BOBOYE ONDUKU reviews Africa’s biggest reality TV show and looks back on the good, the bad and the ugly vibes from ‘BBA 6’.
Nobody can lay claim to have had a pre-knowledge of the direction of swing of the pedulum, when the 26 contestants walked into the ‘Big Brother House’ on May 1, 2011.
They came from 14 countries on the continent but one thing was certain: they would spend 91 days entertaining Africa. That has been the essence of the show from the onset. No matter what we want out of it, the organisers have stuck to their guns and no one can fault them on falling short of that. On many fronts, the show lived up to its billings and though it did fall short on other fronts, there were many positives to take out.
Karen won many hearts
Karen Igho was the typical ‘girl next door’ with plenty of excesses. She had many stories to attract sympathy and draw ‘bad blood’ from fellow housemates. She was simply plain. Every ‘ugly’ detail about the ‘Wafi’ girl came to the fore on the show: an abortion, a lump in the breast and a subsequent ‘boob job’, her naivety with men…The audience across Africa could easily relate with her.
In his weekly column, the publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu summed up the ‘Karen effect’: “It was easy to dismiss her as a street-girl, a ruthless bitch, a reckless drunk, a loquacious and shameless impressionist, but she was true to herself. She is a free spirit who’s willing to roam unfettered. She was born to fly and fly she must.” If there are lessons to be learnt from this free-spirited lass, the most important is “never let your yesterday stop you from reaching out to your tomorrow”.
The fact is, the ‘mannerless’ model is an achiever – with $200,000 – and a wide acceptance across six countries in Africa to show for it.
Wendall is a worthy winner
Despite all the conspiracy theories, Wendall Parson deserved his place as a joint winner of the ‘Amplified’ show. Reason: winners of the show, according to the BBA?rules, are those with the highest country votes and he had four countries on his side. If that does not suffice, then you must know that different people can choose to define what entertainment is for them. Wendall’s support revealed that being loud is no requirement, if you need to make an impact on the voting audience. Sure, he was not popular, but he had his strategy well laid out. Reports from his native country revealed that while Wendall may not have been ‘amplified’, but his fan base was! Believe it.?
Jean Sutherland in a report on the Namibian attested: “Team Wendall organised their voting like a military operation. It was well planned and efficient. They had day and night shifts; they had special days to target potentially ‘friendly’ countries; they had ‘vote Wendall days at work, e.g.: “it’s pay day today so ask all your colleagues to put in a vote, or two, for Wendall”; they borrowed friends’ MXit app, which allowed for 10 free votes at a throw; they had daily vote targets.”
Fact is, the commercial pilot’s fans were serious about their tasks and that’s one thing we can imbibe as we set out our goals in life.
Luclay was paid back in his own coin
It is no longer news that South Africans were upset by the fact that their countryman Luclay missed out on the ‘Big Brother’ prize. It is worrying that they believed that the actor was ‘popular’ and as such was a definite winner. They expressed their frustrations by the many boos and jeers during the show and went a step further to put on chaotic scenes after the show. The question that should be on the lips of Luclay’s fans should be: Did Luclay do enough to win the Show? Another pertinent question is, did he get the mandatory country votes to emerge a winner?
All along, Luclay’s disdain and apparent lack of respect for his fellow contestants and their countries was imminent. He would shout, bark and berate anybody at will.
The actor’s sins were many: Lotus was disqualified and ‘ejected’ from the show; Ernest and, to an extent, Uganda received a washing down; Karen was stripped bare; Mumba was ‘trampled’ on; Weza was ‘exposed’; Alex was labelled a ‘Judas’. . . These contestants were from countries which had voting powers.
Luclay barked out orders but refused to take any. He refused to carry out his punishments and fuses, all before Africa whom Luclay had told to “buzz off” several times. He declared that he didn’t need Africa and was arrogant too. Many viewers expected ‘Biggie’ to react by meting out stiffer penalties or going the whole hog to get him ejected, but ‘Biggie’ didn’t budge. His claim of being “the best entertainer in Africa” by reason of his 11-years in the industry was ill-advised.
Lesson to Luclay and his ‘irate’ fans: never belittle anybody and don’t assume you are there until you are there. ‘Big Brother Africa’ is won by votes, not popularity. That’s the bottom line.
Contestants need to take defeats in strides
There was plenty of ‘bad blood’ from contestants who were evicted before the grand finale. Expectantly, many of them took a swipe at Karen. Confidence did not give the Nigerian any chance, Zeus claimed Karen was “not his type”, Vimbai revealed that Karen did not give her a chance, Millicent’s reaction was a tongue-lash: “That girl is a mess. You get her ngotha (underwear) in your stuff, eish, that’s untidy,” she said.
The rest of the lot
The sexcapades of EBhok (Ernest and Bhoke) and LoKim (Lomwe and Kim) revealed the narrow mindedness of the contestants. Confidence came with her ‘Big Mama’ antics and Sharon O tried to hoodwink Africa with her son as bait. Weza was two-faced, Alex was not very thoughtful and Nic was too smart for himself. Nkuli fought the wrong battles, Jossy was just too loud, Mumba did not do enough to brace up to the challenge, Bernadina and Miguel were jolly-good fellas, Lotus lost the plot when she slapped Luclay, Miss Peo got things twisted, Kim had real issues, Lomwe’s coolness was not enough and Vina appeared to be depending too much on finesse and her Nigerian roots to make it. Felicia, Millicent and Sharon O were gossip girls while Vimbai was simply vindictive, despite her avowed ‘cerebral’ prowess. Danny showed some love that was not appreciated by Africans while Hanni’s cool-headedness bought her ample time on the show. Zeus was too popular for his own good.
‘Big Brother Africa’ delivered on its promise and Africa can’t wait to see ‘BBA 7’ grace their TV screens next summer. It’s a long wait but the buzz of the ‘Amplified’ House will carry many through.
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