The Amazing Race Singapore

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The Amazing Race Singapore
TBC Info
Position	16th, 25th, 29th, 30th
Started writing on	October 2005 (start of series)
Released	7 December 2006 (latest season)
Author	Aran Ho Yeow Yong
Country	Singapore
Rating	E, NC13
TARS Info
Winning Team	-
Countries visited	2 (as on Season 4)
Locales visited	98 (as on Season 4)
No. of legs	30 (as on Season 4)
Season chronology
Previous
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The Amazing Race Singapore is a Singaporean fictional novel in the TBC Collection based on the American The Amazing Race in which teams race around the world in competition with other teams. Contestants strive to arrive first at the end of each leg of the race to avoid the possibility of elimination. Teams are progressively eliminated until three teams are left; at that point, the team which arrives first in the final leg is awarded S$1 million (US$1.62 million), US$0.62 million more than the US version's grand prize. The show is hosted by New Zealander Phil Keoghan.

Contestants either race in Singapore or travel to and within multiple countries in a variety of transportation modes, including planes, taxis, buses and MRTs. The clues in each leg point the teams to the next destination or direct them to perform a task, either together or by a single member. Each task showcases the geographic region or indigenous culture and customs it is held in. If a team is in last place at the end of a leg of the race, they may be forced to stop competing or have a significant disadvantage in the following leg. Starting with The Amazing Race Singapore 5, new season will be aired on Singapore Reality TV. Reruns of older seasons will be shown also.

[edit] Concept

The original idea for The Amazing Race Singapore began from the front cover design of Titanic 3 Part 2. The front cover shows 8 teams of 2 and the race map. During that time, The Amazing Race 8 was aired on television. With many ideas from both the front cover design and The Amazing Race 8, The Amazing Race Singapore was created.

The present form of The Amazing Race Singapore, for the most part, has not changed from the first season. The race utilizes progressive elimination: the last team to arrive at a designated checkpoint (Pit Stop) leaves the game. The race starts in Singapore. Teams must then follow clues and instructions and make their way to checkpoints in places around Singapore and occasionally overseas, eventually racing back to the finish line in Singapore. Along the way they perform tasks that represent the culture of the present country or city. Tasks include Detours (an option between two tasks of various difficulty) and Roadblocks (a task that can be done by only one member of a team); additionally, other optional markers, if reached first, can provide a team with a Fast Forward (allowing a team to skip remaining tasks and go to the checkpoint), a Yield (the ability to delay another team for a short amount of time), an Intersection (the ability to partner with another team to perform a task) or an U-Turn (the ability to force another team to complete the other Detour task). Teams race with limited possessions and are given a fixed amount of money for all travel purposes save for airline tickets, which are paid for by production-issued credit cards.

[edit] Seasons

• Season 1
• Season 2
• Season 3
• Season 4
• Season 5 (Cancelled)

[edit] The Race

The Race is quite similar to the American edition. The basic premise is the same, namely that teams must follow clues and complete tasks to check in to pit stops in a race around the world. However, some differences between the two versions exist.

[edit] Teams

Generally, the race required team members to have a pre-existing relationship, as in the American version. However, the number of teams from Season 1 to Season 4 had only 10 teams participating, compared to the American edition, which normally uses eleven teams, but has had twelve in Seasons 3, 4, 10. So far, Season 8 of the American edition was the only season to have 10 teams. However, that season consisted of 10 family teams of 4, or 40 participants. Only 20 participants were in this edition, the fewest number of people to have started in The Amazing Race. In Season 5, the number of teams increased to eleven.

Unless the teams reached to an Intersection clue, teams cannot split up unless instructed to do so temporarily by a clue (this rule also take place in The Amazing Race and The Amazing Race Asia). In season 2 however, the teams were forced to split up and form into new teams randomly grouped by Phil Keoghan. This concept was then cancel after a so many complaints from the contestants.

Also, most of the participants have raced in more than one season. Some of the most notable contestants are Aran (raced on all of the season), Brandon; Kai Kein (raced in the first four seasons), Aron; Malcolm; Ryan; Nigel; Wei Xiong; Nicholas Ting (raced on three seasons), and Rinda; Anchan; Chai Hock; Anderson; Mark Tan (raced on two season). Also, the following teams, Rinda & Wei Xiong; Anchan & Chai Hock; Kai Kein & Aran; Aron & Ryan, pair up together in two season.

[edit] Money

The money is given in Singapore Dollar regardless of the current location of the race. The only exception to this is a couple of legs in Season 5 where the currency given is in Thai Baht.

From Season 1 to Season 3, teams were penalized for finishing last on a non-elimination leg by surrenderring all collected money, and would not be given any to start the subsequent leg. There was one unique penalty in Leg 1 of Season 2 where the last team was allowed to keep the collected money but will not be given any to start the subsequent leg.

