For three years now, our family has been celebrating our Christmases with a competition. On the eve of the 24th of December, all of my relatives who are at the province gather at my grandmother’s house to celebrate Christmas. Since all of us in the province live in just one baranggay, it was easy to communicate with everybody.
The competition started on December 2004. To make the party more exciting, my grandmother decided that every family should present a little something – a show without any limit. It can be a dance or a song number, a play, or any other we could think of. There was only one rule: that all members of the family should participate in whatever they are going to present. An aunt from Germany sponsored the competition; that means she’s going to give the prizes. First prize was P 5000 for the winning family, and there were consolation prizes for the rest.
Now it so happened that my mom was so driven to win that competition. It’s not as if we really need the money. Maybe she was just in it for the excitement of a competition. So she secretly came up with an idea of how we’re going to present. Since we were all Disney babies (we were raised watching Disney movies!), and there are five girls in our family (me and my four sisters) plus our mom, that’s six, she decided that we’ll do a Disney show. She assigned a character for each one of us- Mulan, Little Mermaid, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella (me!), Beauty and the Beast (my mom & dad). We prepared the costumes, the music, and choreographed the whole show. Some were made to sing, some danced, and some did both.
The night of the competition, which is Christmas Eve, we were ready and confident to win. We were chosen to present first, and the others were so surprised and amused. They didn’t think that we prepared that much, and I must admit, my mom’s idea was pretty good. After our presentation, they felt that they have no chances of winning since they didn’t prepare much. They didn’t think anybody would give much thought about it. The parents or adults weren’t that concerned, but the kids, my cousins, sulked. They were telling their parents to practice but their parents were either too busy or just didn’t give much thought about it. Now they were regretting that they weren’t able to come up with a better presentation.
Since it seemed we’re the only ones who prepared, my grandmother decided to call off the competition. It was unfair; and my dad couldn’t help expressing his opinions. The thing is, it was an announced competition- fair and square. The rules were clear and there was no question or objection to any matter regarding the competition. It was probably my grandmother’s pity (awa) to the other families. They don’t even need that P5000. It’s just a bit of an incentive. Instead, she decided to give us a vaseful of chocolate coins – imported I guess, with the glass vase more valuable than those inside it, but much less than the supposed prize. But what concerns me most is the bad example she set for the little children – bending the rules without any justifiable reason. I don’t know if a relative asked her to call off the competition. But most knew that it was unfair, and it really felt awkward and stupid. After that, we just decided to forget the whole thing and enjoy the rest of the party.
December 2005: Now everybody’s preparing for their presentations. We decided to present (again, my mom’s idea) a magic show! My dad’s going to be the magician, and we’re supposed to be the dancers and the assistants. My mom hired someone to do our costumes and then we practiced our dance steps and blockings. My dad decided to go for a look like an Indian or a genie with a chaleco and a turban. We also have to prepare appropriate music for the show.
Haha! It was a blast! They didn’t anticipate it. Although my dad (who practiced the tricks just earlier that day) failed on a trick, he managed to get the audience roaring with laughter and entertainment. Though it was a little messy presentation, the idea was unique as compared to the others and audience participation and impact was greater than anybody else’s.
We won. We’re happy. My bachelor uncle sponsored for the prizes. Though they decided to reduce the first prize and increase the lower prizes, after of course, our presentation. It’s Christmas, I don’t want to say another bad word.
December 2006: My mom has an idea again. It seems like she’s always prepared for this. She wants a “Deal or No Deal” show. There are six girls total – my youngest sister was to play Kris Aquino, and the rest of us were to be the 26 K. My dad’s the banker. He was so excited he devised his radio set and headsets for “Kris”. My mom then again thought that we should be dressed in those sexy outfits the girls in “Deal or No Deal” wore. So she decided to hire someone again (same one who made our costumes last year) to make our green spaghetti tank top dresses. Since there are only 5 of us as the 26K, we have two “briefcases” each so that there are 10 amounts to choose from. My dad asked one of his construction workers to make the stands and my sister and I made the envelopes with the amounts written on them (the briefcases). Then there’s the music I have to download with the opening music, banker’s music and tension music (it’s the one you hear when a contestant is thinking of what briefcase to open, and when to press the button or not). It was fun preparing and dancing since we had to practice the dance steps the 26K girls do at the start of the show. Ours was all manual- there was a big illustration board for the amounts, and one of us has to strike out the amount which was opened. The audience was happy! They enjoyed the show and they were very much entertained. We gave a real prize by the way; the highest was P 2000 I think, with the lowest as P 1. The contestant got P 800.
The other presented a nativity play and several dance shows. Guess who won? One of the families who danced a folk dance crossed with modern steps and music, or vice-versa. All of us were pretty surprised. Even the winning family was so surprised. They were so sure they would lose after seeing all the presentations. I think they should be third, with the nativity coming in second, and ours as first. I forgot who the judges were, but I’m sure my grandmother’s one of them.
Of course some of the adults couldn’t help expressing themselves – some were in favor of us; some would rather keep silent for fear of angering the other parties.
That’s one year ago, and this year I think my mom doesn’t want to enter into a “competition” which isn’t really a fair one. There are criteria for judging given at the start; so even the kids know who’s going to win after watching the presentations.
My mom’s reply after we asked her what we’re going to present: “Ah, magdDEAL or NO DEAL pa rin tayo every year hanggang magsawa sila.”
-modified some: Jasmine (Snow White) and P2000 (P1000). I really coudn't remember the exact details when I wrote this for the Inquirer. My mom reminded after she read the issue. hehe. Had to give credit for Inquirer staff for making up the title. I also forgot to make one. :P
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