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ABS-CBN, Willie deny hand in 'Wowowee' Hawaii fiasco
Written by staff   
Monday, 12 May 2008 16:51

{mosimage}Was this another case of a show promoter making promises it couldn't keep? Or did "Wowowee" host Willie Revillame and other stars of the show snub a private party after VIP guests paid top-dollar just to watch them perform?

Willie Revillame denied any knowledge of the said party in an interview with ABS-CBN North America Bureau Chief Ging Reyes.

“Hindi ko po talaga alam yung VIP party na yon kaya wala ako doon…Pasensya na po kayo…” he told Reyes. "Wowowee", a popular variety game show in the Philippines, is on a US tour and was in Hawaii for the weekend to tape a show there. Nearly 7,000 fans attended the show held at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation has issued an official statement, denying involvement in the party event, which was organized by Bigatin Productions and held at the Rumours nightclub in Hawaii, on May 9.

The full statement reads:

"ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation was not involved in the staging of the "Wowowee VIP Bash" held at the Rumours nightclub in Hawaii Thursday night as reported by the AP.

"The Wowowee  production team received an invitation from the organizers of the private party, but it never accepted, committed, or agreed to bring the stars of "Wowowee" except for the three dancers who showed up that night. They were also unaware that that tickets were being sold to the public at $100 each."

According to a report from The Honolulu Advertiser (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/May/10/ln/hawaii805100345.html), more than 250-300 fans went to the venue expecting a pre-show "meet and greet" event between fans and Willie Revillame along with 17 stars of the show.

Refunds
Bigatin Productions has already apologized to fans and promised to give them full refunds.

Other promoters involved in the Aloha Stadium show expressed disappointment about how Bigatin Productions conducted the affair.

“I got a call from Bigatin Production, met with them. Everything went well in that conversation but somewhere along the way, what was promised to me was not delivered. I was very disappointed,” said concert promoter Rod Agsalud.

“Bigatin Production…they should respect us here in Hawaii…We had experiences with other artists/production from the Philippines but nothing like this has happened," said event promoter Arnel Lagasca.

Interestingly, the comments page of the Honolulu Advertiser website yielded other intersting information that may be useful in an investigation. One poster, "localknight" wrote: "jeffny...the tickets that everyone had reads: bigatin productions & rick rock productions The Wowowee VIP Bash thrusday, may, 2008 6p-10p rumors (ala moana hotel) at a cost of $100"

Scam?
Poster jeffny replied: "This should be investigated. The place was not suppose to be a "meet and greet." Wowowee is so big right now in Hawaii that people are using its name. Here's the exact quote from Joey Alcantra: 'Join us to celebrate my birthday, may 8, at rumors alamoana ,7 to 12 pm its wowowee private show by invitations only'. It was not a VIP meet and greet."

So who was scamming who? Was there another group that put out the invite from "Joey Alcantara" in order to scam people into buying tickets? Is it possible that more than one group operated a scam on the same event? After all, 250 to 300 people paying $100 each adds up to a lot of money.

This could explain some conflicting details in the reports published by the Honolulu Advertiser and the Associated Press. Bigatin Productions president David Tiu stated that 12 out of the 17 "Wowowee" stars were present at the event, while one witness, Rumours doorman Mel Buted, said only three Wowowee dancers showed up.

Buted's statement squares with the official statement from ABS-CBN about sending in three dancers. So why is Tiu claiming that 12 out of 17 Wowowee stars were present? And who is Joey Alcantara who claimed that the event was his birthday party?

Disappointed "Wowowee" fans may get their refunds, but perhaps more than that is needed.  There must be a clearer picture of how the incident occured and those responsible must be held accountable. Only then can the show's promoters begin to recover the lost trust of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in Hawaii.

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