BB21: The Ika ET Canada Interviews - Part 4

The last of the series. (Yay!) You can find Part 1 HERE, Part 2 HERE and Part 3 HERE. 

If you haven't signed up for the blog pool yet, the cut-off is 3pm ET (noon PT) TODAY! Get yourself to THIS LINKED POST to join in on the fun! Please don't sign up on any other post other than the blog pool entry one!



I hereby predict that Sam will win the MOST LIKELY TO SHOUT IN THE DIARY ROOM award. Personally, really loud people make me cringe. In the BB house, it can be good or bad. At least he's not shrilly and loud. He's a fan, his wife more of fan. I like that he admires Derrick's game, but Derrick played things very low key. I don't think Sam can do that. He does have a lot on the ball about strategy and the way things work in the BB house. I believe he might even be entertaining on the live feeds. He looks like he might even do okay in comps. But, will he win it all? I think of he can just calm down a bit, he might get near the end. I didn't like that he mentioned wanting to last at least to jury. On the other hand, I like (for the game) that he thinks he's ruthless. 




She's a HUGE fan who went and contradicted herself by focusing on BB20. She talks a lot. I get the feeling that she's often the center of attention. Now, she commented about Tyler's great BB20 game. Her own self seems to not jibe with how he played the game. Tyler was much more low-key. Oh, my gosh … does she even stop talking to breathe? She's the one who has been rumor-linked to being Facebook friends with Holly, another one I'm not too keen on. I think she might have quick trouble in the house. Just in this interview, I've toned her out to like an ongoing Charlie Brown adult wah-wah noise -- not whining, mind you. Just noise. I swear she would be the person yapping on the cell phone in the quiet car on NJ Transit commuter trains.


Hmm … the Southern manners bit is ingrained. I can always tell that and the similar military "Ma'am" or "Sir" as coming out naturally, not fake. It becomes automatic and is certainly better than potty-mouth automatic. He seems to be a show fan, admiring Paul, Derrick and more. But I don't think for sure that he's going to pattern his own game after any of them. I get the feeling that he will be purely himself. My jury is out on him. He will either do extremely well or crash and burn early on. He should do well in comps, but his social game will make him or break him.




I do like Jessica. And, I find it personally refreshing that, while she's a model, she's not one of the bikini ilk that we so often see. She's the only hamster I can remember who hasn't released her actual age -- she claims to be 30ish. I don't know what's up with that. I genuinely hope that the internet is kind about her size. I think it is a more natural state, but I also think it may hinder her in some of the more physical comps. She claims to run marathons, though. More power to her! She is a fan of the show. Even so, I don't think she's going to be overly strategic. For some reason I think she is going to skate through mainly on a social game. We'll see.

Any thoughts on this group?

BB21: The Ika ET Canada Interviews - Part 3

Yes, I'm finally getting on with these -- you can find Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.



Hmm … Holly. She seems to be a fan, perhaps a recruited one. But she did mention Jeff and Derrick from (for them) quite a few seasons back. She's a hamster with internet rumors that she's Facebook friends with Kathryn. I don't know. I just report this stuff. She certainly didn't make any mention of HUGE fan or the live feeds. I'm very iffy on her. I can't really get any sort of grasp on her at all. I can see where she might have some strengths in comps and such. But if I can't get a grasp, it makes me wonder about her social game. We all know that's more important these days than comp beasting.




Oh my gosh, she's like a real slim version of someone I know. Mo, no one from BB at all. At least we have a big fan in her and not a recruit. I'll forgive her for naming Paul as a favorite player and saying he was robbed. True, he had some very good strategy but his social game absolutely sucked and got worse the second time he was on the show. Hopefully she can mix his strategy with a better social game. I don't think she will be a physical comp beast but could be strong in mental comps. Perhaps she'll just come across as a bit silly and no real threat. I do love that she's the only one, when given the choice between a snake or a rat, she pointed out that snakes eat rats.

