Wowowee

Wowowee is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by ABS-CBN. Hosted by Willie Revillame, the show was aired from February 5, 2005 to February 4, 2006 replacing MTB and then from March 11, 2006 to July 30, 2010 replacing Alay sa Kapamilya with a total of 1,687 episodes and was replaced by Pilipinas Win Na Win.

Main host

 * Willie Revillame (2005–2010)

Co-hosts

 * Iya Villania (2005–2006)
 * Kat Alano (2005–2006)
 * Janelle Jamer (2005–2007)
 * Cheena Crab (2005–2007)
 * Mariel Rodriguez (2006–2010)
 * Valerie Concepcion (2007–2010)
 * Pokwang (2007–2010)
 * Roxanne Guinoo (2007)
 * Janna Dominguez (2007–2008)
 * Precious Lara Quigaman (2007–2008)
 * RR Enriquez (2008–2010)
 * Carmen Soo (2010)
 * Max Collins (2010)
 * Jed Montero (2010)
 * Kelly Misa (2010)

Guest hosts

 * Kris Aquino (2005; 2008; 2009)
 * Amy Perez
 * Korina Sanchez
 * Dolphy (2009)
 * Robin Padilla (2010)
 * Edu Manzano (2007–2010)
 * Maricel Soriano (2007)
 * Billy Crawford (2010)
 * Kim Atienza (2010)
 * Luis Manzano (2010)
 * Cesar Montano (2010)
 * Gabby Concepcion (2009, 2010)
 * Vice Ganda (2009)
 * John Lloyd Cruz (2008, 2010)
 * KC Concepcion (2010)
 * Randy Santiago
 * Dennis Padilla (2010)
 * Manila Vice Mayor Yul Servo (2008–2010)

Featuring

 * Wowowee Dancers (formerly ASF Dancers) (2005–2010)
 * Kembot Girls (2010)
 * ASF Boys (2005–2010)
 * Wowowee Girls (2005)
 * Bentong (2005–2010)
 * Luningning (2008–2010)
 * Saicy Aguila (2008–2010)
 * Mariana del Rio (2008–2009)
 * Priscilla Meirelles (2008–2009)
 * Ariana Barouk (2008–2009)
 * Sandra Seifert (2008–2009)
 * Nina Jose (2008–2009)
 * Owen Ercia (Jimmy Santol) (2005–2010)
 * DJ Coki (2007–2010)
 * DJ Mod (2005–2007; 2010)

Cash Motto
In the Cash Motto segment, a random studio audience member who sent in a motto played a game with winnings up to PHP1,000,000. The contestant had one minute to grab as much cash in the air in a secluded capsule. They could not take peso bills while it is on the tank itself. The contestant was provided a broom to loosen up the money, so more would fly in the air. The amount of money they collected was what they kept. If the total amount of money grabbed reached PHP40,000 or over, the contestant received a Wowowee videoke along with the money they grabbed. Another random studio audience member was chosen after the segment. This second audience member did not get to play the game, but had to guess how much money the first audience member grabbed. The co-hosts usually gave a hint on the range. The contestant had up to three chances to guess how much was won. If the contestant guessed the correct amount, they won whatever the other player won. If they failed to guess, they still won PHP1,000 for being chosen.

Hep, Hep, Hooray
Twenty (previously ten) random audience members got to play Hep, Hep, Hooray. The game retired at the end of 2009 but quickly returned on January 4, 2010, due to more audience demand than its predecessor, Samson, Lion and Delilah.

In this segment of the show, the audience was prepared to dance to one of Willie Revillame's hit songs. This opening song number was the theme tune for the choosing of the ten random audience members, the audience was warmed up for the public displays of talent, where Willie and his co-hosts drew from the audience, from different sections including the TFC subscribers to dance the song in an entertaining way.

The objective of the game was to repeat the words "Hep Hep" and "Hooray". A co-host put the microphone in front of a contestant's face and they were supposed to say "Hep Hep" while clapping their hands together below their waist, then another co-host would put the microphone to another contestant's face and they were to finish the cheer with saying "Hooray" and raising their hands in the air. If a contestant made a mistake, they were out of the game, but they won PHP1,000 and a gift pack from Rexona as a consolation prize. This was a last person standing game. The one who lasted the longest won.

Since Cash Bukas, the old bonus round for the game moved on to Willie of Fortune, and new rules were written on its relaunch. The final person standing went for the final round, where the contestant could duel against one of the three "Amazonas": April, Lovely, and Aiko. During the duel, the same rules applied, repeating the words "Hep" "Hep" "Hooray". The contestant's goal was to beat the "Amazona" to win the jackpot, which always started at PHP10,000. Every day the jackpot was not won, another PHP10,000 was added to it. On January 25, 2010, Jana was removed as an Amazona due to losing three times; April replaced her. A new batch of Amazonas were introduced on March 8 of the same year, referred to the hosts as "Amazunas". A new name to "Amazunas" was introduced April 10: the "Dragon Ladies". Beginning July 5, the "Dragon Ladies" portion was removed, and the last person standing automatically won P10,000 from Rexona.

