Battle of the Brains was a Philippine quiz show shown at RPN 9 from 1992 to 1999 and at PTV 4 from 1999 to 2001. It was hosted for almost all episodes by David Celdran, with various alternates (including Chiqui Roa-Puno, Cathy Santillan, and Anthony Suntay) taking over in his absence. The show is primarily sponsored by Uniwide Sales, Inc. (a major budget retailer during the show's popularity) from 1992 to 1999, and by AMA Computer College from 2000 and 2001 before the show folded. The show was open to all elementary, high school and college students nationwide, but the majority of grand champions have come from Metro Manila.
Competitors usually join by contacting Focal Media Arts by telephone, and are directly slotted for the televised Weekly Finals. However, there are also reports that non-televised provincial rounds have been held.Each season determines its elementary, high school, and college level Grand Champions in a single-elimination tournament with 4 rounds (called the Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Grand Finals). Only the top competitor advances to the next round.The Weekly and Quarterly Finals feature 4 competitors each, while the Monthly and Grand Finals each field 3 competitors. However, there have been exceptions to this allocation for rounds prior to the Grand Finals.Each competing elementary and high school is represented by 2 students (except for elementary teams from Seasons 1 and 2, which fielded 3 students each). The college competition featured an individual representing the school, except from Season 8 (1999–2000 season) onwards, when 2-person teams were adopted.Alternates were allowed for elementary and high school competitors. But once used in competition, the alternate must continue to compete, taking the displaced student's place, for the rest of the competition.In Season 9 (2000–2001 season), the format for the college level was changed to the returning-champion format similar to that of Jeopardy!. The winner will return on the next episode to face a new set of challengers until they lost.A panel of judges is present at every round, whose members are usually professors from top Philippine universities. Their primary function is to oversee and settle any disputes or complaints. Some of the competition's judges have been:The competition also has a set of reference books which are used in settling disputes. The list of official reference materials have been given to Grand Finalists, and the books themselves are sometimes part of the Grand Prize.Competition in each level was composed of 30 questions in total, grouped into easy, average and difficult rounds (later changed in Season ? to 2 rounds of 15 questions each). Each round involved an equal number of questions asked in 5 subject areas: Science, Mathematics, History, General Information, and Arts/Literature.The host read the question twice, and is given some freedom to paraphrase the question. Contestants may answer as soon as the question is first read.Contestants answered by buzzing in first, which when performed is accompanied by a unique light and sound display. The rostra are rigged with a lockout buzzing system: contestants buzzing in late will not generate the light and sound display. After buzzing, the host acknowledged the school and were given 5 seconds to answer correctly. If not, they forfeit the question and the other teams are given the chance to answer, subject to the same time constraints. For each question given, a team may only attempt to answer once.If no contestant attempts to buzz within 5 seconds (or within 30 seconds for math questions) after a question has been asked, within 5 secondsThe host announced the correct question if nobody answered correctly (including if no answers were attempted).Points allotted for each question have varied, but generally the harder-category questions carry more points. Point deductions for incorrect responses were never implemented.At the end of each round, the host recaps the scores and announces round leaders or winners.In case of a tie for the winner, sudden-death questions were asked. The first team to answer correctly became the winner.The winner of each round prior to the Grand Finals had the opportunity to answer bonus questions, which were linked to a pattern board. The appearance of the pattern board has changed throughout the years, adopting the 3-ring board in Seasons 7 to 8?.In the 3-ring pattern board, the contestant chooses 1 of 3 concentric rings to accomplish, with the questions in each ring having a common theme (such as all answers beginning with the same letter, or of people from a particular field). Rings with more questions are found at the outermost portion of the set,and are generally easier to answer per question, while rings with fewer questions are at the center of the set are usually harder per question. Each question adds points to the total, while completing a ring merits extra prizes from show sponsors.
Complaints against questions, which may lead to score changes, are allowed during the actual taping of the show and are resolved with the decision of a panel of judges. But the actual protestations are not shown on air: the host simply summarizes the complaint and explains the score change.Any school recognized by the Philippine Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) was eligible to compete. It must field students who are enrolled at the school at the designated level at the time the season starts. It is unknown whether Philippine schools abroad which are recognized by DECS were technically eligible.For the elementary and high school levels, 1 alternate may be designated who will participate for the duration of the tournament once he or she is activated.For the elementary and high school levels, a school may be represented only once during the entire tournament. At the college level, a school may be represented as often as possible, provided it has not yet reached the Grand Finals. Once a competitor from a school makes the Grand Finals, other contestants from the same school will not be allowed to compete.As is common in televised academic quiz formats in the Philippines, which promote the 'give-chance-to-others' concept, an individual can become Grand Champion only once per level. This means that, for example, winning the elementary Grand Championship twice is not allowed, but winning 1 elementary and 1 high school Grand Championship is.All rounds prior to the Grand Finals were recorded in Broadcast City, Quezon City. However, the Grand Finals were usually held at different auditoriums, including the following:
For all rounds prior to the Grand Finals, points earned were paid out in Philippine peso for all contestants.
