Wowowee


Wowowee is a Philippine noon time variety show that was aired by ABS-CBN from 2005 to 2010. The show premiered on February 5, 2005 and aired live on weekdays and Saturdays. The show was also broadcast worldwide through ABS-CBN's The Filipino Channel. The show officially ended on July 30, 2010 and was replaced by a new variety show, Pilipinas Win Na Win, the following day.

Cast

Main host

Cash Motto

In the Cash Motto segment, a random studio audience member who sent in a motto gets to play a game with winnings up to PHP1,000,000. He/she will have one minute to grab as much cash in the air in a secluded capsule. He/she cannot take peso bills while it is on the tank itself. The contestant is provided a broom to loosen up the money, so more will fly in the air. The amount of money he/she gets is what they keep. If the total amount of money grabbed reaches PHP40,000 or over, the contestant will receive a Wowowee videoke along with the money he/she grabbed. Another random studio audience member is chosen after the segment. This second audience member does not get to play the game, but has to guess how much money the first audience member grabbed. The co-hosts usually give a hint on the range. The contestant has up to three chances to guess how much he/she won. If the contestant gets the amount right, they win whatever the other player won. If they fail to guess, they still win PHP1,000 for being chosen.

Hep, Hep, Hooray

Twenty random audience members get to play Hep, Hep, Hooray. The game retired at the end of 2009 but quickly returned on January 4, 2010, due to more audience demand than its predecessor, Samson, Lion and Delilah.
In this segment of the show, the audience is prepared to dance to one of Willie Revillame's hit songs. This opening song number is the theme tune for the choosing of the ten random audience members, the audience is warmed up for the public displays of talent, where Willie and his co-hosts will draw from the audience, from different sections including the TFC subscribers to dance the song in an entertaining way.
The objective of the game is to repeat the words "Hep Hep" and "Hooray". A co-host puts the microphone in front of a contestant's face and they are supposed to say "Hep Hep" while clapping their hands together below their waist, then another co-host will put the microphone to another contestant's face and they are to finish the cheer with saying "Hooray" and raising their hands in the air. If a contestant makes a mistake, they are out of the game, but they win PHP1,000 and a gift pack from Rexona as a consolation prize. This is a last person standing game. The one who lasts the longest wins.
Since Cash Bukas, the old bonus round for the game has moved on to Willie of Fortune, new rules were written on its relaunch. The final person standing goes for the final round, where the contestant can duel against one of the three "Amazonas": April, Lovely, and Aiko. During the duel, same rules apply repeating the words "Hep" "Hep" "Hooray". The contestant's goal is to beat the "Amazona" to win the jackpot, which always starts at PHP10,000. Every day the jackpot is not won, another PHP10,000 is added to it. On January 25, 2010, Jana was removed as an Amazona due to losing three times; April replaced her. A new batch of Amazonas were introduced on March 8 of the same year, referred to the hosts as "Amazunas". A new name to "Amazunas" was introduced last April 10: the "Dragon Ladies". Beginning July 5, the "Dragon Ladies" portion was removed, and the last person standing automatically wins P10,000 from Rexona.
On July 26, a new format called the Pair Factor was introduced. The twenty random audience members choose a partner to play with. The rules still mainly stay the same, however, they must both clap with "Hep" "Hep", and raise their hands with "Hooray". There are two groups consisting of five pairs each playing in their own group. The winner of rounds one and two will advance to the final round competing against each other. The last pair standing wins P10,000 from Rexona.

Willie of Fortune

Six people selected earlier through "themed" auditions compete in pairs in rounds of Willie of Fortune. The in-house keyboardist plays a portion of a song, and the first person to name the song correctly wins one point. If the player can correctly sing the exact lyrics from that portion of the song, they will receive the second point. Two points are required to win the round and get to round two. In this round, the three remaining players go to a knock out question. One song will be played, and whoever can buzz in the correct song title first wins PHP10,000 and advances to the jackpot round, Cash Bukas.
Every Saturday, celebrity teams play against each other. Same gameplay rules used in the weekday version exists. However, the team who gets to five points first wins, and goes straight to the jackpot round, Cash Bukas.

