Family Feud will air its last episode tonight, Friday, April 17. Like all good things that must come to an end I am sad. I remember telling the people I work with on the show on our last taping day that this was easily one of the happiest work places I found myself in over two decades that I have been in the entertainment industry.

The show was so much fun to do, and it mattered a lot to me that it made a lot of people happy. The answers are very realistic, not necessarily factual, but it is a telling picture of the voice of the masses.

We go off the air the same way we started—on a high note. Now it can be told. We were very realistic about ratings, given the fact that we were going up against a long-running and established game show and game-show host (Kris Aquino’s Deal or No Deal) and, at the most, our Production Unit Manager, Ms. Ali, said she would be ecstatic with a 17% rating. Our first episode raked in over 20% plus. And all throughout its run the show consistently enjoyed stellar ratings. We have all of you to thank for that. Thank you for rushing home from work to catch the show, thank you for shouting out your answers as you watched us on TV from your own homes. Thank you for starting your evening with us. It means more to us than you will ever know.

The show also opened doors for fans and viewers alike to know the real me, that side that only my closest friends have been privy to. The Goma you saw in Family Feud is the way I usually am on any given day—happy, smiling, always ready to laugh.  I live for light moments, I’m easy and fun-loving.   

I would like to think that I have somehow also proven to the GMA-7 management executives that I can host a game show.  It is something I’ve been wanting to do since I moved from ABS-CBN in 2003. Six years … like my wife always says, dreams do come true. Some just take more time than others. 

I would like to say thank you to Kris. Back in December, during the Bench Christmas party and around two months into Family Feud, my Bench family surprised me with a Loyalty Award for my 20-year relationship with them. I had no idea it was going to happen that night. 

I have received many awards in my life but this was very sentimental to me; in fact, just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes again. I say again because I cried happy tears that night, very happy tears. My Bench family has been so good to me, and what started as a business relationship evolved into a friendship. (More on that in a future blog entry.)   For now, I would like to say thank you to Kris. I don’t think I got the chance to thank her properly. I would find out later that she volunteered to do the introduction for my award. She went up on stage (when all along I thought she was there to simply grace the occasion as a Bench endorser) and introduced the AVP that had been prepared. It was very generous of her to do that, especially because although we are friends in real life and she is very close to Lucy, people love to compare our shows if only because we belong to the two major rivals in the network industry.

I would like to thank all who came to the show as contestants and to the families who waited in line for hours just to audition. I had a great time with you guys. Your answers were sometimes absurd, sometimes out of this world, sometimes out of sync, and most of the time funny. You made me laugh a lot, it is good for the heart!

I am sad. But I am one who always looks at the brighter side of life no matter what situation I’m in. Since Day One, I have been hoping that GMA-7 will renew more seasons of Family Feud from Fremantle. Well guess what? I was just told that we will resume on September for new seasons. Hahahaha! Answered prayer? Yes!!!

Like my closing line in the show…

“ Ito po si Richard Gomez magkita kita tayong muli—sa September na, dito lang sa Family Feud!

For reasons known only to us, we Filipinos love watching beauty pageants. What could the reason be?

Do we love looking at how beautiful the Pinays are? How they look in their swimsuits? Or the way they answer in the question and answer portion?

I admit, to a certain degree, I enjoy watching upcoming beauty queens compete. In fact, when Lucy and I watch the pageant on TV, we pick our choices and note it down on paper. The first time we did this was just to prove that my batting average in choosing a winner is very high.  May taste talaga ako pagdating sa beauty.

I’ve had the privilege to judge the Bb. Pilipinas three times already. First was when Gem Padilla was crowned Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, the second time around was when Joanne Quintas won, and the thrid time was just—weeks ago when Bianca Manalo won Bb. Pilipinas-Universe.

Choosing the top 10 out of 25 contestants is not exactly an easy job. True, the girls are easy on the eyes but not a lot of people know that one of the most important parts of the contest is the pre-judging, which usually happens two days before the pageant night. It can make or break the chances of a contestant because it accounts for a big part of their total score entering the pageant night.

Among the board of judges for this year’s pageant night were: Betsey Westendorp; AFP Chief, Gen. Alexander Yano; PBA cager Mac Mac Cardona; Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares III; Arturo Marquez; Sofitel hotel general manager Bernd Schneider; Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez; Brazilian Ambassador Alcides Prates; Pakistan Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan; Ms. Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz; and Supreme Court Justice Artemio Panganiban.

Looking at the scores of the judges’ tally sheets, Bianca Manalo was clearly and easily the leader. But the girls ranked second to fourth were very close in terms of points. Also, in my book at least, Ritchelle Angalot was doing very well until she messed up in the interview portion, where she was asked, “What is your lucky number?” It was downhill for her after that, but if you look closely, she was only .66 from third place. It was a very close match.

We were asked to go back to the briefing room to deliberate on who will be crowned as Bb. Pilipinas-World and Bb. Pilipinas-International because their scores were tied at 90.83. The primary consideration in choosing a winner for the both titles was where the location of their respective pageants would be held.

Ms. International will be held in Japan this year and according to beauty pageant stats, judges from that part of the world have favored mestizas and that was the reason why Melody Gersbach was chosen. Ms. World pageant, on the other hand, will be held in Bahamas, so, a morena girl will have to be put in place, Ms. Marie Ann Umali.
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