I like Ovi. He's the only one who has mentioned the live feeds. He actually had to watch the show for a course he took. Why, he's so likable he was voted student council president in his class at college. I like his choice of players picked -- Vanessa and Hayden. While Vanessa didn't win and really was too emotional, she was a strategy queen. I don't see him being as emotional and hope his strategic game is worthy. I don't know if he's going to be ruthless enough for the win. I'm also not sure how entertaining he'll be on the live feeds. But I like him.

Cliff says he's 54 but the CBS bio information has him at 53. Either age, he's the sole "old" guy in the house. I can't say how much I personally hate them sticking one older person in there! At least he is a fan of the show although watching since BB8 isn't quite "forever" to me! With that fan timeframe, he must have seen the season with Kevin. His line about all of his stories he can tell reminded me of Kevin. Kevin made it far, but didn't make it to the end. I don't think Cliff will be strong in comps. Hopefully his social game will keep him in for a while. I do like that he mentioned not liking Rachel Reilly. Her first season drove me up the wall. And, while she was good at comps, she played way too Drama Queen for my likes. He likes Ian and Vanessa. Good choices.

BB21: Live Feeders vs. Aired Show Fans vs. Hamsters

Yes, I know that I still owe you the rest of the Ika ET Canada videos and my commentary on them. Yes, I know I need to post an informative post on how this blog works with the show, the feeds and stuff like the show scheduling. But first … this stuff here keeps going through my mind as I watch the cast interviews and such. 

I've been actually blogging about BB since BB5 -- unfortunately those entries were on the now long ago sunsetted AOL Journals blogging platform and this BlogSpot blog kicks in with BB7. Due to the AOL blogging, I got a paid freelance gig following the show for Weblogs, Inc./TV Squad/AOL Television for a number of years. That brought about the changes to this blog with the live show parties, etc. 

Before blogging became a "thing" I was a part of the AOL team monitoring chats and message boards for the show since Season ONE -- a season in which  Julie Chen was not well known at all, not to even mention Julie Chen-Moonves! AOL was the platform for the live feeds and practically ran the show environment. I recall things like 70k comments during an aired show at the time. Incredible! As time went on and the BB online community grew, I followed other sites like Joker's and Hamsterwatch. I lost my paying gig writing about the show and feeds when AOL TV was taken over by HuffPost. Sigh. 

With all that said, I guess I would qualify as some sort of super-super-fan, even more so than some of the largely followed sites since I've been actively involved since even before the first show of the first season even aired! Yes, setting up the message boards and stuff like that. But, no. I would never be in that house and, if I was, I'd truly suck at it. I don't do surrounded by people and chaos well.

So … why all this history? Well, in looking at this cast, I see recruits, some that have watched the show for a few years, some "big" fans who may have watched for ten years or so and only one who mentioned the live feeds. Say WHAT?!?! The online fan community for BB is tremendous and may be the forefather of various online fan communities for other shows -- both reality and scripted --since its inception. Yep, that's what I think.

There are distinct differences between regular show fans, live feeders and the hamsters themselves and here are my thoughts:

Aired Show Fans

This category of fans seem to be who the producers think they want to impress with showmances, twists, house themes and more. But they're the least knowledgeable about the show of all the fans. They see edited versions of "reality." They don't see the downtimes (or doldrums as I often refer to them). They only see edited versions of brouhahas or kerfuffles, often not with a full story of what led to such chaos. They see so little of the day to day happenings and interactions of the house that it disturbs me that so many new hamsters never see anything but the aired shows. They're being robbed!

The Hamsters Themselves

Once in the house, obviously their experience is different from other fans, aired show or feeders. No matter super fan or newbie, we cannot know what it's like to actually be in there. I think I might safely assume it's a mix of Highway to Hell or an Amazing Life Experience. But I don't know. I do know that even the hamsters themselves don't see the big picture of what's happening within the house. They only see part of it through their own confidants and allies. That ends up giving them each a skewed version of things. Thankfully after Danielle Reyes lost in her season due to the others seeing her Diary Room interviews, hamsters don't see them until after the season ends. So, while they have an insight into the show that no just fan will ever have, they aren't as knowledgeable about what's going on as are my last category --