On July 26, a new format called the Pair Factor was introduced. The twenty random audience members chose a partner to play with. The rules still mainly stayed the same, however, they had to both clap with "Hep" "Hep", and raise their hands with "Hooray". There were two groups consisting of five pairs each playing in their own group. The winner of rounds one and two would advance to the final round competing against each other. The last pair standing won P10,000 from Rexona.

Willie of Fortune
Six people selected earlier through "themed" auditions competed in pairs in rounds of Willie of Fortune. The in-house keyboardist played a portion of a song, and the first person to name the song correctly won one point. If the player could correctly sing the exact lyrics from that portion of the song, they would receive the second point. Two points were required to win the round and get to round two. In this round, the three remaining players went to a knock out question. One song would be played, and whoever could buzz in the correct song title first won PHP10,000 and advanced to the jackpot round, Cash Bukas.

Every Saturday, celebrity teams played against each other. The same gameplay rules used in the weekday version were in effect. However, the team who reached five points first won, and went straight to the jackpot round, Cash Bukas.

Cash Bukas
In the Cash Bukas segment, the winner of Willie of Fortune (previously the player was taken from Hep, Hep, Hooray) got to play for four prizes. 10 trays were available for the player to select, while the player only selected three to play with. Next, the player chose only one tray. The player was offered increasing amounts of cash until the player took the offer, or kept playing to open the tray. The trays offered in the game were as follows:


 * 1: PHP100,000
 * 1: PHP500,000
 * 1: Grand Pasada Showcase (Sinski Maton)
 * 1: PHP1,000,000
 * 6: Cheap prizes (e.g., sandals, salted egg, noisemakers, etc.)

Tic Tac to Win
Tic Tac to Win was a game that premiered in January 2010, with a format similar to past "end-games" in the show, including its predecessor, Want More, No More. Beginning on February 6 of the same year, the game was played on a recurring basis.

Tumpak o Sablay
A group of fifty contestants was asked a trivia question that was asked by a random person in the streets, or a celebrity in some cases. The contestants went to either side of the stage "Tumpak" (Correct) or "Sablay" (Fail) to guess if their answer is right or wrong. Similar to Pera o Bayong, the last person standing on the round got to play for the jackpot round with PHP10,000 to keep.

Jackpot Round
Twenty letters (A-T) with prizes in different amounts were presented on a 5x4 board. The winner of the previous round chose nine letters from the board, and arranged the letters as they desired on a giant tic-tac-toe board. Scattered and hidden in the twenty letters were:


 * 4: Brand new car
 * 4: House and lot
 * 4: PHP1,000,000

Eight letters contained instant cash for the contestant to keep:


 * 4: PHP10,000
 * 3: PHP25,000
 * 1: PHP50,000

The goal was to make a tic-tac-toe of either the car, house, or PHP1,000,000. If a tic-tac-toe was achieved, it was won. If no tic-tac-toe was achieved, the contestant still kept the instant cash that was won on the board.

World tours
Wowowee had broadcast episodes from other locations in the Philippines, and had also gone on world tours to other countries such as the United States (Atlantic City, San Francisco, New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Reno, Chicago, Honolulu, Atlantic City, San Diego, Houston, and Guam), Australia (Sydney), Canada (Winnipeg) and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai).

In celebration of TFC's 15th anniversary and Wowowee's 4th anniversary, Wowowee held a grand world tour in 2009. Starting in Dubai, the tour reached Italy, United States (San Francisco, Seattle, Orlando and Las Vegas) and Canada (Toronto).

2006: Alay sa Kapamilya
Alay sa Kapamilya was a program organized by ABS-CBN as an observation for the PhilSports Arena stampede victims. It preempted Wowowee for six days while the network decided over the fate of the variety show. The shows were a solemn tribute to the victims, featuring performances by ABS-CBN regulars. Eventually, ABS-CBN decided to temporarily cancel the variety show until the start of the show's second iteration on March 11, 2006.

2006: Honoring Overseas Filipino Workers
On several occasions, the show has paid tribute to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) serving across the world. On the August 2, 2006, episode, Wowowee with cooperation with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) produced a special edition saluting and featuring female OFW's who returned from Lebanon where a war was present in that country. They were all invited to attend and even participate in the show that day. The contestants during the first half that day were close friends of the OFWs, while an unspecified number of OFW's participated in "The Ultimate Pera O Bayong". All the winnings won during the show were combined together and evenly distributed to all of the OFWs in the audience, with the grand total of winnings being PHP1,390,000.

