Showbiz 101

Source: Stephanie Manhit, abs-cbnnews.com

Ten of the housemates were able to breathe easy Saturday night.

The merge of houses already began, with each housemate who was announced safe entering House A. It was home sweet home for Catherine "Cathy" Remperas, Johan Morielle Santos, Paul Jake Castillo, Steve "Tibo" Jumalon, and Jason Veron Francisco.

Original House B’s Alvin Kirby "Rocky" Salumbides, Marielle Sorino, Patrick Villanueva, Samuelle "Sam" Pinto, and Kathleen "Kath" Lopena-Ortega happily moved in soon after.

They could not help but exhale audibly, a look of relief taking the place of their earlier apprehension. Kath was at a loss for words, repeatedly expressing her gratitude for another chance. They started bonding right away and gathered to share stories.

With the threat of eviction out of the way, Bagyong Issa turned out to be something they would look forward to. The boys were particularly looking forward to facing challenges as one team, without worrying about competing with another house. From now on, it seemed, there was an “all for one, one for all” battle cry.

The 5 remaining housemates were Melisa "Melai" Cantiveros, Hermes Eugene Bautista, Rica Paras, Carolyn "Carol" Lim Batay, and Yuri Okawa.

They spent the night together in House B, all carrying the burden that it could be their last night as housemates. Despite the tension, Melai was still able to stay upbeat, asking if the others would rather hold a vigil since they would find difficulty sleeping anyway.

All agreed to make the most out of their last night, since it would surely be the end for one of them. As soon as they entered the house, they gathered in prayer, united in their need for strength and their gratitude for making it this far.

Hermes, the only guy in the group, stayed with the others the entire night. Yuri took the time to sing Jason’s praises to Melai. Both Rica and Melai were surprised as Yuri shared how appreciative and helpful Jason was around the house, characteristics that were far from the Jason they knew.

Before Melai could turn green from jealousy, Yuri assured her that Jason did miss her, and that she was probably the reason he has changed his ways.

Before the announcements, each was asked if there were things that they regretted doing. All had few, if any, regrets. Melai’s only regret was that she was not able to use the pool much while Carol believed that she was just being true to herself, and that was not something to be ashamed of.

Rica shared the same sentiments, though admitted to being too comfortable and loose with her language. Hermes and Yuri both had no regrets, though they asked forgiveness if they had hurt anyone.

Try as they would to distract themselves, putting aside the fear of the coming eviction was next to impossible. All of them expressed fear of being evicted, now more than ever before. A regular eviction would have been difficult, but to be kicked out by people’s choice left one with a feeling of loss and being unwanted.

The first two housemates who joined the group in House A were Rica and Carol. Melai followed suit, leaving only Hermes and Yuri on the edge of their seats.

Finally, the announcement came, saving Hermes and ending Yuri’s days in the house.

Hermes was quite reluctant to leave Yuri, finding little victory if it was at the expense of another. It took Kuya’s prodding and Yuri’s assurance to get him out of the room.

Kuya then spoke with Yuri, commending her on having the courage to stay true to herself and her beliefs. As a last boon, he also allows her to say her final goodbye to her housemates.

A few moments after, Yuri was ushered into the outside world by host Mariel Rodriguez and welcomed by her mom and her supporters. Yuri rushed into her mom’s arms in tears, though she could not help but smile at the people cheering her on.

In her speech, she said: “Sometimes hindi lahat ng nakikita niyo sa TV is true. Sometimes entertainment isn’t really entertaining, pero pinakita ko naman kung ano talaga ako. And I’m not that bad. Sometimes I’m just misunderstood. So I hope you guys will get to know me better.”

Take note that the names were given out in random order. The percentage of votes were as follows: Yuri (26.52%), Mariel (22.9 %), Carol (17.25%), Hermes (9.80%), and Rocky (7.01%) are the top 5. Sam (4.67%), Patrick (3.90%), Rica (1.0%), Cathy (1.58%), and Kath (1.53%) follow, with the last three in close competition.

The bottom 5 – who actually are the ones who people did not think of evicting – were Melai (1.08%), Tibo (0.74%), Jason (0.60%), Paul Jake (0.46%), and Johan (0.32%).