DC presents DiRT Showdown Asian Tournament

The search for Asia’s ultimate Gymkhana video game racer will kick off in Philippines on August 4 and 7,
with a Manila leg at Ayala Trinoma and a Cebu leg at Ayala Center Cebu respectively.

Organised by DC, in conjuction with EpicSoft and CodeMasters, Monster Energy Drink and Samsung, the DiRT SHOWDOWN Asian Tournament will move from Malaysia to Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia thereafter.

Winners from these countries will be flown to Singapore to compete in the grand finals where the overall champion will be revealed.

The game play is simple – contestants will compete head-to-head on the Xbox game in a fast-paced match to score the points by doing Gymkhana tricks while maneuvering the race track.

The player who scores the most points in the shortest time possible wins and advances to the next round.

The overall champion will be the first ever DiRT SHOWDOWN Asian Champion, and will receive attractive prizes, including DC apparel, Xbox games, an autographed Ken Block poster, and an exclusive pair of DC shoes, autographed by world-renowned Gymkhana driver Ken Block.

For more information and to register, visit www.DirtShowdownAsia.com.

It's Showtime: Day 5

Magpasikat na, it's SHOWTIME!

It's a tradition for the gang to celebrate Valentine's Day dinner together. However, since not all of us are in Manila, we enlisted ourselves to be part of the live studio audience in Showtime.

Wall of Fame

We have to wear ABS-CBN Studio Tours sticker

At first, I find this tacky. However, being part of the live studio audience in a noontime show is one of the many things-to-do-before-I-die list. So, our group prepared for the inevitable and arrived just in time for the studio tour.

Kris TV's camera man

Kuya Kim-wannabes 

Thanks to our tour guide(s), we had fun visiting the different studios in the station. They gave out bits of trivia about the different shows and soaps done in a certain studio. After an hour or so, we were all ushered to the holding area for the Showtime audience. I'm not sure if they have paid audience but GKNB (Game Ka Na Ba?) had a few. We are standing next to some TFC Subscribers and other studio tour groups (who actually paid to be at the show) while the rest of the madlang people (non-studio tour groups) were sitting comfortably on plastic mono block chairs. Go figure.

PR people would love to hog the spotlight in every chance they get but I'm absolutely terrified to be seen on national TV. Of course, we're also not very excited at the thought of giving a sampol on TV.

Standing patiently while waiting for our cue to proceed to the studio

Food and drinks are not allowed in the studio. Before proceeding to the studio to go live, we are free to eat snacks  (there are snack booths located strategically below the holding area). After almost an hour, we were ushered to the studio filled with loud music blaring the noontime show's theme song on repeat. It's no wonder we were humming to "Pa-pa-pa-pa-ra-pa.." until the end of the show--potential LSS.

We got good seats

Before the start of the show, Tito Mel briefed us the yells, hand gestures and dance steps to be performed live. Yes, it's a requirement but it was fun.

"Briefing naman tayo.." - Tito Mel

Hurado for the week

In between commercial breaks, Tito Mel or someone from Showtime production staff would remind us again what to do when Vice Ganda does this, or when Kuya Kim does that. We did what we were told so we won't make an ass out of ourselves on national TV.

The Showtime hosts

Celebrity photo ops

Since it's Valentine's Day, the Showtime staff gave each female three Hershey's Kisses and each male a single rose. And we are to give it to our special someone when Vice Ganda gives the cue.

Flowers and chocolates

After Showtime (approximately around 3pm), we raced to the nearest fast food chain (a choice between KFC and McDonald's) for lunch. No wonder celebrities are anorexic-thin because they have to endure late lunches and probably dinners as well.

Check out my photo blog on Showtime on Tumblr.com.