2007: Armed Forces of the Philippines join Wowowee
On September 1, 2007, about 500 soldiers came in full force to the show. Representatives from the major services, AFPWSSUS and Technical Services come to play and have fun during the show and take a crack at the grand prizes in different games.

Highlights of the event were the interviews with the loved ones of Marines who lost their lives in the fight against the Abu Sayaff Group/ MILF rebels in Basilan on July 10 and August 11, 2007. Tearfully, loved ones recounted their last communication with the fallen Marines. Host Willie Revillame also asked each of them for a short message and everybody was moved to tears during the emotion-filled moment. AFP, PIO Chief LTC Bartolome Bacarro held back his tears but could not help it, just like the rest. Emotions rose again when candles were lit for the Marines.

2010: New set and co-hosts
A new set and a new batch of co-hosts were introduced in April 2010. Joining the four co-hosts already on the show were Carmen Soo, Isabelle Abiera, Jed Montero, and Kelly Misa. The new set consisted of a large LED video wall on the front of the stage with a brand new lighted flooring. Audience seats were moved and had seat numbers that might be used for future games.

The show began with an extravagant opening sequence of Willie Revillame singing and dancing to his hit songs over the past five years. Later, the usual games were played. In Cash Motto, a new format was explained that would begin taking place on April 17 called Cash Mo-Tour, in which the cash tank would travel around Metro Manila and barangays for lucky people to win big. In Hep, Hep, Hooray, the winner will play against the new name of the "Amazunas", the "Dragon Ladies" for the special jackpot of the day, PHP100,000. It was announced on the week of April 12 that the first stop for the Cash Mo-Tour will be held at Plaza Moriones in Tondo, Manila, but due to technical difficulties, it was announced on April 16 that the premiere would be postponed. Two months later on June 19, the game premiered in Valenzuela City.

Ratings
During its past 5 years, Wowowee became one of the longest-running noontime show, Eat Bulaga!'s biggest opponent. According to TNS National TV Ratings, Wowowee was consistent in hitting the 20% mark. It even hits the 30% mark if the show had special occasions. Example of this is the comeback of Willie Revillame on the show after its 1-month suspension. It rated 32.3%, a 12.1% lead against Eat Bulaga!'s 20.2%. It also gave Eat Bulaga! a close fight in Mega Manila, Bulaga's bailiwick while in rural areas, Wowowee was winning via landslide victory against its rival. However, Eat Bulaga! later defeated the show in rural areas due to its "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment.

Cancellation and aftermath
On July 27, 2010, ABS-CBN confirmed that Wowowee would end its second and final iteration that started on March 11, 2006 and the program overall on July 30, 2010, after 5 years of airing. This is after Revillame demanded ABS-CBN to fire entertainment writer Jobert Sucaldito over the latter's constant criticisms on Wowowee. Its ending coincided with Eat Bulaga!'s 31st anniversary of ABS-CBN's rival GMA Network. It was replaced by Pilipinas Win Na Win effective the following day on July 31, 2010. The new show is a variety game show hosted by Kris Aquino and Robin Padilla. Former Wowowee co-hosts Mariel Rodriguez, Pokwang, and Valerie Concepcion co-host the new show. Three months after Wowowee ended, Showtime became a noontime show, serving as the lead-in program for Pilipinas Win Na Win which was pushed back to an early afternoon timeslot. Pilipinas Win Na Win was cancelled at the end of 2010 in December 31, 2010.

In January 2011, ABS-CBN announced through its Push.com site that a new noontime show, hosted by ex-Magandang Tanghali Bayan hosts Randy Santiago and John Estrada, as well as Toni Gonzaga and ex-Wowowee host Mariel Rodriguez, was in the works. The show, entitled Happy Yipee Yehey! premiered on February 12, 2011, a week after what would have been the sixth anniversary of Wowowee which returned Showtime to its original timeslot and Willie was still under contract with ABS-CBN despite that he already transferred to TV5 on September 18, 2010 one month after Wowowee 's cancellation. Under the contract with the network, Revillame was supposed to host Wowowee and continue the show's second run and program overall until September 10, 2011 or upon its cancellation or earlier termination, which meant the show would have run for 6 years 7 months if it had not ended on July 30, 2010.

After Wowowee 's cancellation, Studio 3 of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center was then occupied by Pilipinas Win na Win, The Price is Right (the first non-afternoon game show to use Studio 3 at the aftermath of the cancellation of Wowowee), Happy Yipee Yehey! from September 17, 2011 to January 25, 2012 before moving to Dolphy Theatre (Studio 1) from January 26 to February 3, 2012 and produced the finale episode at AFP Theater on February 4, 2012, and recently by Showtime (as It's Showtime) since its return to noontime on February 6, 2012.

