as well as a bathroom and restroom. One important part of the house is the Confession Room, the place where the housemates could talk to Big Brother about their feelings and the happenings inside the house.
There is also a large backyard garden area with various plants, sitting areas, a tall palm tree, as well as a swimming pool. For the housemates' security and the essence of being locked away from the outside world, the garden area is covered with a black net type of fabric. The house also boasts of a multi-faith altar in one area of the house near the front door (one which has a Bible, a Koran, and twelve rosaries), making the house the only Big Brother house that has an area specifically used for religious purposes. Although any form of communication from the outside world is banned inside the house, there is a large flat-screen television set in the living room, used for only two purposes:
- Airing videos Big Brother want to show to any or all housemates, especially that of the TV Mass every Sunday, and
- Announcing the nominees for eviction directly to the housemates and the eventual evicted housemate from the house.
To complete the set up, 26 surveillance cameras are positioned all over the house to watch the housemates' every move, including the bathroom. For modesty's sake, however, images from the bathroom will be shown if the bathroom is used for any purpose other than bathing (such as gossiping).
Season Twists[]
- 100 Seconds Encounter: Throughout the season, the housemates had a chance to talk to their loved ones inside the Diary Room for only 100 seconds.
- Replacement Housemates: If a housemate either had a voluntary exit or got forced evicted, a new housemate would enter the house as a replacement. The twist was used twice in this season.
- The Big Switch: On Week 8, previously-evicted housemates were given a chance to reenter the house via public voting as a replacement housemate for Bob dela Cruz who was ejected due to medical reasons.
The Housemates[]
Nominations History[]
Week 3 | Week 5 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 15 | Week 16 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finale | ||||||||||
Nene | 2-Cass 1-Say |
2-Cass 1-JB |
2-Say 1-Cass |
No Nominations |
2-Uma 1-Cass |
2-Say 1-Sam |
2-Cass 1-Uma |
No Nominations |
2-Uma 1-Say |
Winner |
Jason | 2-Nene 1-Bob |
2-JB 1-Nene |
2-Uma 1-Cass |
No Nominations |
2-Sam 1-Uma |
2-Sam 1-Uma |
2-Cass 1-Say |
No Nominations |
2-Say 1-Cass |
Runner-Up |
Cass | 2-Franzen 1-Racquel |
2-Racquel 1-Bob |
2-Racquel 1-Jason |
No Nominations |
2-Jason 1-Nene |
Nene Jason |
2-Jenny 1-Jason |
Auto Nom |
2-Nene 1-Jason |
Third Place |
Uma | 2-Racquel 1-Bob |
2-Racquel 1-Bob |
2-Racquel 1-Bob |
No Nominations |
2-Nene 1-Jason |
2-Franzen 1-Nene |
2-Jason 1-Nene |
No Nominations |
2-Nene 1-Jason |
Fourth Place |
Say | 2-Racquel 1-Bob |
2-Racquel 1-Jason |
2-Bob 1-Racquel |
No Nominations |
2-Jason 1-Cass |
2-Jason 1-Jenny |
2-Cass 1-Jenny |
No Nominations |
2-Cass 1-Jason |
|
Franzen | 2-Racquel 1-Uma |
2-JB 1-Uma |
2-Cass 1-Uma |
No Nominations |
Auto Nom 2-Sam 1-Cass |
Sam Cass |
Auto Nom 2-Cass 1-Uma |
Auto Nom |
||
Jenny | 2-Franzen 1-Racquel |
2-Franzen 1-Racquel |
Exempt | 2-Sam 1-Franzen |
2-Say 1-Cass |
|||||
Sam | Not in the House |
2-Racquel 1-Bob |
No Nominations |
2-Chx 1-Say |
2-Jason 1-Say |
|||||
Chx | 2-Franzen 2-JB |
2-Cass 1-Franzen |
2-Cass 1-Franzen |
No Nominations |
Auto Nom 2-Cass 1-Sam |
|||||
Bob | 2-Uma 1-Cass |
2-Uma 1-JB |
2-Uma 1-Cass |
|||||||
Racquel | 2-Uma 1-Franzen |
2-JB 1-Cass |
2-Cass 1-Say |
|||||||
JB | 2-Bob R1-acquel |
2-Racquel 1-Bob |
||||||||
Rico | Auto Nom 2-Racquel 1-Nene |
Key: | Winner | Runner-Up | Finalist | Nominated | Re-Entered | Walked | Immune | Ejected | Evicted | The Big Switch |
Notes:
- Jenny Suico made a voluntary exit on Day 28 on Week 4. However, since she was able to vote for the 2nd Nomination Ceremony, her nomination votes were still valid. The nomination announcement took place after her exit.
Game History[]
Week 3[]
Week 5[]
Week 7[]
Week 8 - The Big Switch[]
Week 9[]
Week 11[]
Week 12[]
Week 13[]
Week 15[]
Week 16 - Big Night Finale[]
Big Brother Final: The Big Night[]
After spending 112 days inside the house, Nene Tamayo was proclaimed the first Pinoy Big Brother winner in a grand finale on December 10, 2005. The finale show, dubbed "The Big Night", was held at Clark Expo Amphitheater, Angeles City, Pampanga, and was broadcast live.
The four remaining housemates (Cass, Nene, Jason, and Uma), wearing blindfolds and headphones, were taken to Clark Expo Amphitheater from the Big Brother house in Quezon City by a private plane. They were then sequestered in a secret location before the actual live final. Pinoy Big Brother's theme song Pinoy Ako by Orange and Lemons was played played repeatedly until they went out in the secret location. Despite the rains that plagued the day of the final, 30,000 people watched "The Big Night," hosted by Willie Revillame, Toni Gonzaga and Mariel Rodriguez. According to TV ratings agency AGB Philippines, the show averaged a 39% rating and peaked at a 46% rating.