Cash Bukas

In the Cash Bukas segment, the winner of Willie of Fortune gets to play for four prizes. 10 trays are available for the player to select, while the player only selects three to play with. Next, the player must choose only one tray. The player is offered increasing amounts of cash until the player takes the offer, or keeps playing to open the tray. The trays offered in the game follows:
Tic Tac to Win is a game that premiered in January 2010, with a format similar to past "end-games" in the show, including its predecessor, Want More, No More. Beginning on February 6 of the same year, the game played on a recurring basis.

Tumpak o Sablay

A group of fifty contestants is asked a trivia question that was asked by a random person in the streets, or a celebrity in some cases. The contestants must go to either side of the stage "Tumpak" or "Sablay" to guess if their answer is right or wrong. Similar to Pera o Bayong, the last person standing on the round gets to play for the jackpot round with PHP10,000 to keep.

Jackpot Round

Twenty letters with prizes in different amounts are presented on a 5x4 board. The winner of the previous round chooses nine letters from the board, and arranges the letters as they desire on a giant tic-tac-toe board. Scattered and hidden in the twenty letters contain:
Eight letters contain instant cash for the contestant to keep:
The goal is to make a tic-tac-toe of either the car, house, or PHP1,000,000. If a tic-tac-toe is achieved, it is won to them. If no tic-tac-toe was achieved, he/she still keeps the instant cash that was won on the board.

Discontinued segments

YearGame NameGame Description
2005–2008"Bigtime" Pera O BayongPera o Bayong was a game that was brought from Magandang Tanghali Bayan. The game first started on February 5, 2005. The game relaunched with "Bigtime" added at the name on January 1, 2008.
A group of 50 people are asked a question with three answer choices labeled A, B, or C. They must stand near the letter they preferred to choose. This is last man standing, so the game is continued until one is left. The final person wins PHP10,000 and goes on to the next half of the game. The final contestant, then makes a choice from 10 "bayongs", and then the hosts have several bargaining sessions where they offer the contestants a cash offer in exchange for the chosen bayong. If the player stays with the bayong, he or she wins whatever is inside it. The three grand prizes are PHP1,000,000, a house and lot, and the Bigtime Bayong containing PHP1,000,000, a house and lot, and a brand new car.
2005–2008Bigat 10Ten random audience members are chosen to play on round three of Willie of Fortune. Willie then chooses one of them to come up on stage. Willie asks a question and if the contestant answers correctly, the Bigat 10's are eliminated for good. However, if the Bigat 10's answer correctly, the contestant wins PHP3,000 - that is subtracted from the total winnings from the contestant which was rewarded to him/her prior to the game.
2005Act-UA contestant tried to guess what a celebrity guest was trying to act out. This game is similar to charades.
2005Call A CookieA Questune contestant and 2 other randomly selected audience members were asked questions, but the "buzzers" were located above them. If the Questune contestant won, the contestant advanced to the next round and won a prize, and the two audience contestants would get PhP 500. If one of the other contestants won, both won PHP5,000. IF They Guess the correct Answer all in a row The contestant wins PHP500,000 and a cookie monster trophy. This game was later replaced by Isang Talon Isang Sagot.
2005Sketch on the RocksA contestant attempted to draw picture of a word selected out of a fishbowl while other contestants attempted to guess what it was, but the paper on the board constantly scrolled up. After 30 seconds, the drawer would move to the "rock board", where the player attempted to write out what the answer was, but the board shook making it more difficult. If the guessers could figure it out, the drawer won the prize that he or she selected beforehand. If the guessers couldn't figure it out after 30 seconds on the "rock board" and after 5 more final seconds, the drawer did not win anything.
2005Touch AkoThe last contestant of Willie of ForTune goes for the last round. 10 TFC subscribers are placed inside a circle with a protective mask and velcro outfit. The goal for the contestant is to eliminate the 10 TFCs in under 60 seconds, using balls provided for the contestant which stick to the velcro, blindfolded. If the ball sticks to any of the TFC's outfit, he/she is eliminated from the pack. The TFCs however can move the circle anywhere on the stage, not off stage obviously. If the contestant eliminates all, he/she wins the showcase he/she has chosen to play for and the jackpot. If not, they lose the showcase.
2005–2006Doblado SiguradoPlayed after Bigat 10, Doblado Sigurado offered a chance for the contestant to double their winnings. A box containing 5 chips would be passed around the audience, and the contestant would predict how many would come up White and how many would come up Black. If the prediction was right, the contestant's Bigat 10 winnings were doubled. If it wasn't, the player walked away with only PHP10,000. This game was later replaced by Pasalog.
2005–2006Wow! Wow! Win! sa Wowowee!All the home viewers must do is answer a question correctly, with the provided possible answer containing 5 letters or less. If the home contestant texts in and answers correctly, one random viewer will receive PHP25,000.
2005Green CrossOne of the Pera o Bayong contestants was randomly picked from the group, and won PHP5,000. In one of 3 bags was PHP20,000, and the player had to guess which one contained the prize. If the player picked correctly, he or she would win a total of PhP 25,000. The game was sponsored by Green Cross, a Filipino soap brand. This game has only been played once.
2005Huli Kaw!This game involves getting random people off the streets to answer a trivial question. If the person answers the question correctly, he/she wins PHP5,000.
2005–2006Isang Talon, Isang SagotThe 3 Questune contestants left standing advanced to this round, were asked trivia questions. If he/she knew, the contestant jumps to "buzz in". 5 points are required to advance to the Bigat 10 round. The game was later replaced by Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang 'To?
2006–2008Sinong Kumanta Ng Kantang To?Three contestants compete to buzz in and answer the artist of the song played. The first to 2 points wins. The game was later replaced by Tanong Ko, Sagutin Mo.
2006–2009PasalogIn Pasalog, the contestant has a chance of winning different prizes provided by sponsors, including a progressive cash jackpot increasing every show if not won. Dice containing logos and symbols are placed into compartments in beach ball like spheres. The balls are then passed around the audience. When the pasalogs are returned, the compartments are opened. If the face of the dice facing up has a symbol or logo, the player wins the corresponding prize. Pasalog was originally played with a similar cube shaped container.
In part of the new set on March 31, 2008, Pasalog changed to three balls.Where in Mariposa at the left side, Milagring at the right side and Luningning at the middle.

