Snap Eviction

The twist of the overnight eviction is great because:

1. They haven't done it before here.
2. It sets the mood for the house of anything could happen, anytime.
3. They have told them there will be more than one of these.
4. It is a huge decision for them to make together and will create a great story for Day 1.
5. It is a huge kick in the arse for one of the HMs that have been through so much to get there.

I hope they actually go through with it and really evict this person never to be seen again (in the House anyway).

Who do I want to see go? It is so early! Hard to tell.

• I think Travis' voice will get annoying but he could also be a funny guy.
• Rima is a bit-- hmmm --plus no one will want her on their team for FNL!
• Alice could be the most boring of the lot.

I'm going with Alice for now, but I could be completely wrong about these people, as could the HMs themselves.

BB08 Episode 1: A New Hope

The Launch Show has just aired and in my opinion was fantastic.

Kyle and Jackie O did a great job hosting. The 2-host format works well and seemed more natural than one host standing there talking to camera and reading an auto-cue. Their interviews with the housemates seemed natural and unscripted. We saw the snide remarks from Kyle and the up-front side of Jackie. It's not the mother-hen hosting style we are used to, and it brings more personality to the show.

The new set is a great change. It has lots of "areas" so they can do lots of different camera angles from one small area. The staircase at the back is a good entry point to the stage. The tunnels off either side make it very 3 dimensional. The view-blocking ramp down the middle of the audience is gone and makes crowd shots look more full. The "special audience" either side of the stage is a great idea obviously borrowed from the other reality shows Idol and SYTYCD where the audience is made a part of the stage and are up close. The fact that it is all white and lit with coloured lights is good too, and I can just see it changing to red for the eviction shows.

No expense was spared on sets and staning which is great. The housemate holding area looked toally cool, and it could have looked so tacky. They did a great job of that. Plus the area at the back of the amphitheatre was decked out a bit when they got into the cars, and the stage outside the door to the house was really well dressed and looked like another venue entirely. Maybe it will be used more for the series.

Having the bookie there was a bit out of place but he may become a good character during the show. Does this sway the viewers' vote a bit too much though?

The treasured items was reminiscent of the charity items from the first 4 years. I can see them being used in a twist somewhere along the way. Do HMs want to get their item, or add money to the prize or something. It would be great if they said they were going to destroy the item for good in exchange for prize money. Let them think hard about their choice.

The House and Housemates I'll try and cover separately.

The Housemate preview packages were well done and made a bit funnier and more interesting than past years' clips.

The low-key, under-hyped twist at the end of the show was brilliant too. They didn't make too big a deal of it, but it gives them a unique and huge draw card for Daily Show 1. It is almost a shame they didn't hype up the twist a little more, but good they didn't go overboard like other years.

They put together a fantastic Launch Show that lived up to all the expectations of fresh and new they have hinted at. And it definitely sets the stage for a great season ahead.

BB08 Houseplan (Updates)

THIS POST UPDATED IF THERE ARE CHANGES/ADDITIONS TO THE HOUSE

Given that the Official Site has not provided a floorplan of this year's House, I have gone back to BB06's plan and updated it with this year's layout. This should help you understand where everything is in relation to each other.


(Click image to view it full size in a new window)

"Sunday Magazine" Article

In the Sunday magazine in today's Sunday Herald Sun, an article spills some more beans on the already highly-spilled-bean-stained series. Mostly in the form of photos, as all the other spoilers have already come out.

A photo of the backyard shows us a half-desert, half-footy-field-green outdoor area. The verandah is replaced by tinted glass panels. the pool has been replaced by a smaller L-shaped pool, in the same area as last year with an outdoor shower nearby. A bare-looking tree stands where last year's hot tub was. The upper half of the compound's outdoor area has been painted sky blue, while most of the rest is in browny colours.

The interior photo only shows the diary room. The walls now resemble the eviction hallway from last year-- coloured squares of fabric covering light bulbs hidden behind. Two unfortunate things are: the DR looks to be the same shape as last years, which may mean it has not moved, which may mean a similar house layout again! And the chair looks to be a recovered version of last year's chair, though it may just be a stand-in for the real thing to be revealed on launch night. It could just be the pink lighting in the photo making the old blue chair look black/grey.

The Twists

This is different from"gimicks". The gimicks are the quirky living arrangements for the year. The twists are the surpises that will happen along the way. However BB usually has a hard time keeping his twists in his pants for too long.

Usually twists are all used up by the 2nd or 3rd week. Secret relationships in the house that are revealed on the first Sunday show. The hidden bowling alley in BB05 that was revealed in FNL Week 2! Farmyards, Rewards Rooms, Punishment Rooms. White Rooms that don't even get to play out because the White Room HMs have more stamina than the producers.

In BB02 they only managed to hold off revealing the in ground spa (covered over by a fake garden) until the arrival of the Intruders in about week 3. Even in BB03, the joining of the Square and Round houses could have been held off longer than 4 weeks. Last year's telephone sitting in the living room all season was held off nicely, but when its use was revealed it was a real disappointment, so they tried to make up for it by using fans' suggestions for additional twists the phone could be used for, like the call from the BBUK Housemates.

The only time we've had a real twist that they have hung on to until the end is last year's Ice Cave, which was pretty spectacular for BB.

This year I'm hoping that there are twists already built in to the House, but that we won't even know about until the late weeks.

The Gimicks

I was pretty much expecting a back-to-basics year given that they have the opportunity to draw new fans to the show, however many gimicks of the year have already been released.

• HMs will sleep in one giant bed, with 1 sheet, 1 doona, and one long pillow made out of 14 pillows sewn together. This definitiely throws them out of their comfort zone from night 1, and will force them to get close to each other. It also allows for less real estate inside the compound to be used up by the bedroom! But how much does BB expect to get out of this gimick? How long can it go on for before the HMs just get used to it and get over it? And do we then have to watch it for the rest of the series? Or is this just a week 1 special and a normal bedroom will eventually be revealed after their bonding?
• No kitchen in the house, minimal kitchen facilities in the backyard, and the dining table has a conveyor belt along it coming out from a hole in the wall. So what does this mean? Housemates' meals will be served to them by BB? Not that awful porridge they had last year. Maybe a 3 course banquet. Maybe they will muck around with their diets a bit. They have said there will be no grocery shopping, but HMs will need coins. Do they have to buy their food? Again this doesn't sound like something that can last the whole season. I smell a BB03 rat where extra rooms will be revealed half way through the series, including a bedroom and kitchen.

I guess we will see tonight (or tomorrow) when the floorplan of the inside of the house is revealed whether there are extra rooms hidden away.

We have seen there is an additional house and backyard built onto the compound this year. This could be a luxury house containing a kitchen and proper sleeping facilities, but we may not know for some time.

It Begins

Although the countdown on this blog is counting down to the first TV airing of BB08, it all begins tonight.

While the nation's media are all interested in who our favourite dancer is, a little shed in Coomera will be rocking, and nearly 40 cameras start rolling, on the biggest popularity contest of the year.

Over 1000 fans will witness it all live: The first entrance of Kyle and Jackie O onto the stage, the first look at the new House, the first look at the new show titles and theme music, the first over-40, let alone over-FIFTY, Housemate we have had. The most culturally diverse assortment of HMs ever.

It is make or break for BB this year, and their last chance begins tonight.