Live Feeders and Online Community Fans

Yep, we practically know it all! We are privy to conversations that neither the show fans hear, nor all of the hamsters themselves. We get to see them pop their pimples and have wardrobe malfunctions. The only things we don't see are the first week in the house because they delay the live feeds until after the premiere. By that time the hamsters have already a week under their belts. We also don't get to see the Diary Room sessions although on some rare occasions there have been an audio leak or two. I doubt we'll ever get to see them because the producers won't allow us to see prompting, leading questions or retakes. Also, as live feeders and involved with the online community, we tend to get all the dirt from internet sleuths who track down the backgrounds and lives of the hamsters. All in all, we know it all … except what it's like to actually be a house hamster. 

What are your thoughts? 

BB21: House Tour and Theme

I just don't know about this. I know someone earns big bucks coming up with this stuff. Others who earn big bucks have to approve these things. I obviously chose the wrong career path. 

The theme for this summer is Summer Camp. And, the house supposedly reflects that. I do believe we just might have the worst, tackiest and most unappealing BB house in the history of the show.

That said, it is looking more and more like there's a "secret" theme this season. It looks like it may be a pairs thing going on. Christie had a long time relationship with Tommy's aunt. Holly and Kathryn are Facebook friends. Many others (two by two) went to the same colleges and stuff. Hmm.

Oh, well. Here's the Julie Chen-Moonves house tour --



I think I'm speechless. What do you think of the house?

I'll be continuing my ET Canada Ika cast interviews with commentary tomorrow. Please don't forget to jump in the blog pool at this post!

BB21: The Ika ET Canada Interviews - Part 2

Greetings, fellow hamster watchers! This is part two of my commentary on the ET Canada interviews with Ika, a previous BB Canada hamster herself. You can find part one right here.

Also -- don't forget to sign up for the blog pool on THIS HERE LINKED POST! You need to sign up on that post only. If you put your name in on any other post, Facebook or Twitter, it might be missed.



Okay, Kemi, I do see the hair being a problem. Can you imagine that in a wall comp with goop flying all about? Kemi seems like either a recruit or someone who decided last year she was going to make the show. Watched ten seasons in a year? Yeah, it's doable on CBS All Access. But you don't see the live feeds, you don't see the whole online aspect by just watching. She thinks she's a big fan although it's recent. She also thinks of herself as a New Yorker even through she moved to Brooklyn six months ago. She thinks she will win the money. I don't think so.




Christie seems to be about as big of a fan as we get this season. At least she has watched the show since Season 8. Again, no mention of live feeds or internet community for the show. She comes across better in this interview than in her bio or the Jeff interview. One interesting thing to note (from the internet, mind you) -- supposedly one of her relationships was with fellow hamster Tommy's aunt. Do they know each other? I mean, it's a small world, but …! I think she might do okay in the long run. But my own empath vibes aren't screaming out WINNER!



Another HUGE fan -- he's been watching since Season 17! I'm SO impressed/ I guess I shouldn't be snarky about the Jersey Boy, huh? But he's feeling the need to lie about his job. We all know how well that works out for most. And, the lie isn't even a great one. It's still similar to what he does. He's in his late 20s and has never been apart from his mother for more than a week. What's up with that? Plus, he says "you know what I'm saying" much too much. All that aside, he named Vanessa as a good player and does have insight into the game. On the whole, I think he might be a bit boring in the house. An interesting thing in the Jeff interview is that he said he'd call out anyone bullying, etc. Hmm. I just don't know. But I know at the age of 27 I wasn't calling myself a "kid."



Yep, a definite recruit and, at least he admits it. He's binge watched the show for the last 100 days. He apparently thinks the strategy of laying low at the start and making friendships is some sort of new one for the books. Me? I'm tired of people saying they're going to lay low. The only real success at that in several years was Kaycee. As a feeds watcher, I agree with Ika about BORING. However, I think his game might go off his strategy a bit. I don't know why I'm thinking that, but I am. I could be wrong. I do think his instant crying is very cool. