Big Brother Extravaganza

UK 2001

Unless you have been living under a rock with Vanessa Feltz firmly seated on top for the past two years, you would have heard of the hit TV show "Big Brother". For those of you who haven't, here's a quick briefing on it:

About the Show

The idea started off in Holland, and since has been tried in countries all over the world, and last year England decided to give it a go. Ten random people, who did not know each other before, are locked in a big house for 64 days. Every weeks they have a certain amount of money to spend on their shopping lists, and they gamble some of it in a weekly task to try and win more. They also get daily tasks to keep them occupied.

Contact with the outside world is forbidden in Big Brother, so no TV, no radio, no music. And every move they make is filmed by over 30 cameras and over 20 microphones. They are watched 24-7, in every room.. even the shower! This year there is a new channel, E4, and it shows 18 hours of direct coverage of the house! The only thing they do is cut out the swearing in the day time. And if you have Sky Digital or On Digital, you can change the cameras, do a question of the week and read information on a text ticker! The only place they are safe from the public eye is the "Diary room" where they can talk to Big Brother, or to a psychologist, about their problems. But this footage is shown later on Channel Four! You can also live footage from the house 24 hours a day from the official big brother website. This includes two live mixes, a fan cam which follows one housemate nominated by the public (usually Brian!) and a "Spin Cam" which you control yourself! The URL for that is coming up...

But here's the twist. Every week, on a Monday, the housemates have to go in to the Diary room and nominate two of the fellow housemates for eviction. The two or more housemates who have the most votes then go up for public vote, and the public telephone in to nominate the person they want to leave the house. The one with the most votes is then evicted on a live show on Friday, and is asked questions about the experience and is re-united with friends and family, only to be dragged away on Sunday to host "Big Brother's Little Brother" with Dermot, a behind-the-scenes talk show thing about Big Brother!

Then housemates carry on with their lives in the house, knowing week by week they will all be nominated and evicted, leaving only one - the winner.

This year, Big Brother promised to be tougher and meaner than ever before, with more surprises. The first surprise was after the first eviction - a new housemate, by the name of Josh, was thrown into the world of Big Brother. He was voted IN by the public, as we had a choice of three - Anne the hip granny, Natasha saucy and sexy, and Josh the body-building ex-millionaire. As we all guessed, Josh was voted in. The next surprise was discovering a Jacuzzi under the rockery!

The final surprise is on the Thursday before judgment day - the housemate with the least amount of votes will be booted out!

Homosexuals and Big Brother

Big Brother tries to be a multi-cultural thing, with blacks, Asians and people from all parts of the country. But one thing they have also done both times is to place in the house someone gay. Where last year there was a "skateboarding, lesbian ex-nun" by the name of Anna, who got to number 2 before Craig won the game, this year there are two gay housemates. Brian and the mystery 11th housemate, Josh. Brian is very "kamp" (feminine) and so we all guessed he was gay from the moment we saw him, but Josh is another story. When he first entered the house, there was a lot of flirting going on, with Narinder, married Geordie Sikh, going into the diary room to say "phwoar!". But then later on, Josh stunned the housemates by pointing at Brian and saying "I bat for his team".

I think Brian is a cross between Graham Norton and Matthew Lennox. Graham Norton is the very kamp, very funny presenter of "SO Graham Norton", and Matty is my mate at school. The housemates have said "Brian is more Graham Norton-gay and Josh is more George Michael-gay" as Josh isn't so much as kamp, but he is very into body building and fashion, sporting a pair of Gucci trousers that cost £2,500!

Josh was the 6th person to be evicted, and so the final contestants are Elisabeth, Helen, Dean and Brian. I believe if Brian wins, it will be a very good thing for the gay community, proving that gay people can be loved!

He's funny, witty, sexy and smart. Let Brian Win!