A pachinko game with a twist
THE GAME show The Wall Philippines and its host, Billy Crawford, has moved to the GMA Network.
The Wall Philippines — a franchise of an American game show created by LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Andrew Glassman, distributed by Banijay Rights Ltd. — is a co-production between GMA-7 and Viva Entertainment, Inc.
Singer and host Billy Crawford returns to the network as the host of the show. Mr. Crawford also hosted the game show on TV5 last year.
“I feel welcomed again. I feel at home…,” Mr. Crawford said on his return to GMA, during an online press conference on Aug. 23.
Mr. Crawford started his career as a child actor (known as Billy Joe Crawford) in the variety show That’s Entertainment in the 1990s on GMA, before pursuing a music career when he moved to the United States at age 12. He returned to the Philippines in 2007. In 2008, he went to ABS-CBN and was one of the main hosts of the variety show, It’s Showtime from 2011 to2020.
PACHINKO GAMEThe Wall Philippines is a pachinko game with a twist.
The game is completed in three rounds by a team of two contestants. One answers questions in an isolated room while the other drops balls down a four-story pegboard which has slots marked with the amounts of money in play. Depending on whether the answer is correct or not, the corresponding amount of the slot that the ball falls into will be added to the total pot; on the other hand, missing a question will see the corresponding slot’s amount deducted from the total pot. The players can win a grand prize of more than P10 million.
The game’s goal is to bank as much money as possible by answering trivia questions and landing the balls in high-value slots. Depending on the turn of events, the contestants may be ahead with a huge amount of banked money in one instance, then lose it in the next rounds.
Mr. Crawford said that hosting a game show is always a new experience because of the different contestants he meets.
“You let their emotions out,” he said about contestants. “We need them to feel afraid, we need them to feel excited. We need them to feel sad, and or happy. As a host, I need to bring that out of the person.”
“He is a conversationalist. Tama siya na kailangan ipalabas yung emotions ‘pag naglalaro ka (He is right when he said that real emotions have to be revealed while playing),” Viva Entertainment Inc. Vice-President Jay Montelibano said of Mr. Crawford as a host. “During those times that one is uncertain, napapakalma niya (He keeps them calm).”
The excitement also depends on the turn of the game, whether it’s a good turnout or not, real emotions are shown, he said.
In upcoming episodes, participants will include GMA-affiliated celebrities.
The Wall Philippines premieres on Aug. 28, 3:35 p.m., on GMA-7. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
