A Day with Wowowee at Lake Tahoe

(This was my last post before I discontinued my blog in Friendster.)

I had fun. I had tears. And I had frustrations.

Two months before the show, my 2 Filipina friends Rowena and Emy and I were ready and set to go. We already had tickets and we had booked our room for the night. Tickets range from $45.00 to $200.00. We were so excited! It was a “for the girls” deal. No hubbies. Hubby protested, “But Mahal, I wanna go… I want to have picture with RR”. He likes RR! And he likes to shake his big belly while dancing and singing his version “Agiling-giling” instead of “Igiling-giling”. He stayed home.

The show was held Sept. 6 at 5:00 o’ clock in the afternoon. I had to work on the evening before so my friends fetched me at exactly 7:00 o’clock in the morning in the hotel then we headed to Lake Tahoe. It was more or less a 4-hour long drive.

It was my first time in Lake Tahoe. The place is amazing! The Lake itself is so peaceful and still. The pine trees in the surroundings have complimented the beautiful scenery. We stayed in Harrah’s and the venue of the show is just a walk away. While wandering inside the Casino, Emy saw DJ Kookie walking towards the door. I only had a glimpse of him.

We were already inside the arena around 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon. While sitting in the bench, my eyes were focused in the entrance gate. People of different walks of life and of different ages were in line patiently waiting for the people ahead of them to get inside. They must be very tired from a long drive but their faces showed enthusiasm and excitement. My rough estimate of the number of people was more or less 5,000 and ninety nine point nine percent were petite, black- haired and brown-skinned human beings, in short, Filipino people, hehehe! While everyone was busy finding their seats, others were busy selling and buying T-shirts, Willie’s CDs and Yes Magazines. Promotional leaflets like “As 1” of Gary V. and Martin Nievera were also distributed. There was a design in the T-shirt that was inspired by our Philippine flag. The woman who sits below my row told me that she’s not going to buy that kind of thing. And I asked her why. She answered, “Well, I am already an American citizen”. Wheew! I wanted to slap her fat and ugly face to make her realize what she just said. She further said that her husband forbid her not to have picture with DJ Kookie because accordingly, their sons are more handsome than the DJ. As soon as I heard it, I forbid myself not talk to that woman ever again. Grrrr!

It was almost 5:00 o’clock but the stage was not yet ready. From afar, I saw Ana Feliciano onstage smiling and waving to the crowd while taking care of something up there. DJ Kookie was behind the rows where we sit trying to sell his CD Album. He was making “lambing” to the people who wants to take picture with him to buy his CD. I didn’t know that he’s a singer!

Around 5:00 o’clock, the stage was still unready. Tick tack tick tack tick tack. 5:30 o’clock. Another tick tack tick tack tick tack. 5:45 o’clock. I heard people murmuring already. More tick tack tick tack. Around 6:10 o’clock in the evening, at last, the show had started. Hahaha! Filipino Time it was!

The show was started with the playing of USA National Anthem followed by Lupang Hinirang, our Pambansang Awit. While listening to our National Anthem, I had goose bumps. I missed the song so much! I am really proud to be a Filipino. My mind was also singing at the same time while standing still in respect. Afterwards, the theme song of Wowowee followed. Everyone was in high spirits. Some shouted “Wowowee!”, “Wowowee!”, “Wowowee!”, just like we see on TV. It was kind of “baduy”! But I went with the flow. I shouted the same for fun!

After DJ Kookie did the introduction rap song, Owen took the stage to introduce the man of the hour, Bentong. I liked it when Bentong greeted the crowd “Ay lab yuuuuuu! Ay lab yuuuuuu deeeerr!”. Everyone was delighted to see him. He then confessed that he is not actually a Filipino. His dad is Portuguese and his mom is from Bangladesh. That made him a “Put* agis!” Hahaha!

When Willie was introduced, the crowd was overjoyed! As expected, he thanked everyone for having him in the show again, that he was so grateful for the support he got from TFC subscribers and he also talked about his comeback on TV in the 21st of September and he added that he is going to air the Wowowee in Lake Tahoe on that day. The crowd was ecstatic upon hearing it! Yeheey! Willie sang all his songs in Igiling-giling Album. Of course, he also sang the “Ikaw na Nga”. Everyone sang and danced with him. There were 20 Bigatin contestants. It was Bentong who chose three contestants coming from where we seated and the fat lady next to me was chosen as Bigatin but alas, Bentong forgot to give her the flag let so she was not accepted when she went onstage, tsk!tsk!tsk! I felt sorry for that lady. I talked to her earlier and we spoke Visayan dialect. She's from Ozamiz City. And she’s been here in US since February this year.

Now Pokwang and Mariel came in to grace the Hep Hep Hurray portion. Wow, in fairness, Poke is so slim and gorgeous on her very beautiful gown. During this segment, as usual she made the crowd laughed out loud. I liked her “hirit” when she interviewed an American guy whose head is shiny for being totally bald. After talking with the man she held him and gestured comically, “Oh Robert, I like you very much, you were like a huge roll-on to me!” Everyone was laughing. Hahahaha! She was such a clown!