[edit] Clues and Route Marker

Instead of the usual red and yellow Route Markers used in the American version, the Route Markers are always colored yellow and white with a brown strip between the two colors.

Generally, all of the clue types used in both the American and Asian version are retained for use in the Asian race with an identical presentation. However, their implementation slightly differs. The Detour and Roadblock was not aired in every leg from Season 1 to Season 4.

In Seasons 1, 2 and 4, one Fast Forward was only available in the whole race, instaed of the usual two or three in both the American and Asian versions.

Although concepted but has not aired, if the Intersection falls together with the Roadblock, one team member from each group of two teams will have to perform the Roadblock. This means that two people will be performing the Roadblock together. In addition, Season 5 has planned to have two Intersection in the whole race.

[edit] Race legs

Basically the structure of the race is similar in both versions of the show. However, some differences still exist.

With the exception to a couple of legs in Season 5, teams have been greeted by Phil Keoghan at every Pit Stop only.

[edit] Final legs

Except for Season 2, the other three seasons have unique Final legs. In Season 1, only Phil Keoghan was present to meet the final three teams. In Season 3, a huge group of fans were also present to cheer for the Final three teams. In Season 4, before the Final three teams could reached to the finish line, the teams must collect an envelope from a shop located in CityLink Mall.

[edit] Non-elimination legs

In Season 1, a penalty was given to the team arriving last at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg. These teams were required to turn over all the money they accumulated throughout the race. Those teams will begin the next leg with zero dollars, meaning they did not receive the money given to the other teams at the start of the leg and could not collect money during the Pit Stop. In Season 2 and 3, teams were forced to surrender all their possessions, except for their passports and the clothes they were wearing, for the remainder of the race.

Starting from Season 4, teams arriving in last place on a non-elimination leg now keep their clothes and money and receive the amount of money at the start of the next leg, but become marked for elimination; unless they arrive in the next leg in first place, they will receive a 30-minute penalty upon reaching the Pit Stop.

[edit] Non-elimination legs

In all of the Seasons, all clues directing teams to Pit Stops so far have always used may be. Starting in later seasons, the American version's clues directing to a pit stop, other than in the first leg, always used may be.

In Season 5, the first leg was planned to be a non-elimination leg. The first leg of the American version has never been non-elimination; so far, the earliest non-elimination leg occurred during Season 6's leg 4. The first two seasons of The Amazing Race Asia so far also featured a non-eliminatin legs.

For Season 1, the last team to arrive is required to surrender all their cash and are not allowed to acquire any money prior to the start of the next leg, similar to the penalty used in Season 6 of the American version. However, unlike Season 7 to Season 9, teams are not required to give up their belongings. In Season 2 and 3, an add-in to the penalty forcing the teams to surrender all of their possessions, except for their passports and the clothes they were wearing, for the remainder of the race.

Starting from Season 4, the last team to arrive will incur a 30-minute time penalty for the next leg unless they arrive first at the next Pit Stop, also known as marked for elimination, similar to the rules in Season 10 and All-Stars of the American version.

[edit] Rules and penalties

Most of the rules and penalties are adopted directly from the American edition; but in some of cases, the Asian version has been seen to have a unique additional rules.

[edit] Rules

• Team members are not required but recommended to stay within 20 feet of each other. One such example is that in Leg 1 of Season 4, all of the teams chat at a route marker before doing the Detour.

[edit] Penalties

• If a team should quit a Roadblock, a team is assessed a 4 hour penalty upon reaching the Pit Stop. In Season 1 however, teams quitting a Roadblock is assessed a 10 minutes penalty.

[edit] Production

[edit] Pre-Race

Production select possible locale around Singapore and decide the most favourable locales out of the ones chosen. The Production then organise the locales until it is favourable. The tasks are then selected within the locale until the whole overview of the race is perfect. This process could take up to about a month.

Teams are selected through a multi-step interview process. All of the previous participants are automatically eligible to participate in the next season. When this is done, the interview process may not be needed. Out of these previous participants, the best participants will then be grouped up who they think whether the team can work well together with the other participants. This will be done in Singapore�s MediaCorp Studio and the process may take up to about two weeks if there is no interview process. If there are newcomers (contestants that did not joined The Amazing Race Singapore before), they will then have to go through the interview process.

After the selection, the teams will then go to their home and take whatever items they need (see the Things to Bring Section below). The participants have only two days to pack their bag. After the time limit has ended, the Production�s bus will arrive at their house and verifies the contents, removing any items prohibited by the race. Once everything is complete, the participants then board the bus and fetch the other participants. They will be then transported to the starting line.

Once all of the teams and the Production have arrived at the starting line, prior to actually starting the race, teams are asked to take off by foot from the starting line several times in order to get several shots of the teams both in close-up and while racing away. If everything turns out fine, they are then ready to begin the Race. This process could take up to half an hour.

