House Plans Leaked: Follow-Up

Although any potential HMs surely would have seen the leaked House plans by now, I am personally happy to discuss some of the more secretive looking things on the leaked houseplans now that all HMs are in lockdown.

Nom(inee)'s Room
Past the Diary Room door is a ramp leading to a "Nom's Room" which I am guessing is a Nominees' Room. The room has double doors leading in, and a single door leading out into the camera run at about the point where the red eviction door from BB08 is. The room also has a shower and toilet, so it is likely nominated HMs could be held here for some time. Perhaps we'll see a "3 HMs go in, 2 come out" type scenario on Eviction night.

Hidden Bathroom
At the back of the bedroom is a wall labeled "Secret Door", behind which is an air lock and a room labeled "Ex Bathrm".  Extra bathroom?  It shows a bath, a proper shower with a door, two basins, and a toilet. Unlike other toilets in the house, this one is in a bigger room, rather than being more shielded from cameras. Instructions on the plans stated "Walls (between the Ex Bathrm and Bedroom) to be Sound Proofed". Leads us to wonder who will be using the private bathroom, and if the sound proofing is for the benefit of sleeping HMs, or because it will be used in secret.

Utility Room
At the back of the Lounge Room is a section labeled "Moveable Wall (something)" leading to a room labeled "Utility Room", again with its own shower and toilet, so long stays may be expected. This could be used as a holding area for HMs during maintenance or task set-ups, but seems to have no furnishing. It could also be used for the various weekly tasks.

Sin Bin
The Lounge Room looks onto a small room with "Switchable Glass Partition" called the "Sin Bin". There is a door leading in, and a door into the camera run for "Tasks" to be loaded into the room. This looks like another attempt at BB06's Punishment Room where HMs are isolated to do tedious tasks as punishment while their HMs watch them. In 06 it never went overly well with HMs often using it as a method of getting extra attention.

Rewards Space
Probably the most interesting area of the House is the Rewards Space. Previous series have had Rewards Rooms. BB08 has the Holiday House which was a Lanai (sheltered outdoor area) and separate garden and pool. This year the Holiday House has been turned into a separate indoor living area including a Bathroom with bath, shower, basin and toilet, a "Revolving TV", seating areas, presumably a bed will be in there, an a Dumb Waiter, probably for delivery of food. This room then steps out into the old Holiday House Garden which will be completely decked along with the existing Pool, plus a Sauna. The outdoor area has been reshaped like the bow of a ship and a note on the plans calls for "Scenic Cloth" at the ship's bow, so it looks like they are going to make it look like the Rewards Area is at sea. With no Friday Night Games scheduled this year, who knows what HMs will have to do to get access to the Rewards Area, but it looks like it will be worth it.

Now for more detail on the rooms mentioned in the previous post:

Bedroom
Yes, of course there is a bedroom, but the point to note is that the plan shows 5 double-beds (or single beds pushed together) and 2 single beds, totaling 12 sleeping spaces. It has now been revealed that 14 HMs will enter on Launch Night. Will 2 go without beds? Will 2 be evicted before even getting to the bedroom? Will 2 immediately get access to the Rewards Space?

Bathroom
The bathroom looks to be set up like a gym locker room with 6 shower heads in a single row (similar to BB08's showers), and what looks like a change area. A new feature now seen before in a BB House is the inclusion of wardrobes between the Bathroom and Bedroom. BB08 had lockers that could be accessed 2-ways. Other houses have just had hanging areas inside the bedrooms.

Backyard
The pool and spa this year are enormous and take up the whole centre of the backyard. The plans also show "Extent of Original Pool" as a dotted line, proving BB03/04's pool had just been filled in for later seasons and still existed when they built this one (as we saw in the Nearmap photos). There is also a 360-degree Camera Pole actually in the pool. Should make for some interesting camera angles.
The "Wash Tubs" area also back, so more hand-washed laundry for HMs this year. Yuck.

Kitchen
The Kitchen is once again detached from the House, as in BB03/04. It will now be in the area originally built in BB05 for the extra Logan twin to live in, and later was the White Room in BB06, the Rewards Room in BB07 and the Aeroplane Simulator in BB08.
There is nothing really special about the Kitchen itself, other than we now know this is what is inside the 70s Weatherboard House we saw in the original sneak peak photos. Rumour has it each room will be decorated in the style of a different era, so this sets the expectations for the interior of the Kitchen. Maybe think browns, oranges and greens?

