Kona next setting for teen reality contest

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The N network's "Girls v. Boys: Hawaii" premieres tonight, with competitors, from left, Kristofer Brown, Dina Mazgriegos, Jessica Huggins, Justin Simmons, Teri Onoda and Christina Campfield. The N

"Girls v. Boys: Hawaii" premieres on The N today at 2:30 p.m. (repeats at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m., and at the same times tomorrow and Sunday), bringing the "teen and 'tween" network's popular battle-of-the-sexes reality series to Hawai'i for eight episodes.

Each week, the half-hour show pits two teams in a series of competitions, such as "Mystery Meat," wherein each eats a piece of unappetizing meat, then races to collect pieces of meat from the ocean floor (don't ask), or "Moolah Madness," in which the two teams try to sell stinky fish essence, a gag of sand and rotten fruit.

The competitors are 16- and 17-year-olds from California, Texas, Ohio and New York. The winners will split a $30,000 grand prize.

The first episode shows team members meeting for the first time and competing to get into their rooms. The guys bond; the girls don't.

As befits a stepchild of MTV, the nighttime network targeting teens and "tweens" has a curious tendency to name its shows after 1980s pop songs, such as "It's Raining Men," "I Want Candy" and "Our House."

Don't gag, but there's also a show called "Rock and Roll High School" that has nothing to do with the Ramones song or movie.