The BB Bali holiday for 4 HMs seems like a bit of fun. The mockup aeroplane cabin was a good trick rather than just walking through the door. Although it was incredibly fake (and good on BB for showing the HMs making fun of it all in the Daily Show), it added to the illusion for the HMs, by simulating the travel time to an exotic location.
The tropical garden looks great and the luxuries would be a welcome change for them. The open-air bedroom is something different too.
I wonder if the 4 HMs really were chosen at random. They seem to be a few of the underdogs. I get the feeling if Terri or Nobbi, who have had plenty of screen time already, were picked, they might have been put back on the bottom of the pile again. I think it is BB's way of separating the groups to amplify the viewers'feelings about certain HMs and give them some time in the spotlight.
In contrast the cricket task going on in the House is a bit dull. It is a variation on a theme they have used many times before. At least it will ensure they get 24 hours of conversation during the task.
You have to wonder if some bigger task is coming for the Bali HMs or if they are really just going to live the week in their luxury location, or if the HMs will swap at some point. With Carson Kressley making a guest appearance in the House, you'd think they would all have to be in one place for that. Will BB make them sit on the plane again to get back to Australia?
A great twist would be if after this week, BB destroys the tropical garden, refits the whole area into a different holiday theme, and sends another group of HMs there in a few weeks' time.
I don't think I've seen the real point of the task yet, but it seems lucky for the HMs chosen to spend their time there. Let's hope whatever twist BB has for the task pays off.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Viewers' HM Audition Votes Discarded
Last year we were told we would have a say in the HMs that enter the BB House in 2008. The promise was that the top 3 public voted video auditionees would be guaranteed a place in the House lineup, and the next 50 would be called for face to face auditions with producers.
In reality, the 14 that entered on Launch Night did not include any of the top 3 voted HMs. BB even told them they "weren't even close", suggesting they weren't even in the top 50. It is likely BB scraped up all auditionees, regardless of their public votes, to gather the 14 he wanted to feature.
1 week later we had a special show where the 3 voted HMs were introduced and inserted into the House as "official housemates", thus ensuring BB's promise of guaranteeing them a HM position was kept. However only 2 days later Terri was asked to get rid of 2 of them. The 2 HMs, Barney and Michael, were evicted. Surely, after being 2 of the most popular auditionees among viewers the eviction was fake. They will have some secret mission won't they? Well, we have not seen them since. They did not appear on FNL, the Eviction show, or Big Mouth. They were not waiting in the Resort House for the other HMs. They did not have any media commitments that I know of. They have just disappeared.
I bet those 2 wish they had not been voted into the top 3 now, as they would have had a better chance if they got to audition for producers like the others.
It just shows BB's faith in the viewers to choose their own HMs did not last long, and probably won't be tried again. We did get a great batch of HMs regardless, so the video auditions obviously worked well for them, so maybe that aspect will be back again for BB09, without the public voting.
Also, is it strange that BB hasn't put the HMs'audition videos on the website to rewatch? Maybe some of them didn't actually submit an audition video!
In reality, the 14 that entered on Launch Night did not include any of the top 3 voted HMs. BB even told them they "weren't even close", suggesting they weren't even in the top 50. It is likely BB scraped up all auditionees, regardless of their public votes, to gather the 14 he wanted to feature.
1 week later we had a special show where the 3 voted HMs were introduced and inserted into the House as "official housemates", thus ensuring BB's promise of guaranteeing them a HM position was kept. However only 2 days later Terri was asked to get rid of 2 of them. The 2 HMs, Barney and Michael, were evicted. Surely, after being 2 of the most popular auditionees among viewers the eviction was fake. They will have some secret mission won't they? Well, we have not seen them since. They did not appear on FNL, the Eviction show, or Big Mouth. They were not waiting in the Resort House for the other HMs. They did not have any media commitments that I know of. They have just disappeared.
I bet those 2 wish they had not been voted into the top 3 now, as they would have had a better chance if they got to audition for producers like the others.
It just shows BB's faith in the viewers to choose their own HMs did not last long, and probably won't be tried again. We did get a great batch of HMs regardless, so the video auditions obviously worked well for them, so maybe that aspect will be back again for BB09, without the public voting.
Also, is it strange that BB hasn't put the HMs'audition videos on the website to rewatch? Maybe some of them didn't actually submit an audition video!
Saxon First Evictee
Saxon is the first "real" evictee, given that Michael and Barney seem to have just disappeared.
I don't think we've lost too much. He was the alpha male, holding the rest of the boys back from mixing with the girls. Unfortunately now Nobbi is left as alpha male, and he's not the guy you want dominating the decisions of the House. Saxon was the self-confessed racist, and was apparently constantly holding himself back from his normal angry personality, which we never saw.
The best Saxon moments of the year were:
I don't think we've lost too much. He was the alpha male, holding the rest of the boys back from mixing with the girls. Unfortunately now Nobbi is left as alpha male, and he's not the guy you want dominating the decisions of the House. Saxon was the self-confessed racist, and was apparently constantly holding himself back from his normal angry personality, which we never saw.
