The second season of the reality game show Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition (subtitled as "Teen Edition Plus") aired ABS-CBN for 77 days from March 23 to June 7, 2008.It has been announced on Day 49 that there would be four more weeks after it.
Ejay Falcon emerged as the season's winner, while Robi Domingo was the runner-up. Nicole Uysiuseng and Beauty Gonzalez were the finalists.
Overview On March 4, 2008, local news on ABS-CBN reported that Big Brother had already sent 30 Dream Keys along with special instructions in a sealed envelope. The instructions told the receiver that they must go to the final casting call in Manila without public information. From these thirty who answered the casting call, fourteen were chosen to enter the house.
A special primer called The BIGginning was aired on March 16, 2008. It showed the selection process used to choose the fourteen official housemates. While their faces were blurred to withhold their identities, a few of them were eventually shown and their names revealed as Big Brother told them of their rejection through his Big Red Phone.
Hosts Toni Gonzaga returned as primetime host; this was also the first Teen Edition that she would be hosting. Mariel Rodriguez, the previous Teen Edition primetime host, also returned to host the late afternoon edition, Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition Season 2 Über. Bianca Gonzalez once again hosted the show's Update skits after being the regular host of Über in the second Celebrity Edition; she once hosted the Update slot back in the second regular season. Luis Manzano made his return to the show as Gonzaga's alternate host/co-host in the primetime edition; he appeared previously as co-host in a live airing of first Celebrity Edition.
House theme The primer also revealed the new look of the House interior, which Manzano described as having a "funky, modern Moroccan" design with more elegant and colorful furnishings. Also, the "garden" was dominated by a large swimming pool. Furthermore, the new housemates entered the House area through the facade instead of the Eviction Hall as housemates in the second regular edition and the second Celebrity Edition did.
Also, what used to be the activity area was a part of the House called a "Plus Base." It had additional bedrooms, a garden, and a jacuzzi; it was occupied by the Guardians. Conversely, part of the Eviction Hall was renovated into the new activity area.
Theme song Unlike Pinoy Ako and Sikat ang Pinoy, both of which were rehashed, the original Kabataang Pinoy by Itchyworms was used for this season without any alterations. A remixed version of the song (which combines its beat with those of Crank That and Smack That to name a few) was used throughout the opening night.
Prizes The prizes offered for the winner were a laptop, an LCD TV set, kitchen appliances, a business showcase, a condominium, and ₱1,000,000 cash prize.
While the second, third, and fourth big placers received ₱500,000, ₱300,000, and ₱200,000 cash respectively. And all big placers also received a laptop and kitchen appliances.
Format "Plus" Twists There are several reasons the word "Plus" was added to the edition name. One, as had been already stated, was Luis's return to the show. The second reason was the two housemates added to the announced twelve, both connected to the storied Ateneo-La Salle rivalry. The third was the secret area Luis revealed during the opening night of the edition. These rooms were occupied by the Housemates' Guardians, who were also the fourth reason. The fifth reason was the two House Players, whose function was similar to America's Player in the eighth season of the American version.
Guardians: On Day 7, fourteen adults entered the House and, in a similar rein to the Big Mother concept of the Greek version, these "Guardians" (as the program calls them) are in the House to watch over the Housemates. There will be also a Guardian Big 4 and Guardian Big Winner, which will be independent from the Teen Big 4 and Teen Big Winner. Immunity Challenges: Several challenges were held in the house which granted immunity from being nominated to the winner. House Players: Similar to America's Player featured in Big Brother 8 (U.S.), the House Players each attempted a series of tasks for two weeks each based on the results of an SMS viewer poll. The House Players were rewarded P10,000 each for every task they complete. Teen Grand Council: The final five housemates were faced by former housemates, house players and guardians by being asked by them regarding issues they had in the past weeks. International Voting: Viewers in the United Arab Emirates could vote the same way those in the Philippines do through the network provider Etisalat.
Housemates A total of fourteen housemates entered the house on Day 1, which was March 23, 2008. Twelve were announced to come in, but two were added because of the connection of their schools. The housemates are ordered here according to their entry into the House. Meanwhile, the ages indicated were the ages of the said housemate upon entrance to the house, and the origin indicates where the housemates were born or based before joining the program.
Name Age on entry Hometown Entered Exited Result Ejay Falcon 18 Oriental Mindoro Day 1 Day 77 Robi Domingo 18 Quezon City Day 1 Day 77 Nicole Uysiuseng 17 Cebu Day 1 Day 77 Christine "Beauty" Gonzalez 16 Dumaguete Day 1 Day 77 Alex Anselmuccio 15 Milan, Italy Day 1 Day 74 Nan Clenuar 13 Davao City Day 1 Day 70 Valerie Weigmann 18 Wiesbaden, Germany Day 1 Day 67 Rona Libby 16 Dumaguete Day 1 Day 64 Priscilla Navidad 19 Davao Day 1 Day 56 Josef Elizalde 17 Mandaluyong Day 1 Day 49 Jolas Paguia 14 Guiguinto, Bulacan Day 1 Day 42 Kevin Garcia-Flood 18 Madrid, Spain Day 1 Day 35 Linda Backlund 16 Iriga City Day 1 Day 26 Jieriel Papa 13 Davao City Day 1 Day 21
Guardians On Day 7, fourteen adults entered the House and, in a similar rein to the Big Mother concept of the Greek version, these "Guardians" (as the program calls them) are in the House to watch over the Housemates. Their entry also aims to have viewers know the Housemates better through the Guardians. These Guardians will be in the House for a limited time; but if one Housemate's Guardian willingly decides to leave the House or is forced out of the House, a Forced Eviction will be imposed on that Housemate. If the Housemate is evicted, the Housemate's Guardian also gets evicted. Also, in a similar rein, the Housemate will undergo a punishment for whatever violation the Housemate's Guardian has committed.