Both Pilipinas Win Na Win and Happy Yipee Yehey! received consistently low ratings due to Eat Bulaga! 's strong noontime viewership, which Revillame predicted. On January 28, 2012, Showtime went on hiatus as the show would be formatted to become a noontime show again which will replace Happy Yipee Yehey!. The drama series Mundo Man ay Magunaw took over the timeslot of Showtime while it was in hiatus from January 30 to February 3, 2012. Happy Yipee Yehey! aired its final episode on February 4, 2012 where it took over Showtime 's timeslot on Saturday. Showtime then returned on a noontime slot for the second and current time after one year and its one week hiatus on February 6, 2012 as It's Showtime (a day after what would have been the seventh anniversary of Wowowee) where it is continuously occupying the timeslot since then which made ABS-CBN's noontime slot again dominate that was not seen since the end of Wowowee 1 year and 7 months earlier on July 30, 2010.

ULTRA stampede
On February 4, 2006, Wowowee was to hold its first anniversary show at the ULTRA stadium when a stampede occurred early in the morning.

Hello Pappy scandal
On August 20, 2007, during the Wilyonaryo segment, Willie Revillame looked for the ₱2 million jackpot prize in the violet wheel. However, he found out that there are two numbers in the wheel by pulling off the films. A later feud between Revillame and rival show Eat Bulaga! Joey de Leon led to this scandal.

Cory Aquino live funeral coverage controversy
In the August 3, 2009 episode of Wowowee, during which the show was interrupted for live coverage of the transfer of President Cory Aquino's remains from La Salle Greenhills to the Manila Cathedral, Revillame said that he could not make people happy while the entire country was mourning. The Alliance of Filipino Journalists denounced his remarks as a sign of disrespect towards Aquino. Revillame said he had no intention of defaming the former president and her family. ABS-CBN senior executive Cory Vidanes said that the network supported Revillame's action, stating that his outburst did not run afoul of the Broadcast Code of the Philippines. Network entertainment official Johnny Manahan said Revillame was correct in saying that the footage should not have been inserted, but the way he said it was wrong.

Willing Willie and Wil Time Bigtime
After a five-month hiatus, Willie Revillame made his comeback on the TV5 show Willing Willie. Several personalities from Wowowee are also included in the new show's roster of hosts, including Owen Ercia and DJ Coki.

On November 24, 2010, ABS-CBN Corporation filed a copyright infringement suit against Willie Revillame, Wil Productions, Inc. and TV5 for allegedly copying Wowowee in Willing Willie. However, hearings on the case, which was filed at the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 66 under presiding judge Joselito C. Villarosa, was suspended after the Court of Appeals granted the request for a temporary restraining order by TV5.

TV5 then filed a petition for certiorari, prohibition and writ of preliminary injunction before the Court of Appeals. ABS-CBN responded by filing a motion seeking to dismiss the petition of the former. On March 10, 2011, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of TV5.

On May 14, 2011, Willie Revillame's comeback for the primetime variety show Wil Time Bigtime after 9 months, this show has now officially canceled on January 5, 2013.

Wowowillie and Wowowin
TV5 announced the newest noontime variety show Wowowillie. It premiered on January 26, 2013, but the show was cancelled on October 12, 2013, due to the early retirement from television of Willie Revillame as well as poor ratings of the show.

In March 2015, GMA Network announced the comeback of Willie Revillame to Philippine television and to GMA Network via his newest Sunday afternoon variety show, Wowowin. Wowowin, produced by Revillame's WBR Entertainment Productions, premiered on May 10, 2015, nationwide and worldwide via GMA Pinoy TV. The hashtag #Wowowin trended on Twitter nationwide through the night.

Awards

 * 2005 KBP Golden Dove Awards Best Variety Show – Won
 * Best Variety & Game Show (Star Awards for TV) (2009 & 2010) – Won (which was a combination of Best Game Show and Best Variety Show in one category this year)
 * Best Variety Show (Star Awards for TV) (2008) – Won
 * In 2008, tied with GMA Network's Eat Bulaga. - Won
 * Best Male TV Host (Willie Revillame) (2005 & 2007) – Won
 * Best Female TV Host (Janelle Jamer) (2007) – Won
 * Consumers Award Outstanding Variety Show (2008) – Won
 * Consumers Award Outstanding Male TV Host (2008) – Won
 * PMPC Star Awards Best Female TV Host (Valerie Concepcion) (2008 & 2009) – Won
 * Anak TV Seal Awards (2009) – Won