After spending 112 days inside the house, Uma was declared as the Fourth Big Placer in the Big Night finale, garnering just 52,833 votes or 4.7% of the total votes. Soon after, Cass having garnered 214,188 votes, 18.9% of total votes, was awarded the Third Big Placer status in the Big Night finale. The Second Big Placer was then named to be Jason. He garnered 312,258 votes, equal to 27.5% of the total votes.
The finale show lasted almost three hours and ended with fireworks as the Pinoy Big Brother house replica disintegrated to reveal Nene Tamayo as the "Big Winner." She garnered 554,906 votes, or 48.9% of total votes, in the Big Night finale.
Post-Season Specials[]
Due to the unexpected popularity of the first ever series, some Pinoy Big Brother specials were aired on ABS-CBN.
Pinoy Big Brother Revealed[]
Pinoy Big Brother Revealed was a special documentary series hosted by Boy Abunda. Rather than just a behind-the-scenes look at the show, the series explores the concept, its popularity, the housemates themselves, the program's initially criticized morality, and its impact on Filipino pop culture, especially the rampant use of the show's logo, footage, and music by pirates. The first episode was shown live to accommodate the "Big Four," who were obviously inside the house during the taped interviews for the documentary.
Pinoy Big Brother: Pamasko ni Kuya[]
Pamasko ni Kuya (English: Big Brother's Christmas Gift) was a series where the housemates' Christmas wishes are granted by the producers of the show, especially ones that involve charity work.
Controversies[]
Conservative Groups vs. Pinoy Big Brother[]
Being the first-ever season of the new reality series, many conservative groups in the country opposed the idea of Big Brother being aired on Philippine television due to the negative reputation of its international counterparts in some countries. However, ABS-CBN managed to differentiate the Philippine version which became the reason for its success in the following years.
Skepticism towards the Show[]
Columnist Nestor U. Torre of the Philippine Daily Inquirer has also given a doubtful but optimistic stance on the show, saying that while the scenes are chaotic and challenges in the first week were way too mundane and cheesy, he is hopeful that more compelling tasks would be given to the housemates in the future and the housemates' personalities will become clearly defined. [7]However, Torre wrote in a later article that in the first week alone, the show emphasizes more on creating controversy (such as sex) rather than exploiting the potential psychological factors and showcasing human nature.[8] Despite this negative publicity, ABS-CBN itself has reported that the show is so well liked that it extended its run to all seven days a week. In fact, not only its on-air talents have defended it, but viewers themselves (as shown on ABS-CBN programs) can attest to it. It also inspired the creation of fansites.
September 25, 2005 Episode Suspension[]
On its first week alone, the show was already given a stern warning by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Philippine censoring body for cinema and television, saying that the show airs content that is definitely not suitable for children, such as talk on contraceptives and very "intimate scenes". ABS-CBN is reported to have acknowledged this and had promised to make an "improved" show more suitable for younger audiences in the coming weeks.[9] As a result, as scenes like these are unavoidable at times without interference, each episode begins with a warning reminding viewers that some scenes in the show that are not suitable for young audiences. In spite of this, though, the scenes that were deemed to be way beyond the parental guidance rating given by the Board were still shown. In this light, MTRCB ordered the program suspended for one episode. As compliance, the program was not aired on September 25, 2005, the day after the 2nd eviction night.
Franzen Fajardo's Forced Eviction[]
Franzen Fajardo created controversy when he continuously violated Big Brother's rules, including mouthing words to fellow housemate Cassandra Ponti. Deliberations between the show producers and consultants from Endemol over the mouthing of words resulted in a decision to evict him on Day 86. However, Ponti offered to voluntarily exit to keep Fajardo inside; Big Brother considered her offer and let the public choose Fajardo's fate. The next day, however, voting was stopped and his forced eviction was finalized after he violated the rules again by discussing with fellow housemate Jason Gainza his last chat with Big Brother inside the confession room. He eventually left the house on Day 91.
Trivia[]
- Originally intended to run for 100 days, the season was extended for two more weeks.
- This season had Pinoy Big Brother's first automatic nomination, voluntary exit and forced eviction.
- Having these three major gameplay events all take place within a debut season is a very rare occurrence in the history of Big Brother.
- Unlike its succeeding seasons, the first season of Pinoy Big Brother held evictions every other week, usually on odd-numbered weeks. (with the exception of Week 8 and Week 12). On the other hand, even-numbered weeks is when Nomination Ceremonies and Announcements are held. This is the only season to have such a format.
- Although the housemates entered the house altogether, it was JB Magsaysay who opened the doors and stepped inside first, making him the first housemate to enter the Pinoy Big Brother house.
- The broadcast narration for the first season was comparably mature and contain risqué themes than the succeeding seasons. Because of the controversial one-day suspension of the series by Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) after airing highly suggestive scenes, the franchise lessened airing risqué scenes deemed way beyond the parental guidance rating. To avoid further suspensions, the series shifted to a more family-friendly approach and focused more on having inspiring and motivational themes.
- This is the first season of Pinoy Big Brother to have been suspended from airing and was the only season to have been suspended until Pinoy Big Brother: Kumunity Season 10 temporarily suspended its broadcast due to COVID-19-related precautionary measure.
- The Big Winner's house prize for this season was sponsored by real estate St. Monique Valais and made the exterior of the house prize the same design as the original design of the Pinoy Big Brother house.
- All evicted housemates of this season received a motorcycle and appliance showcase as part of their consolation prize.
References[]
External Links[]
Pinoy Seasons | ||
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Civilian | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 | |
Combined | 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 | |
Celebrity | 1 · 2 | |
Teen | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 |
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