Fear Factor Celebrity Malaysia ~ 1st impression

Last night was the very first episode of Fear Factor Celebrity Malaysia (Fear Factor Selebriti Malaysia in Malay) which aired on Astro Ria. Hosted by Aaron Aziz, the show which was shot in Cape Town, South Africa, will see 30 celebrity contestants paired in 15 two-member groups compete to win RM200,000. Additional to that, it was also revealed that each pair who win any of the challenges will take away RM10,000. That's a lot of money! So how do I feel about this show?

At first I thought the show started a bit abrupt. I mean the host welcomed the contestants and they immediately start the 1st challenge, without any introduction on the contestants. But then I realized it was better that way, in which they introduced the contestants before each of the team start the challenge. It will be much more efficient that way instead of introducing all the contestants in the beginning and only show the challange in the 2nd half of the show, that would definitely dragged the show down.

The host, Aaron Aziz, seemed a bit formal at first but luckily he got more loosened up after 2 or 3 teams finished their challanges. And the contestants also seemed more alive as more teams finished their turns. But I was a bit unhappy by the comments made by the contestants about their rival teams' personality (like how they react when Iz and Roslan Shah were performing their challenges) and their rivals' physical appearances (Dafi, Elfira Loy and Zoey were the victims of such comments). They may be friends and wouldn't mind for such comments but as an audience, I thought it was a bit rude. There is a fine line between being competitive and being rude, and I think the contestants should be more careful on that.

I also feel that the show should have more contestants from other races and networks as well for more variety. Sure they have Malaysian astronaut, Dr. Faiz and Celina Khor from TV3 popular show 3R, but I feel it would benefit the show if they include for example an Indian singer or a Chinese TV news presenter to gain new audiences, and also to introduce these personalities to a whole new crowd who might not know them. In my opinion, it would be a win-win situation for both sides.

But the fact that they produce this show to only have celebrity contestants troubles me a little. Why does it has to be celebrities? Why not regular people who are not celebrities? Maybe because the original Fear Factor Malaysia which aired on ntv7 a couple of years ago were not so popular that prompted them to have a celebrity edition. I mean we have to admit, celebrities do have their own charm to capture audiences. But if Masterchef Malaysia could succeed, why not Fear Factor?

Nevertheless, the show is still entertaining to watch, and I feel that it would definitely become more intense as more teams got eliminated, and harder challenges are being revealed. You can watch the show on Astro Ria (Astro Malaysia Channel 104) every Saturday at 9 pm. So who are you rooting for?