[itsnotcricket]

Before I continue with my post, I must just say, having just come on the board, that I am very surprised at all the anti-Nikki threads since her eviction. I know there have been many such threads over the past few weeks but why are people still so bitter and angry towards the girl? At least it's clear now where all the votes to evict her came from.

Anyway, on to the main message. I believe that this year BB has been handled extremely badly with too many "twists" going dreadfully wrong.

1. Putting Aisleyne in the house next door sounded a good idea, but wasn't handled properly. It was obvious to all the secret HMs exactly what was happening when Aisleyne "evicted" them. As soon as they cottoned on, BB should have changed their plans rather than pretending to believe that the HMs had been fooled.

2. It's my belief that having so many new HMs come into a show after 7 or 8 weeks is a major error. The beauty of BB has always been seeing the dynamic of the house change after each eviction and watching the remaining HMs realign with each other or amend their game plans. They may be nice people but frankly I have absolutely no interest in Jennie, Michael and Spiral. I couldn't care less if they stay or go because I haven't got to know them at the same pace as the others. OK, there have been exceptions with Suzie this year and Eugene and Kinga last year; 1 or 2 are OK but not four (five if you count Jonathan). The newbies have ruined the dynamic of the house. The atmosphere has totally changed and not for the better. Nikki wasn't quite right to describe them as clones but I had every sympathy for her not liking this sudden intrusion. I can hear the shouts now saying that that's what BB needed, a bit of a shake-up, but I'm sorry, I disagree. I had got to know the original HMs plus Suzie and I didn't want any more.

3. Jayne's punishment. God knows what BB thought this would achieve. They must surely be aware of the constant criticism of big personalities being voted out early. So what do they do? They put 11 HMs up for eviction at the same time and expect the GBP to home in on one of the boring ones like Mikey, Imogen or Suzie, or one of the boring new ones like Michael. Simply can't be done, unfortunately, too many different ideas floating about. It's bl***ing obvious, isn't it, that substantial minorities of the public are going to choose one of the big characters that really annoys them and vote them out? Can anyone really hand-on-heart believe that BB wanted Nikki to be evicted? Oh, yes, there are the conspiracy theorists who believe that Endemol were worried that Nikki might have won and was therefore a threat to their chosen winner Pete. I don't think this is a valid argument. It would surely have suited them better for Nikki to stay and be Pete's friend until he won.

I think that this year the BB producers have really lost the plot and seem incapable of organising any interesting twists with any degree of competence.

Unfortunately for Nikki and her fans, however, her eviction this week, although initially set up because of Jayne's "punishment", really came about through one or more of fate's little ironies. Nikki's instant liking for Jayne and her inseparability from her during the last week has brought about her own downfall and no doubt will have hastened Jayne's next week. Talking about "the outside" caused Jayne to be punished, but also gave Nikki lots of confused ideas about her own and Aisleyne's standing. Jayne fed Nikki's paranoia about Aisleyne and Pete instead of giving her reassurance.

And, amazingly, Nikki remains loyal to Jayne even when she helped bring about her downfall. As Nikki said herself, she didn't have a good week. I would never have voted to evict Nikki, being a big fan, but it was clear that in the last seven days she has been a shadow of her former self. If only she could have survived this week, and see the back of Jayne the next, she might have recovered her spirits.

[FlowerChild]

Yeah you're right, it's kinda crap but it's still better than LI.

[itsnotcricket]

Originally Posted by FlowerChild

Yeah you're right, it's kinda crap but it's still better than LI.

I've never watched Love Island and have no intention of ever doing so. I'd like to say that I've now stopped watching BB7 but I'll probably keep having a look to see who's evicted next. But in all honesty all enjoyment of this series has gone for me.

[scaramanga]

I'm in broad agreement with you - except for your second point. I understand your argument but I find BB usually gets more and more boring after about week 6 in previous formats. I'm not over fond of the new housemates and feel fairly ambivalent towards them - but i do far prefer the level of energy and interaction that they bring to the house overall.

[itsnotcricket]

Originally Posted by scaramanga

I'm in broad agreement with you - except for your second point. I understand your argument but I find BB usually gets more and more boring after about week 6 in previous formats. I'm not over fond of the new housemates and feel fairly ambivalent towards them - but i do far prefer the level of energy and interaction that they bring to the house overall.

Yes, it can get a bit stale, and the house now sounds lively and energetic. The trouble is, I'm not remotely interested in the people providing the energy at this stage in the run. As I said, I think it's OK to bring in one or two people, or perhaps it depends on who they are or how the twist is developed.

What the situation at present sort of reminds me of is when you go on holiday somewhere for two weeks. At the end of the first week, lots of the people you made friends with go home and a whole new lot arrive that you don't know and aren't interested in, but there they are at the hotel bar chatting away noisily as if they own the place. I'm sounding like Nikki.....