From Seasons 1 to 6, Grand Champions were awarded the following (in units of Philippine pesos):
† - No coaches are formally recognized or awarded. Schools are recognized but are not given a separate prize. However in reality, certain college competitors are given support or formal recognition by coaches and university officials.
The range of prizes for round winners prior to the Grand Finals included cash and products from the show's sponsors.
The Grand Prize included cash (tax-deductible), household appliances, an encyclopedia set and other books, and a travel package to a destination within the Philippines. The travel destination for the students may be different from that of the coaches.
In Seasons 7 and 8, most likely due to Uniwide Sales' financial troubles, this prize was paid ₱ 100,000 in cash? and the balance in kind.
From Seasons 1 through 7, all Grand Finalists were awarded plaques prior to taping, with the eventual Grand Champion getting another trophy at the conclusion of the Grand Finals. In Season 8, certificates were given for each round win prior to the Grand Finals, and a Grand Champion trophy was given at the conclusion of the Grand Finals.
Prior to the start of the elementary, high school, and college tournaments, the show may sometimes air Celebrity Edition episodes, where competitors are each composed of a television personality (usually female) and a college level contestant (usually male). It may be observed during parts of the Celebrity Edition that the college contestant presses the buzzer and whispers the answer to the celebrity, who in turns provides the response to the host. The Celebrity Edition is not part of any tournament format.In 1997, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of ASEAN, an ASEAN Invitational Battle of the Brains was aired on RPN 9, pitting the Season 5 Grand Champions against students from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. The Philippine champions won at all levels.From ? to 1997, a Mind Master portion was added to the program, in which college graduates (some of whom have previously competed as students) compete as individuals in a 2-competitor, returning-champion format. The winner gets to compete in the next episode until he or she loses. Leonardo Gapol (Season 3 college Grand Finalist) was well known for winning 13? consecutive matches.Grand Champions and Finalists
† - a change to the returning-champion format meant that there was no overall champion at the end of the season.
1996 13 weeks? - Leonardo Gapol
1997-10-? - Richie Velasquez
Records and Notable Events
Most Grand Championships
School
Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa - 1995, 1997University of the Philippines Diliman - 1998, 2000La Salle Greenhills - 1998, 2000Individual
Joseph Joemer Perez - 1995, 1998Neil Tristan Yabut - 1999, 2000Both attended the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Youngest Grand Champions respective to year level
Ferdinand Makalinao (1993) - freshman (year 1 of 7-year course)Alfonso Gonzales III (1994) - freshman (year 1 of 4-year course)Stanley Kristoffer Cabrera VI (2000) - freshman (year 1 of 5-year course)Neil Tristan Yabut (2000) - freshman (year 1 of 4-year course)All attended campuses of the University of the Philippines System.
Most Grand Finals appearances
Total
Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa - 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000University of the Philippines Diliman - 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000University of Santo Tomas - 1996, 2000Lourdes School of Quezon City - 1998, 1999La Salle Greenhills - 1998, 2000At different levels
Lourdes School of Quezon City - 1998 (high school), 1999 (elementary)La Salle Greenhills - 1998 (elementary), 2000 (high school)Most points
in 1 episode
Manila Science High School (Season 7 Weekly Finals, 1999-05-22) - 11,000in 1 season
Manila Science High School (Season 7) - 11,000 + 10,700 + 10,000 + 8,800 = 40,500During this scoring run, Manila Science also perfected all 3 of their bonus rounds. And in the Grand Finals, they exceeded the combined score (4,100 + 3,100) of their rivals.
Other notables
The Season 5 competitors from Ramon Magsaysay High School included Roselle Ambubuyog, the visually impaired student achiever. They made it as far as the ? Finals.Ferdinand Makalinao of UP Manila (Season 1) was known to perform math computations without using pen and paper.All of the Season 5 Grand Champions also won their respective levels at the 1997 ASEAN Invitational.At least during its first season in 1992, Battle of the Brains was produced in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Education, Culture, and Sports.Various corporate sponsors have appeared on the shore at various times, including the following:Colgate MintirinseTru-Shine shoe shineNegros NavigationMiloTivoli Ice CreamThroughout its run, Battle of the Brains has become one of the most familiar and legendary quizbowl show in Philippine television, especially for students and trivia enthusiasts. In fact, the name of the show has been synonymous to any quiz competition in the Philippines, regardless of content and degree of TV coverage. However, the producers of the show do not have any copyright claim to the phrase "Battle of the Brains".
Its level of fame during its time can be compared to those of the Kilometrico Quiz Date and Student Canteen's IQ7 in the 1960s-1970s, and the Digital LG Quiz in 1999-2004. It has also served as the model for various quiz competitions, televised or not, in the Philippines.
David Celdran's name has become strongly associated with the show. Winners at the show, especially in later stages and as Grand Champions, are known to have gotten celebrity attention within their school campuses.
The comedy show Tropang Trumpo parodied the show in a segment called Battle of the Brainless. In each episode, the competitors are said to come from schools whose names sound very similar to those of actual Philippine schools. Each question given by host is usually met by incorrect and humorous responses from competitors. The episode mostly ends in a tie for all schools. The host (usually portrayed by Ogie Alcasid) is also known to wear shorts, which is revealed as he moves away from his rostrum.
