The Amazing Race Asia 2
On your mark, jet set, go! »»|
Four continents. Over 50,000 kilometers. 20 feisty contenders. With two Pinoy teams in the running, ‘The Amazing Race Asia 2’ promises to be a no-holds-barred scramble to the finish line. We reveal the racers, and the controversial tandem that will get everyone talking
LOST IN TRANSIT Paolo R. Reyes
THERE WE WERE, 35,000 feet above the air, aboard a bumpy flight bound for Singapore, when the throaty cockpit voice of Captain Culan-culan came crackling through the speakers: “Passengers … please fasten your seatbelts … we are about to make our final descent.”
As we returned our seats to the upright position, while dolled-up attendants wheeled away Duty Free carts containing tins of tobacco (or “tow-bay-ko,” as the P.A. system so eloquently announced) and handsome boxes of hard liquor, it was easy to imagine how the very novelty of travel – the unfamiliar scent of foreign soil, the labyrinth of alien streets, the indecipherable accents of strangers – can be easily lost on those preoccupied with way more important things.
Like a fiercely competitive race around the world. Or earning a ticket to early retirement-ville by way of a brag-worthy cash prize.
Be it for $100,000 (or P5 million, more or less) or simply for the glory of being crowned as the winners of “The Amazing Race Asia,” no amount of anxiety-abating downers will ever dampen the adrenaline of those taking part in the riveting, Emmy Award-winning reality TV series.
Last week, during a star-spangled bash at the Indochine Forbidden City in Clark Quay, action-adventure channel AXN finally unveiled the spanking new lineup of teams that will be slugging it out in the “The Amazing Race Asia 2.”
With a television-friendly roster that includes a hearing-impaired Singaporean gym-junkie, estranged siblings from Japan, desperate housewives (and ex-dancers) from Malaysia, hot young starlets from Hong Kong, and two Pinoy teams (including the brawny pair of Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez), the second season promises to be an intense, no-holds-barred scramble to the finish line.
Along the way, of course, expect your weekly dose of bratty tantrums, testosterone-induced clashes, and some serious flirting between the contestants.
“The teams in the second season picked themselves, they beat out 2,500 applicants from all around Asia,” shared Michael McKay, the show’s executive producer and director, at Café del Mar in Siloso Beach, Sentosa. “In the first season, everyone was quite nice to each other. But this time around, the competition is mush more intense. Any one of them could win.”
“To be honest, out of the Philippines alone, we could have picked seven teams,” McKay added. “They were all knockouts. Marc and Rovilson, hands down, had the best audition video we’ve ever seen. It was the same for [the other Filipino team] Terri and Henry Reed. The first 100 seconds of their video was already off the charts. I don’t know what it is about the Philippines, they’re some sort of reality TV factory!”
Full of Tricky Road Blocks and deceptive Detours, “The Amazing Race Asia 2” is tipped to be another adrenaline-fueled odyssey through the heart of adventure. Witness these 10 feisty teams battle it out over language barriers and time constraints as they race through a multi-country arena spanning Asia and beyond.
Will the obstacles be to hot to handle? Or will they prevail upon the final Pit Stop, proud and patriotic, as the winners of the world’s most celebrated reality-adventure show? Tune in to AXN this November.
–Philippine Daily Inquirer, Saturday, October 6, 2007, D1/D3
1 Comment
October 9, 2007 at 16:34
I will watch the first episode of TARA season 2 to see whether they have improved the delivery of the show. Last season was so boring that I lost interest in watching it(maybe because the filipino contenders were the first ones eliminated or maybe it’s because of the host’s dull spiels, or the editing was not good or maybe all of the above XD ). I still love the original TAR series.