Minute goes head to head

MANILA, Philippines - Game shows are staples of Pinoy entertainment fare. The games range from individual to pair, from cerebral to endurance. ABS-CBN’s Minute To Win It has introduced elaborate and time-bound challenges that never fail to bring thrill and fun to those Kapamilya watching at home as contestants hurdle a series of tasks.

To keep the excitement alive, Minute To Win It presents the Head to Head Challenge edition.        

“If the challenge is complicated, you have all the time in the world,” previews host Luis Manzano of the latest edition. “But your problem is how fast the other team can do it.” 

Thus, Head to Head will have two teams competing and definitely the mechanics are far different from the usual individual edition.

“There’s no timer for the first few challenges,” says Luis. “It’s just about who’ll first finish them.” Each challenge grants the winning team a single point. “The team which earns four points will advance to the next round with the guaranteed P75,000,” he adds. Then, the challenges will be done with a timer and the team can enjoy its three lives to carry on. It means it has the chance to do the finale challenge with P1M as jackpot prize. So far, few, like a parking boy, a serbidor and Beki dancers, have reached to play all the way to the last round.  

“We want to give everybody the chance to play and to win a million pesos,” says Luis. The mix of contestants is “sectoral. All is represented.”

The Junior Minute to Win It is a sneak-peek of Head to Head, shares a production staff. The junior/kid edition was a hit with the highest audience share of 23 percent, higher than the Minute to Win It’s pilot episode rating. The Philippine franchise was the first to try the format. With its different mechanics and level of enjoyment, parties show interest to visit the ABS-CBN set and see how the local production team does the Junior edition. The Philippine Junior edition will serve as pattern if other franchises around the world wish to have their own version. Although its success can be attributed to its children-contestants, Junior edition was a success.

“I’m just the face who does the talking on TV,” says Luis. “But it’s the production (team) which pitched the idea and came up with it.”

It’s all systems go for Minute To Win It’s Head to Head edition. Aspirants trooped to ABS-CBN Compound and jam-packed the audition area as early as 9 a.m. The think tanks behind the game show will have an interesting set of players whose personal stories  and unique personalities are also being showcased. For the challenges, Minute To Win It has a Bible where production people and the host can read and consult for the possible 600 games they can do on the show. All the rules are also stipulated. The team, however, has the freedom to change each challenge’s level of difficulty. Toni and Alex Gonzaga and Kim and Lakam Chiu will play the Head to Head challenge.    

“In Deal (Or No Deal), I have to be more mature,” says Luis of hosting his Kapamilya game shows and playing in them. “I’m the middle man between the banker and the contestant. It’s a game of chance and luck. This (Minute To Win It) requires skill and luck.”

(Minute To Win It airs weekdays at 11 a.m. The Head to Head edition will premiere this month.)