Despite Daley Being Ejected, Nominations Carry On for BBUK

Despite Daley being ejected from the house, the show must go on.  And on it went with nominations.  The bad part about nominations is that we had to watch BBBOTS to find out who was nominated.  Before we get to who was nominated, I only have one question:  What in the hell is on Rylan’s lips?  Does he not have a makeup artist to help him prep for the show?  Did he not look in the mirror before going on the show?  Then again, this is Rylan we are talking about. Who the hell knows what it is.  Moving on.

Due to Daley being ejected, we did not get to see who nominated who and why.  For me, that is the fun part.  Oh well. I guess I will have to miss out.  This week, up for the public vote to evict is Callum, Dexter, Gina, Jackie, and Jack and Joe.

So, is this a surprise to any one? Who do you want to see walk out the door on Friday? Jackie? Callum? Sound off in the comments below and let us know.

Fallout From Nominations – Gina’s Rant

Gina was nominated…again.  And to say that she was not happy about it is an understatement.  For her candid and uncensored thoughts about being nominated, check out the clip here: (warning: Graphic Language – Special Thanks to BBUKc5) http://youtu.be/WB8OEEvALvw

Yep, that about sums it up. 

It appears that Michael, the People’s Puppet, has caused more damage in the house than I originally gave him credit for.  Other than Dan running around like a chicken without a head accusing Wolfy of being a mole, most of the house now thinks that Dexter has a twin and he has been swapping places in the house with his twin.  These people are going nuts. 

In other news, a deadly zombie virus was released in the house and the House Mates had to kill off the virus to pass the “Dead Set” (by Charlie Brooker) inspired food-shopping task.  I have to admit, this was a very cool task.  Green mist; fake news reports; gas masks; and bloody zombies.  What more do you need for a task?  Since it has not aired yet, I don’t want to spoil too much.  But, what I will say, is when it airs tomorrow, it is a must watch. (If you so desire, there is a sneak peak on BBBOTS)

On Wednesday, one of the House Mates that is up for eviction will be saved.  Will it be Dexter, Gina or Jemima? My money is on Gina.  Based upon Tuesday’s episode and her row with...just about everyone, Jemima is about to talk herself straight out the door.  What do you think?  Let us know in the comments below.  

Around the Web: #BBCan Fallout Matchmaker Edition

Now that the Big Brother Canada houseguests have returned to the outside world, most of them are on Twitter, with the notable exceptions of Topaz, Emmett, and Jillian.

OTP

As I had hoped, The Shield The Sheyld have been particularly responsive so far, with both fans and with haters, though Peter seems more comfortable on Twitter than Alec.

Vs.

Needless to say, the pair aren't getting a uniformly cheery reaction on Twitter, but they're able to find the positive:

In other news, the Alec/Topaz "thing" continues its weirdness, unabated:

Ohhhh, she probably did. 

In other Big Brother news, there's a new development in the Big Brother US winner's circle, with BB4 winner Jun Song starting a dating service focused exclusively on finding love for BB14 winner Ian Terry after a particularly self-deprecating tweet from the founder of the Quack Pack.

Wonder if she'd expand the circle outside of Big Brother winners to include Big Brother losers? Since it sounds like Alec might be back to the drawing board in that department.

And speaking of Big Brother winners and love, someone in the UK has had a little time on their hands:

Indeed.

I wonder if Jay and Louise's rumored breakup had anything to do with Aaron's Big Brother marathon - I can't shake the feeling that he and Faye are privately giddy about outlasting JayLou to be the longest-lasting showmance of BBUK Season 12. I imagine their reaction looking something like this:

Maybe Jay can get a leg up now from JunMatches.com too, if she expands the circle to include Big Brother losers. (Warning: link is to Jay's very unflattering leg tattoo of Louise, don't click while eating.)

I guess all that's left to say on that can be summed up by the Bit on the Side caption team:

BBUK: Jamie and Alice Won't Be Back

Talk about burying the lead!

Today, The Sun has an article about upcoming changes on BBUK's "Bit on the Side", headlined "Emma Willis lands role on Big Brother's Bit On the Side."

Classically uncomfortable moments with BOTS

The real story, though?

“Sadly, Jamie and Alice won’t be back.”

Say that again?

“Sadly, Jamie and Alice won’t be back.”