Of the fourteen Guardians, twelve are parents, one is a close relative and another is a good acquaintance. They are listed below in order of their introduction:
Boy (Robi's father) Anna (Josef's aunt) Ningning (Linda's mother) Gerry (Jieriel's stepfather) Carina (Beauty's mother) Rose (Rona's mother) Sandy (Nicole's mother) Ike (Jolas's father) My Love (Nan's mother) Erning (Ejay's "father"; in reality, his foster father) Violy (a friend of Valerie's mother whom Valerie calls her "second mother") Jinky (Priscilla's mother) Minda (Alex's mother) John (Kevin's father)
On Day 27 (April 18, 2008), Big Brother revealed to the Guardians that the top four Guardians would also receive cash prizes; each cash prize is valued at half of the counterpart Big 4 Teen Housemate would receive as well as other prizes. The Guardian Big Four's prizes are separate from those of their wards.
On Day 57, through a viewer poll, Erning was proclaimed the Guardian Big Winner, garnering 65.16% of the vote. He and the last three Guardians exited the House on that day, leaving the House once again to the teen housemates.
House Players Similar to America's Player featured in Big Brother 8 (U.S.), the House Players each attempted a series of tasks for two weeks each based on the results of an SMS viewer poll. The House Players were rewarded P10,000 each for every task they complete.
Farina "Shy" Runkle was the show's first House Player. Aside from the fact that she is a teenager from Pasay City who was once a poker dealer, not much else is known about her as she always wore a mask to conceal her identity during her first week in the House. She once joined Starstruck on GMA 7 but failed to advance. She won a total of P40,000 for her efforts. She exited on Day 51 due to homesickness and the pressures inside the House.
Shy was joined by a second House Player, Andrea "Andi" Eigenmann, daughter of actors Mark Gil and Jaclyn Jose,On Primetime: Another plus is in the house! Pinoy Big Brother website whom Shy would help for the next five tasks. She exited the House on Day 53 due to the same reasons as Shy. Because of her short stay and the failure of her first and only task, she did not earn anything. Furthermore, she was excluded from any gatherings for ex-housemates from that point onwards.
Due to Shy's early exit, a Third House player, the portly Mikan Ong from Olongapo City, entered the House to take over Shy's role in assisting Andi. He is one of the 16 Dream Key holders who were not chosen as official housemates. Like Shy during her first week and unlike Andi (because of her showbiz connections), Mikan wore a mask to hide part of his face, but soon took it off. For his efforts, he won P20,000. He was purposely left behind in Palawan on Day 62, signalling the end of his role.
Chronology of important events This section lists important events and occurrences of violations and excluding the usual nomination and eviction nights. In this case, Day 1 is March 23, 2008.
Week 1 Day 1: The housemates entered the House one after the other. They were then welcomed by Big Brother, who gave them four points which actually summed up the official House rules. Day 2: Alex and Josef committed the same violation in two separate times: Alex whispered something to Jolas during a daily task and Josef doing the same to Kevin while everyone was inside the boys' bedroom. The two were punished by having them talk in a shouting manner. Wanting to partake on Josef's punishment, Robi was allowed by Big Brother to do so by acting as Josef's "echo." Day 3: Beauty and Robi committed a violation by mouthing of words after the lip reading activity. Their punishment would be meted out in a later time. Day 4: Ejay said during his daily confession that he already knows his true identity – that he is an adopted child, and his biological father is French. However, his surrogate father does not know the matter. Day 7: Because of the various violations committed during the week, the housemates had to form and even hold a giant red styrofoam egg together (reminiscent of Humpty Dumpty). Later, unbeknownst to the Housemates, who were having a chat with host Toni, the Guardians entered the House in groups. Once in the Plus Base, the Guardians were greeted by Big Brother and were given a few reminders.
Week 2 Day 8: Alex had made his decision to undergo circumcision during his stay in the House. This came exactly a week after he unwittingly included the Filipino word supot (uncircumcised) in his vocabulary of Filipino words, and then revealed that he did not go through the informal Filipino rite of passage because it is not a common practice among Italian men. Later, Ejay told the truth about his identity to his foster father Erning; the two, though, vowed to each other that the filial love they have would not change. Day 9: A special graduation ceremony was held for Robi, Jieriel, and Rona in the activity area, attended by their parents, their fellow housemates, and the principals of their respective schools, as well as host Bianca and first Teen Edition second placer Mikee Lee. This was made possible because the Guardians completed the other housemates' secret sacrifice (wire 1,500 notebooks), in which they were not able to finish on time.Cheers to the newly grads Robi, Jieriel and Rona!, Pinoy Big Brother website