Special shows

World tours

Wowowee had broadcast episodes from other locations in the Philippines, and had also gone on world tours to other countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.
In celebration of TFC's 15th anniversary and Wowowee's 4th anniversary, Wowowee held a grand world tour in 2009. Starting in Dubai, the tour reached Italy, United States and Canada.

2006: Alay sa Kapamilya

Alay sa Kapamilya was a program organized by ABS-CBN as an observation for the PhilSports Arena stampede victims. It preempted Wowowee for six days while the network decided over the fate of the variety show. The shows were a solemn tribute to the victims, featuring performances by ABS-CBN regulars. Eventually, ABS-CBN decided to temporarily cancel the variety show until its return on March 11, 2006.

2006: Honoring Overseas Filipino Workers

On several occasions, the show has paid tribute to Overseas Filipino Workers serving across the world. On the August 2, 2006, episode, Wowowee with cooperation with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration produced a special edition saluting and featuring female OFW's who returned from Lebanon where a war was present in that country. They were all invited to attend and even participate in the show that day. The contestants during the first half that day were close friends of the OFWs, while an unspecified number of OFW's participated in "The Ultimate Pera O Bayong". All the winnings won during the show were combined together and evenly distributed to all of the OFWs in the audience, with the grand total of winnings being PHP1,390,000.

2007: Armed Forces of the Philippines join ''Wowowee''

On September 1, 2007, about 500 soldiers came in full force to the show. Representatives from the major services, AFPWSSUS and Technical Services come to play and have fun during the show and take a crack at the grand prizes in different games.
Highlights of the event were the interviews with the loved ones of Marines who lost their lives in the fight against the Abu Sayaff Group/ MILF rebels in Basilan last July 10 and August 11, 2007. Tearfully, loved ones recounted their last communication with the fallen Marines. Host Willie Revillame also asked each of them for a short message and everybody was moved to tears during the emotion-filled moment. AFP, PIO Chief LTC Bartolome Bacarro held back his tears but could not help it, just like the rest. Emotions rose again when candles were lit for the Marines.

2010: New set and co-hosts

A new set and a new batch of co-hosts were introduced in April 2010. Joining the four co-hosts already on the show were Carmen Soo, Isabelle Abiera, Jed Montero, and Kelly Misa. The new set consisted of a large LED video wall on the front of the stage with a brand new lighted flooring. Audience seats were moved and had seat numbers that might be used for future games.
The show began with an extravagant opening sequence of Willie Revillame singing and dancing to his hit songs over the past five years. Later, the usual games were played. In Cash Motto, a new format was explained that would begin taking place on 17 April called Cash Mo-Tour, in which the cash tank would travel around Metro Manila and barangays for lucky people to win big. In Hep, Hep, Hooray, the winner will play against the new name of the "Amazunas", the "Dragon Ladies" for the special jackpot of the day, PHP100,000. It was announced on the week of April 12 that the first stop for the Cash Mo-Tour will be held at Plaza Moriones in Tondo, Manila, but due to technical difficulties, it was announced on April 16 that the premiere would be postponed. Two months later on June 19, the game premiered in Valenzuela City.

