Amazing Race: Tough, wild & hard

MANILA, Philippines - Just when audiences thought they’ve seen everything in The Amazing Race (TAR), the 27th season of the Emmy Award-winning reality show was promoted with the teaser, “tough, wild and hard.”

The last season of TAR successfully ended with pairing strangers. This time, 11 teams started racing for the much-coveted $1M grand prize and they will go back to the iconic sites like the Taj Mahal in India, the Arc de Triomphe in France and the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Still much-awaited and widely anticipated worldwide, the race kicked off at the Venice Beach in Los Angeles. The early-morning opening was witnessed by a huge crowd.

Host Phil Keoghan announced the immediate destination, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, heard not just by the racers but even the public. Aside from TAR fans, the first pair who won the race in 2001, lawyers and best friends Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain, was among those who graced the starting point.

The competing pairs are cousins Alex Manard from Illinois and Adam Dingeman from Iowa; mother and son team Denise Williams and James Earl Coley from Alabama; brothers and street dancers Ernest Phillip from Vermont and Jin Lao from Massachusetts; best friends Tanner Kloven and Josh Ahern from Texas;

Engaged couple Justin Scheman from New York and Diana Bishop from Pennsylvania; dating paparazzi Logan Fazio and Chris Gordon from Florida; and professional cheerleaders Tiffany Chantell from New York and Krista DeBono from New Jersey;

All from California are these four couples — track best friends Jazmine Lewis and Danielle Littleton; newly-married couple Rick (OB gynecologist) and Cindy Chac (dentist); TMZ (Thirty Mile Zone) racers and co-workers Kelly Berning and Shevonne Sullivan; and dating news anchors Kelsey Gerckens and Joey Buttitta.

The first leg took all 11 teams to Rio de Janeiro. However, even before they could fly, they had to complete a water bike race at Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey. Justin and Diana won and got a 30-minute advantage to take the first flight to Rio, while the rest of the teams followed right after.

There was a Fast Forward, surprisingly, on the first leg that was immediately grabbed by Justin and Diana. The hang gliding challenge would have given them the chance to skip all tasks and proceed to the Pit Stop. Unfortunately, strong winds prevented the pair from completing the challenge, so that gave them a huge setback but they still ended up in ninth place.

The rest of the teams took the helicopter challenge that showed them the scenic Christ the Redeemer site in Rio. This was followed by the Detour, where they had a choice between two tasks, both at the Copacabana Beach.

In Sand, they had to score points in a beach volleyball against professional soccer players, while in Sidewalk, the pairs had to complete a giant geometric slide puzzle that matched the mosaic walk.

Josh and Tanner were the first on the Pit Stop at the Arpoador Lookout in Rio, so they won an Express Pass that can allow them to skip a challenge only until the fifth leg. Once they used the Express Pass, they must pass it to another team who must use it on the next leg.

Meanwhile, TMZ pair Kelly and Shevonne came in last after spending four hours to finish the giant puzzle and subsequently became the first pair to be eliminated in the race.

TAR 27 will cover five continents, 10 countries and more than 34,000 miles. Upcoming legs are in Argentina, Hong Kong, Macau, France, India, The Netherlands, Poland and Zimbabwe. The show airs Saturday nights on AXN.