So that's it based on the plans. Can't wait to get a look at the finished product though. Only a week to go!

So Much For Diversity

In an interview with the Executive Producer of this year's BB, Alex Mavroidakis says HMs are now in lockdown, and range in age from late teens to late 30s. Hang on. With no upper age limit for applicants we still ended up with an age spread of only 20 years?

We have had HMs in their 40s in the past, and don't forget BB08 winner Terri who was a 52 year old grandmother, and cohabitant Terrence who was 51.

But I guess BB is a young person's game. You have to leave your life for 3 months and sever contact with all family and friends. It is likely there just weren't enough applicants to choose from in the older age range.

At least we won't be in for another 05 season in which everyone was single and under 30. SOME diversity is better than none.

Countdown

Two weeks from right now... That is all!

BB is Always Watching-- but are we?

Just over two weeks out from Launch, and not a word has been said yet about a 24x7 live stream online.

A leaked official website template shows no placeholder for a live stream. In fact, it looks like we'll be fed highlight videos edited by SSE instead.

Back in 2001-02 we had fixed webcams inside the House, and visible to HMs, streaming limited blocks of live footage to viewers over dial-up internet.  From 2003 onward we have always had live streaming available, sometimes at a cost via a premium content package, and sometimes for free. We have seen the stream go on delay to avoid streaming something live that violates the MA rating. We've seen streams constantly being cut while HMs discussed taboo topics or while BB just wanted to keep us from knowing what was going on. But the live streams have always been there.

Times have changed since 2008. Social media has taken off and everyone is multi-screening as they watch TV shows. A website or app with live streaming, or a live TV channel, and a way for fans to chat, post and respond with each other in real time would surely be the way for Nine to go to ensure a non-stop audience and advertising revenue.

From 2003-07 we even had up to two and a half  hours of live footage screened on Channel Ten at night, and that was in the days before digital TV and multi-channels. Now that each network can broadcast at least four different programs at once, Nine has declined to bring back Up Late.

For some reason it looks like the fans will only see the footage the network wants us to see, and think of the Housemates what they want us to think. Big Brother indeed!

New Ad In Time For Olympics

And, we're shuffling again!

The new teaser ad filmed in Sydney a few weeks ago with a casting call going out to the general public to come along and shuffle has hit TV in time for the Olympics. The ad depicts more everyday nobodies falling under Sonia's Pied Piper-like spell and dancing off into the street to be selected by BB as a HM, while Nine newsreaders from around the country report on the mysterious event. We even see the PM herself, Julia Gillard, getting swept up in the madness!

So another ad, another dance-off. I don't mind the ads themselves since they are catchy and funny. It's just all the supporting "shuffle"-related gimmicks that I'm getting sick of. I can already picture the official merchandise this year will have "Big Brother Shuffle" logos. And is it not a certainty that Kruges is going to dance live on stage with her flashmob on Launch Night? Puh-lease!

But once the series begins these ads should end. Just over two weeks to go now until we're right back into it!

The Shire: Life After Big Brother Rejection

Big Brother's ads so far have teased that the vacuous fame whores we've seen in the series before will not make the Housemate cut under Nine's watch.

Fear not bimbos and himbos. There's always The Shire.

We are 30 minutes into the first episode and I'm sure I've already seen the 6 rejected Housemates from the BB teasers in some incarnation. Let's hope BB sticks to his promises and gives us some better humans than this show does this year!

House Plans Leaked

This year Big Brother are having trouble keeping plans under wraps. Behind Big Brother came through with two huge leaks this week. The template for the Official Website, and the blueprints for the House itself!

I'm not sure I agree with the decision to publish the plans though, as it contains spoilers that Housemates could learn before being locked down, including secret rooms.

In general, the plans show a very oddly laid out house. Basically nothing remains from the previous series. Once again the kitchen has been placed at the far end of the backyard, like BB03-04, completely detached from the main House building. There is an outdoor gym, a barbecue and outdoor meals area, and a huge pool and hottub in the centre of the yard. The airport-looking structure in the preview photos is a new grand entrance to the House building that enters into a lounge room. The Diary Room is down a hallway to the right. Straight ahead leads to a bathroom and wardrobe area which leads through to a bedroom with bedding for 12 Housemates.

It seems very strange having to walk through the bathroom to get to the bedroom, but I'm sure all will make sense by the time we see the inside of the House.

The plans contain several other rooms and features which I may or may not discuss here in future. I'm sure anyone who wants to see the plans have by now anyway....