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...the Amazing Race X rocks!

Just to kick things off. My favorite reality TV show of all time, The Amazing Race, is clearly going back to its original, hardcore roots. My favorite season of all time, Season 5, is still coming out on top (probably because of my tremendous love for Colin and Christie), but tasks-wise, rules-wise, and mechanics-wise, Season 10 is just so much more superior! No more excessive bunching and bunching that renders almost the whole leg worthless (the bane of Season 6), no more boring tasks (the bane of Seasons 6-9), no more mugging and begging during NEL's (the bane of Seasons 7-9), and as yet, no more uneventful Yields (the bane of Seasons 5-9). What are in place? A diverse cast (though the elimination of the Moslems and the Indians in the first leg watered this down a bit), really trying and well-thought-out tasks (ascenders, woohoo!), a shake in mechanics (middle-of-the-leg eliminations, east-to-west travel), a real penalty for coming in last on an NEL, and no one team dominating the entire race! (Well, Colin and Christie did come in first on almost every leg, but it was because Colin had fantastic airport skills in particular and a great grasp of race mechanics in general.) Can you scream "Hallelujah?" The season just gets better and better!

In other news, Pinoy Dream Academy. My roommate knows the disgust I felt watching the first few episodes of this show. I told him, "What is this, Pinoy Big Brother all over again?" After several weeks of watching the Expulsion and Probation Nights, though, I have come to love PDA. Which is a strange thing, given that I've sworn allegiance to Philippine Idol even before the show aired. Well, I guess those are the operative words: ...even before the show aired. When it finally did, I found that I had neither love or affection for the uninteresting finalists, the washed-out set, and the crappy sound system. Which, you know, should have been pre-requisites for a successful Idol franchise.

Anyway, back to PDA. As I've said, I have come to love the show. And while the start was a little shaky and leaning towards Big Brother, the show finally realized its mistake and started showing what viewers have been expecting for it to air all along: the classes, the performances, the songs, the rehearsals, the reviews, the teachers, the lessons, the evaluation. Of course, with Laurenti Dyogi in the commander's helm, there's bound to be a sprinkle of Yeng-RJ and Iya-JR love stories, as well as the appearance of family members to induce drama, but I simply ignore these by not watching the episodes where these romantic interludes are shown. In the greater scheme of things, these have even become bearable.

Why, you might ask. One, I believe the show is truly improving. It learns from what fans have to say, and it picks idea from them. The shift from drama-based to talent-based (it did shift, in my opinion) episodes is a clear example of this. Now we get to see more of the scholars' progress in singing and performing, rather than what kind of childhood experiences they have had. Two, the performances of some of the scholars are just awesome. Those that immediately spring to mind belong to Yvan, JR, Yeng, Panky, Emman, Ronnie, and Irish. With these handful of great acts, I can basically ignore those that suck (Kristoff, I'm looking at you.). But this brings me to my third point, which is that the show's elimination process rocks! Thus far, all those that have been eliminated do not deserve to remain in the show any longer. Sooner or later, with the 5-probation = expulsion rule, Kristoff, Michelle and Rosita are going to get the boot. I also have to say that the three-level elimination works better than depending solely on votes or solely on judges. Gone are the days when those who are popular outlast those who are good. Good job, PDA!

More power to these two shows!