[NogginPo]

Originally Posted by itsnotcricket

What the situation at present sort of reminds me of is when you go on holiday somewhere for two weeks. At the end of the first week, lots of the people you made friends with go home and a whole new lot arrive that you don't know and aren't interested in, but there they are at the hotel bar chatting away noisily as if they own the place. I'm sounding like Nikki.....

Good analogy though!

[Dub.]

Originally Posted by itsnotcricket

What the situation at present sort of reminds me of is when you go on holiday somewhere for two weeks. At the end of the first week, lots of the people you made friends with go home and a whole new lot arrive that you don't know and aren't interested in, but there they are at the hotel bar chatting away noisily as if they own the place. I'm sounding like Nikki.....

Maybe its an Irish thing,but i love the situation you just described.

I love meeting new people.

[gwimble]

Originally Posted by itsnotcricket

1. Putting Aisleyne in the house next door sounded a good idea, but wasn't handled properly. It was obvious to all the secret HMs exactly what was happening when Aisleyne "evicted" them. As soon as they cottoned on, BB should have changed their plans rather than pretending to believe that the HMs had been fooled.

No it was not, Jayne was evicted and was surprised to be kept. Alaugh was heard which they thought was Jayne but was actually Lea.
Jennie and Michael were not sure what fate awaited them, but were willing to take a chance. It was obvious to all FMs who had prior knowledge - that's all.

2. It's my belief that having so many new HMs come into a show after 7 or 8 weeks is a major error. The beauty of BB has always been seeing the dynamic of the house change after each eviction and watching the remaining HMs realign with each other or amend their game plans. They may be nice people but frankly I have absolutely no interest in Jennie, Michael and Spiral. I couldn't care less if they stay or go because I haven't got to know them at the same pace as the others. OK, there have been exceptions with Suzie this year and Eugene and Kinga last year; 1 or 2 are OK but not four (five if you count Jonathan). The newbies have ruined the dynamic of the house. The atmosphere has totally changed and not for the better. Nikki wasn't quite right to describe them as clones but I had every sympathy for her not liking this sudden intrusion. I can hear the shouts now saying that that's what BB needed, a bit of a shake-up, but I'm sorry, I disagree. I had got to know the original HMs plus Suzie and I didn't want any more.

How should they handle a much extended show, start with 22 HMs? I agree it didn't work well but it may have looked OK on paper and worth the experiment. Perhaps in future they will add new Hms one by one. Who knows.

3. Jayne's punishment. God knows what BB thought this would achieve. They must surely be aware of the constant criticism of big personalities being voted out early. So what do they do? They put 11 HMs up for eviction at the same time and expect the GBP to home in on one of the boring ones like Mikey, Imogen or Suzie, or one of the boring new ones like Michael. Simply can't be done, unfortunately, too many different ideas floating about. It's bl***ing obvious, isn't it, that substantial minorities of the public are going to choose one of the big characters that really annoys them and vote them out? Can anyone really hand-on-heart believe that BB wanted Nikki to be evicted? Oh, yes, there are the conspiracy theorists who believe that Endemol were worried that Nikki might have won and was therefore a threat to their chosen winner Pete. I don't think this is a valid argument. It would surely have suited them better for Nikki to stay and be Pete's friend until he won.

I will refrain from my 'mole' assertions and agree BB may not have wanted to lose Nikki but I don't think they expected a duller person to go. They knew that an open vote would generate far more revenue than any contest of HMs nominations. A 'senior' player would go but they still had at least one more plus Jayne. Leave it any later in the series and the dynamics change.

Unfortunately for Nikki and her fans, however, her eviction this week, although initially set up because of Jayne's "punishment", really came about through one or more of fate's little ironies. Nikki's instant liking for Jayne and her inseparability from her during the last week has brought about her own downfall and no doubt will have hastened Jayne's next week. Talking about "the outside" caused Jayne to be punished, but also gave Nikki lots of confused ideas about her own and Aisleyne's standing. Jayne fed Nikki's paranoia about Aisleyne and Pete instead of giving her reassurance.

And, amazingly, Nikki remains loyal to Jayne even when she helped bring about her downfall. As Nikki said herself, she didn't have a good week. I would never have voted to evict Nikki, being a big fan, but it was clear that in the last seven days she has been a shadow of her former self. If only she could have survived this week, and see the back of Jayne the next, she might have recovered her spirits.

Of course Nikki was unaware of Jaynes 'assistance' in her eviction. She still thinks Jayne was looking out for Nikkis welfare. So does Jayne which just proves how out of touch you can get after a couple of weeks in BB's warm embrace.