[edit] During the race

Each team is accompanied by a two-person audio/video (AV) crew, who must stay with the team at all times, except at the Pit Stop and during certain Detours or Roadblocks. The crew rotate between teams at pit stops to avoid any possible favourism that may develop between a team and its crew. This AV crew must be able to ride with the team when they take transportation such as cabs, trains or buses.

Similarly, the AV crew will often ask teams to redo certain actions during a leg in order to get a better camera shot, or to adjust the microphones that each team member is usually wearing. These events can lead to �production difficulties�, which are usually credited to the team when they reach the Pit Stop.

Many Detours and Roadblocks use special cameras to get more dramatic shots of the racers as they complete the task, such as helmet-mounted cameras for climbing, rappelling, and sky-diving stunts. The producers may also get helicopters and high overhead cranes to get wide-area camera footage when appropriate. There are also special camera crews known as �Zone� cameras that are used near clue boxes, Detours, and Roadblocks, which take over for the team�s assigned AV crew in order to get more dramatic shots.

If a team should engage with a non-Race participant, they will need to have the AV crew get the consent of that person to be used on camera via agreement forms. Footage of people that have not consented is either not used, or with the person�s face pixelated out.

While the teams are racing, production sets up shots of Phil describing the various tasks, and then prepare for the arrival at the Pit Stop. In few cases, production had barely arrived just before the teams started to arrive at the Pit Stop.

While in a particular locale, the various production crews keep apprised of the status of each team in order to prepare the location for the arrival. For example, clue boxes are only set up minutes before the first team arrives to prevent non-Racers from getting involved or stealing clues. Additionally, any obvious penalties or missed tasks are relayed to the Pit Stop crew so that Phil can inform teams appropriately of these. Once teams have arrived at the Pit Stop, production checks with each AV crew to identify if any additional penalties or time credits are necessary.

When teams check in, they are usually requested to move to the lodging area for the Pit Stop. The eliminated team usually gets a chance to say goodbye to the remaining racers. Teams eliminated early in the race are often transported to a private bungalow in Singapore known as �Sequester House� where teams are allowed to relax and sight-see (though with restrictions), until they are then transported to the finish line for the very end of the Race. The 4th and 5th place teams do not go the Sequester House: instead, they may either accompany production through the last few legs as to meet with the rest of the eliminated teams at the final mat, or they may be asked to perform �decoy runs� usually travelling to the final locale or a different locale with an AV crew, a day or so before the final three teams arrive, as to throw off potential spoilers for the final teams.

The final mat is usually chosen in a notable and famous landmark (HDB Hub for Season 1, Singapore Indoor Stadium for Season 2, National Stadium for Season 3, The Padang in Season 4 and Toa Payoh Stadium for Season 5).

[edit] Post-Race

All teams are compensated for the team missed off their jobs, though the amount is undiscovered and confidential. As with most reality TV shows, teams are not allowed to reveal their performance on the race until the episode with their elimination, or in the case of the final 3, after the final mat, have aired. Even after their elimination episode has aired, teams are not allowed to reveal any events, eliminations, or the ultimate winners of the race.

Each episode is worked on by a separate team of editors as soon as the race starts; as such, they are usually no �arcs� unless they have developed over a previous show (for example, the so-called Six Pack alliance between Bradley and Dillion, Dhinesh and Gopalan, and Kenneth and Mark).

[edit] Areas visited in Singapore and overseas

[edit] Top three teams of The Amazing Race Singapore

[edit] Sponsors

Main Sponsors

• AXN Asia
• McDonald's
• MediaCorp
• Microsoft
• Singapore Airlines

Co-sponsors

Government companies

• Health Promotion Board
• Housing Development Board
• National Library Board
• Land Transport Authority
• Public Ultilities Board
• Singapore Sports Council
• SingNet
• SingPost
• SingTel

Private companies

• 3M Innovation
• CapitaLand
• Carlsberg
• Carrefour
• DHL
• FedEx
• Hummer
• Hyundai Motor Company
• KFC
• Mapletree Investment
• National Trades Union Congress
• Volkswagen AG
• Volvo Cars

Prizes Sponsor

• Adidas
• Apple
• Bungie
• Creative
• Dell
• Golden Village
• Microsoft
• SilkAir
• SingTel
• Sony
• Sony Ericsson

Security

• Singapore Armed Forces
• Singapore Civil Defence Force
• Singapore Police Force

Transportation

• Land Transport Authority
• SBS Transit
• SilkAir
• SMRT Corporation
• Tiger Airways

Former Sponsors

• 7-Eleven
• BenQ Siemens AG
• Nokia
• Panasonic
• Samsung

[edit] Pictures & Template for The Amazing Race Singapore

This section is hidden and it is supposed to be used by Aranho only.