Ratings

During its past 5 years, Wowowee became one of the longest-running noontime show, Eat Bulaga!s biggest opponent. According to TNS National TV Ratings, Wowowee was consistent in hitting the 20% mark. It even hits the 30% mark if the show had special occasions. Example of this is the comeback of Willie Revillame on the show after its 1-month suspension. It rated 32.3%, a 12.1% lead against Eat Bulaga!s 20.2%. It also gave Eat Bulaga! a close fight in Mega Manila, Bulaga's bailiwick while in rural areas, Wowowee was winning via landslide victory against its rival. However, Eat Bulaga! later defeated the show in rural areas due to its "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment.

Cancellation

On July 27, 2010, ABS-CBN confirmed that Wowowee ended on July 30, 2010, after five years of airing. This is after Revillame demanded ABS-CBN to fire entertainment writer Jobert Sucaldito, over Sucaldito's constant criticisms on Wowowee. Its ending coincided with Eat Bulaga!s 31st anniversary. It was replaced by Pilipinas Win Na Win effective the following day. The new show is a variety game show hosted by Kris Aquino and Robin Padilla. Former Wowowee co-hosts Mariel Rodriguez, Pokwang, and Valerie Concepcion co-host the new show. However, due to poor ratings, Pilipinas Win Na Win was cancelled after five months.
In January 2011, ABS-CBN announced through its Push.com site that a new noontime show, hosted by ex-Magandang Tanghali Bayan hosts Randy Santiago and John Estrada as well as Toni Gonzaga and ex-Wowowee host Mariel Rodriguez, was in the works. The show, entitled Happy Yipee Yehey! premiered on February 12, 2011, a week after what would have been the sixth anniversary of Wowowee.

''Willing Willie'' and ''Wil Time Bigtime''

After a five-month hiatus, Willie Revillame made his comeback on the TV5 show Willing Willie. Several personalities from Wowowee are also included in the new show's roster of hosts, including Owen Ercia and DJ Coki.
On November 24, 2010, ABS-CBN filed a copyright infringement suit against Willie Revillame, Wil Productions, Inc. and TV5 for allegedly copying Wowowee in Willing Willie. However, hearings on the case, which was filed at the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 66 under presiding judge Joselito C. Villarosa, was suspended after the Court of Appeals granted the request for a temporary restraining order by TV5.
TV5 then filed a petition for certiorari, prohibition and writ of preliminary injunction before the Court of Appeals. ABS-CBN responded by filing a motion seeking to dismiss the petition of the former. On March 10, 2011, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of TV5.
On May 14, 2011, Willie Revillame's comeback for the primetime variety show Wil Time Bigtime after 9 months, this show has now officially canceled on January 5, 2013.

''Wowowillie'' and ''Wowowin''

announced the newest noontime variety show Wowowillie. It premiered on January 26, 2013 but the show was cancelled last October 12, 2013 due to the early retirement from television of Willie Revillame as well as poor ratings of the show.
In March 2015, GMA Network announced the comeback of Willie Revillame to Philippine television and to GMA Network via his newest Sunday afternoon variety show, Wowowin. Wowowin, produced by Revillame's WBR Entertainment Productions, premiered on May 10, 2015 nationwide and worldwide via GMA Pinoy TV. The hashtag #Wowowin trended on Twitter nationwide through the night.

In popular culture

Wowowee was featured in the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival entry Nobody, Nobody But... Juan.

Awards

  • 2005 KBP Golden Dove Awards Best Variety Show - Won
  • Best Variety & Game Show - Won
  • Best Variety Show - Won
  • * In 2008, tied with GMA Network's Eat Bulaga. - Won
  • Best Male TV Host - Won
  • Best Female TV Host - Won
  • Consumers Award Outstanding Variety Show - Won
  • Consumers Award Outstanding Male TV Host - Won
  • PMPC Star Awards Best Female TV Host - Won
  • Anak TV Seal Awards - Won
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