Apparently, the show is "trying to go more upmarket". That shouldn't be too hard, they've really got nowhere to go but up. 

Jamie East had gotten tiresome to the point that I gave up on the spin-off show in the last couple of seasons. His trolling-the-fans shtick was kind of funny at first, especially when fans took the bait, but at a certain point, and a pretty quick one at that, it just got old. Jamie could have been funny as a subversive outsider, but as a content producer for the show, it became uncomfortable to see him deliberately stirring the fans' anger, over and over. Probably his best BBUK moment wasn't funny because of him, but because of his interview subject, and that one didn't end especially well. 

If you want to generate interest in Big Brother, wouldn't it be easier to restore the live feeds than to produce an entire hour of Bit on the Side every day? Don't answer that. No one from the Big Brother team will. 

So the only question left: Is Rylan Clark considered "upmarket"? Normally I'd say no, but again, this is BOTS. There's really nowhere to go but up. 

Charge of the Brigade-Light

Big Brother Canada's four-man Quattro alliance was clearly patterned after Big Brother US Season 12's Brigade, one of the most successful alliances in Big Brother history. Yet three weeks (four evictions) into the series, their so-called "leader" is posed to walk out the door in an exit orchestrated by his own team.

Why did Quattro fail at doing what The Brigade did so well? The easy answer to this is "Tom", but let's go a little deeper than that.

Big Brother 12's Brigade - note the hype man.

First, let's talk about what Quattro was missing from day one. This is the one time I'll give credit to Enzo, so pay attention. Yes, we all know, Enzo was a terrible player, who never conceived a single move other than (maybe) naming the alliance. Sure, Matt was the strategist, Hayden was the executioner, Lane was the silent but deadly ally. But Enzo, fame-hungry, overconfident Enzo, did do one thing very well: he was an effective hype man.

Enzo spent Season 12 hyping the Brigade, until all of them truly believed what he was selling. Matt got along better with his "side alliance" Ragan, but because of his strategic single-mindedness and his belief in Enzo's hype, he never allowed himself to consider breaking the alliance. Lane considered it, and wisely kept it silent. Hayden never wavered either, allowing Enzo to take his athlete's team pride and wrap it up in the banner of their alliance. All four genuinely believed in the alliance and what it stood for.

Which one is the hype man?

Quattro lacked hype from the beginning. They rarely had group meetings. They aped the Brigade's general strategy, roping in two pairs of men, with Peter playing the dorky strategist role (Matt), Alec as the shirtless thinker (Hayden), Emmett as the hunky farmboy (Lane), and Tom as the bully and hype man (Enzo).

Quattro also successfully copied the Brigade's strategy of branching out and forming side alliances, in Topaz (Alec), Jillian (Emmett), and Liza (Tom). Poor Peter tried and failed to develop an effective side partner, but hey, Enzo never really had a true side alliance, either. So far, so good.

Still, the alliance crashed and burned by week three. Why? For the same reasons any alliance fails. The men grew suspicious of each other and began to think about outplaying each other. Tom refused to listen to his teammates, and Peter and Alec increasingly disliked his arrogance.

Watch your back, Tom...

The classic Brigade strategy also contains a serious vulnerability in that side alliance concept: what happens when members spend more time with their side alliances and start to like them better? That's what sunk Matt in Season 12, the boys decided he was too close to Ragan and had to go.

Big Brother's Bit on the Side?

The remaining members of Quattro will be at risk of this. If Topaz ever really opens up to Alec, will he start to be more interested in her than in the boys? If Peter ever finds a side alliance, will he get over his Liza funk and finally master the art of a secret alliance? What happens if Liza survives the double eviction and becomes his side alliance, given her tension with Emmett and Alec? And Emmett is awfully close to Jillian, to the point that he wants her in Quattro to replace Tom. Can the Brigade strategy work with members getting swapped in and out?

Moral of the story: On Big Brother, the strategy matters less than the execution. The Brigade was a brilliant strategy, only because the players were able to play it well.

The best Big Brother players are the ones who can read their housemates and adapt their strategy based on what they have to work with. Alec, Peter and Emmett seem to be doing this by pulling the plug on Tom earlier than planned.

Will it work to their advantage in the long run, or will Quattro become just another forgettable Big Brother alliance?