As Big Brother Africa hits the airwaves today: The thrills, the technology, the revolution

Shower Hour and uncut segments of the 24 hour reality TV show under the full lenses of the camera came under attacks in the last editions from Nigerians including some media and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) with the legislature threatening a ban on Big Brother Africa content in Nigeria. Managing Director, M-Net Africa, Ms […]

Shower Hour and uncut segments of the 24 hour reality TV show under the full lenses of the camera came under attacks in the last editions from Nigerians including some media and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) with the legislature threatening a ban on Big Brother Africa content in Nigeria.

Managing Director, M-Net Africa, Ms Biola Adekanbi, however told journalists recently that the issues were resolved and the offensive portions expunged for good.

In addition to parental controls, subscribers can only see BBA4 content by expressing willingness to be connected to the reality show by sending a text message or email to the content providers.

But some Nigerians have expressed displeasure at the exclusion of the Shower Hour. “There is no BBA without Shower Hour. I watch it because of that. Without it, it’s dull”, says Richard, an IT specialist based in Lagos.

But Adekanbi promised more excitement saying BBA4 would not lose its appeal even without shower hour.

“Africa will be witnessing a dramatic revised format, which is bolder and more intense than anything audiences have seen so far. BBA4 will introduce new initiatives – the old rules banning conspiracy in the house have been lifted, as contestants will be free to forge alliances and discuss strategy openly”, she had said, adding that Shower Hour was exclusive to BBA and you wouldn’t see it in any other Big Brother.

Based on the rules of the house, the most persevering of the housemates, or the one with the most guile, based on viewers’ perception and determined by their votes, wins and goes home with the prize money – which has been upped from US$100,000 to a massive, life-changing US$200,000 – and the winner takes it all.

The house of revolution

The biggest innovation and one that will have the most impact in the new season of BBA, Big Brother Africa: The Revolution, is the technology. There will be 40 all-seeing, all-knowing cameras, and 100 microphones to search out all the sights and sounds that are open and hidden. There will be no hiding place for any of the housemates, nor will they have the ability to hide conspiracies, intrigues, plots, and even whispers! All will be laid bare before the viewing public! The technology accompaniment promises to be bigger than seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Big Brother Africa combined.

The voting pattern has also changed. This season, audiences will be asked to vote for the housemates they want to remain in the house rather than the housemates they want to see leave the house. Fourteen housemates, an increase of two from previous seasons, will compete for the ultimate prize.    

“The team has been working for months already, fine-tuning the latest edition, focusing on delivering the ultimate Big Brother Africa. “We’ve got quite a few secrets this time around…After three seasons, it was time for a fresh spin, time for bright ideas. This series is for the fans, to say thank you for supporting Big Brother since it began. So we are giving them the best gift we can – a show to beat others,” said Biola Adekanbi. The producers have also been busy analysing and observing other Big Brother successes around the world to develop innovative elements in order to inject fresh new creativity into the production of BBA season 4.    

In the new season, housemates will once again be asked to nominate their fellow housemates for eviction, based on whom they want to see evicted from the house. Viewers will then vote for the housemate they want to see remain in the house. This is expected to keep the best housemates in the house for as long as possible.

Another innovation, although making a return, is the head of the house role. This will allow the player who wins the Head of House task each week the special power to save a housemate who is up for eviction and replace this housemate with one of their own choosing. In addition, the head of the house will have extra powers and other special privileges this season.

But without the new technology, the promises made by Adekanbi will not materialise because this edition will not be different from previous editions. The technology underpins everything that has been put together to make this year’s edition the best ever.

No hiding place on Big Brother

All actions on BBA4 will be recorded and broadcast on television and the internet. The housemates cannot eat, rest or sleep without viewers seeing their every move. With the higher scrutiny the housemates will receive this year, it is even possible for viewers to literarily see into their minds to explain the motivations for the actions they will take.

The general format of Big Brother provides interesting demographic and sociological perspectives on human behaviour. Confining 14 people from different backgrounds and countries, with the only connection being the English language, to a house for three months, they are forced to interact with one another. Living together under continuous observation, the programme relies on four basic props for providing these perspectives: the stripped-bare back-to-basics environment in which they live; the evictions; the weekly tasks set by Big Brother and the Diary Room in which the housemates individually convey their thoughts, feelings, frustrations and of course their nominees for eviction. Forced to live with total strangers for three months, Big Brother helps viewers see how people react when they are removed from their usual environment and placed among total strangers. Without the aid of cameras and microphones and the television and the internet, it is not normally possibly to observe such interactions vividly.

Predictably, many of the airs the housemates came with to the house, which are facades that cover up their real self, fade within a very short time. Alliances in the form of friendship are struck for many reasons. For some, it is to survive for as long as possible in the house, or somebody to simply bond with or, in some cases, real attraction between some of the housemates and they then go on to become friends. As the show progresses and the number of housemates thins out, strategies are devised by the housemates to eliminate other housemates that they consider a threat to their ultimate goal of going home with the prize. All these mirror, to a smaller or larger extent, the competitive nature of man in the real world.

BBA housemates will be drawn from Nigeria, Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Ethiopia, a collection of diverse people from countries with different histories and cultures, languages, ethos, and aspirations, creating a melting pot of personalities, tempers, and ambitions.