Mariel was stunning in her purple gown. She was a cutie! And she was freezing. I was too. The air blew too chilly. Pokwang and Mariel changed 2 outfits that night. And both of them looked great and they seemed nice.

Saucy Saicy and Luningning were gorgeous too! They danced as usual in their very sexy outfits. The crowd was whistling while they danced. Saicy is petite but very curvaceous while Luningning is kind of tall and thin. I was surprised to see her because she looks stout on TV.

Lito Camo was there too. He sang and played guitar. I didn’t realize that he’d already composed so many novelty songs. In fairness, he’s such a talented person. Kudos to him! He requested the crowd to shout “Hoy” every time we hear him singing “Pinoy” word. Emy enjoyed shouting “hoy” and I told her, “Hey, you are not Pinoy anymore!” I intently spoke so loud so that the woman who bragged herself being an American citizen would hear me. I was glad when Emy answered back, “Sa papel lang yun!” But sad to note, I didn’t notice any reaction from the woman. Grrrr!

I really had so much fun until the Wheel of Fortune segment. Contestants were the ones that worked in the hotel and who got furlough from work. All of them were old folks. There was this old man who’s having a struggling life here and he wanted to go back to the Philippines to visit his other children but he had no money for the airfare. He was 78 years old. Willie promised to buy ticket for him as Christmas gift. And he added that the old man will be fetched in the airport and that he will be one of the guests in Wowowee in the studio. The crowd cheered! The poor old man was in tears and very grateful to him. There was this old woman who’s so boring to hear because she was like narrating an unending novel, to think that Willie asked her to greet her family only. Hehehe!

Furthermore, there was this woman whose life story was so touching and tear jerking. She got 5 children from her previous marriage in the Philippines. She met this very nice American guy whom she called “my hero” and this guy petitioned all her children to join with them here in US. She got one child with the guy but unfortunately, the poor little angel got brain cancer. The little girl in her wheelchair was called-in together with her dad. God, she looked so pale and weak. She was, if my mind serves me right, 13 years old and her name was Yammy. I really had tears while looking at her and while listening to her. When Willie asked her wish in life, she answered, “I wish the cancer will go away”. That was so heart breaking. I really had tears. I bet everyone was emotional that time. We were back in shape when she added that she wished to see Santino. You read it right, Santino, the miracle boy in May Bukas Pa! And Willie promised to fulfill her second wish as soon as possible. The girl will meet Santino on the Wowowee show in the Philippines. Yeheeey! The crowd’s reaction was astounding. Everyone was happy! And through God’s grace and mercy, the little girl’s mom won the game and besides, she got the money, which was given to Willie from the crowd while hosting the game.

Amidst the Wheel of Fortune segment, Willie informed the crowd that the show might be cut short because there will be fireworks show in commemoration of the Labor Day. The crowd’s reaction was, “WHAAAAT?” But we felt relieved when the Chief Security Officer informed us onstage that they would hold the fireworks until the show is done.

The show continued! Here came Anne Curtis! Woooooow! She was soooooo pretty and fabulous! She’s so oozing! She is such a “Diyosa” to the highest level. I so like this girl! She sang 3 songs. I forgot the title of the 2 songs she sang but the “Just Dance” registered on my mind. I didn’t mind her singing but definitely she’s a hottie and gorgeous!

Here is the frustrating part. Charice was introduced last. Well, she was supposedly the “Star of the Night” considering her appearance in Ellen de Generes Show and Oprah, etc. Everyone was waiting for this girl but… Willie informed us that the show had to cut short because the fireworks display will be pushed through anyway, as scheduled. The show must be stopped for safety reason. So it was not really negotiated after all. Charice was given 3 minutes to sing, yes, only 3 minutes! And the crowd was so frustrated, upset, pissed, disappointed and other adjective related to the word “displeased”. Charice sang “Acapella” just to render song to the irritating crowd. And Willie cut her singing short after 3 minutes telling the crowd sorry. Sorry? Grrrr! I bet Charice was kind of irritated too.

Afterwards, all Wowowee celebrities and dancers gathered onstage together and sang the Wowowee theme song while throwing jackets to the crowd. Rowena was lucky that Anne Curtis threw one for her. And since I was freezing, Rowena let me used it and that made my night!

Even the show has already finished, others stayed in the arena trying and wanting to get hold of Willie and other celebrities. I overheard people discussed, murmured, mumbled because of dissatisfaction. Many people came from different States just to watch the show. The woman from Ozamiz City whom I talked to earlier, came all the way from Oregon and since the hotels in the place were all sold out and full, they had to drive back to Oregon that same night. And I guessed allot of people were doing the same. I overheard 3 young ladies expressing theirs regrets for buying the most expensive tickets for the show. Well, I was glad that we only bought the $65.00-ticket. Whew!

This has been my experience with Wowowee. I had fun. I had tears and I had frustrations!

I hope you enjoyed reading this very long post of mine.

Have a fun and happy day!