The best Saxon moments of the year were:
- His constantly threatening that his suppressed anger could blow up at any moment, but never actually seeing anything come of it. This reminded me of Mr Furious (Ben Stiller) from Mystery Men who claimed that getting very angry was his super power, but never actually helped him achieve anything.
- Launch night when Nobbi told him his Japanese tattoo did not actually say "Star Warrior" as he thought, but "Star DIRT"! Someone will be under the tattoo needle very shortly I think!
New Eviction Format
The new eviction format was unsuspenseful and very involved. Improvements will probably be made over the next week or so to get the format streamlined and right.
Firstly, the eviction room was a good idea, being properly set up to see all the HMs (this year's lounge is not the best for group shots), but it wasn't really used as I expected. Once they announced the nominees and they all went off to vote, they ended up back in the lounge anyway. I thought at least the nominees would remain in the other room, but they too had to return to the lounge for the Revolver (unfortunately in Saxon's case, the revolver is also not as I expected!).
So, the whole first hour of the show ignored the fact they had a live audience sitting there and just involved Kyle and Jackie throwing to BB doing all the work in the House. I'm sure the crowd were enthralled having paid $80 to sit in a cold amphitheatre and watch a TV.
The housemates were obviously not told to keep their answers brief. After watching the last few years of nominations a few of them seemed to think they had to talk for 2 minutes, but BB was accepting minimal answers (which is good).
Keeping the nominees' votes secret from the audience was a good idea because I actually thought, from guessig who the nominees would probably vote for, that David was certain to be evicted, so I was surprised when Saxon left.
So, after returning to the lounge, the nominees stepped into revolver. This concept has potential, but to be suspensful, they need to release 1 of the 2 safe HMs back to the House, then have the evictee ready at the eviction doors and announce the evictee with Jackie and do the little interview, or show them walking through the camera run and out the eviction door. Maybe they could even keep the 2nd safe HM in the revolver until after the commercial break to keep the HMs in suspense too. Also, to make the nominees nervous they should at least spin the room several times so they don't know who will be returning. Rory said they didn't move it at all. Plus BB stuffed up by saying David was safe, when Rory stepped out of the room. Plus why not set up a camera that can see inside the revolver and see it spinning and the looks on the HMs faces!
After all the time taken to do all this, there was only 20 mins left to do an eviction interview, and it seemed really hurried. And this was the only real part the live audience got to witness on the stage.
Next week they need to hurry through the announcement of the nominees and the twist, tell the HMs to keep their votes brief, use the revolving room to its full potential-- show the HMs in there turning around. Even announce the evictee by spinning the room and stopping on the evictee's compartment. In any case they must announce the evictee before showing both safe HMs returning to the House. And keep plenty of time aside for the interview, because that is what we, and the live audience, want to see.
Firstly, the eviction room was a good idea, being properly set up to see all the HMs (this year's lounge is not the best for group shots), but it wasn't really used as I expected. Once they announced the nominees and they all went off to vote, they ended up back in the lounge anyway. I thought at least the nominees would remain in the other room, but they too had to return to the lounge for the Revolver (unfortunately in Saxon's case, the revolver is also not as I expected!).
So, the whole first hour of the show ignored the fact they had a live audience sitting there and just involved Kyle and Jackie throwing to BB doing all the work in the House. I'm sure the crowd were enthralled having paid $80 to sit in a cold amphitheatre and watch a TV.
The housemates were obviously not told to keep their answers brief. After watching the last few years of nominations a few of them seemed to think they had to talk for 2 minutes, but BB was accepting minimal answers (which is good).
Keeping the nominees' votes secret from the audience was a good idea because I actually thought, from guessig who the nominees would probably vote for, that David was certain to be evicted, so I was surprised when Saxon left.
So, after returning to the lounge, the nominees stepped into revolver. This concept has potential, but to be suspensful, they need to release 1 of the 2 safe HMs back to the House, then have the evictee ready at the eviction doors and announce the evictee with Jackie and do the little interview, or show them walking through the camera run and out the eviction door. Maybe they could even keep the 2nd safe HM in the revolver until after the commercial break to keep the HMs in suspense too. Also, to make the nominees nervous they should at least spin the room several times so they don't know who will be returning. Rory said they didn't move it at all. Plus BB stuffed up by saying David was safe, when Rory stepped out of the room. Plus why not set up a camera that can see inside the revolver and see it spinning and the looks on the HMs faces!
After all the time taken to do all this, there was only 20 mins left to do an eviction interview, and it seemed really hurried. And this was the only real part the live audience got to witness on the stage.
Next week they need to hurry through the announcement of the nominees and the twist, tell the HMs to keep their votes brief, use the revolving room to its full potential-- show the HMs in there turning around. Even announce the evictee by spinning the room and stopping on the evictee's compartment. In any case they must announce the evictee before showing both safe HMs returning to the House. And keep plenty of time aside for the interview, because that is what we, and the live audience, want to see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)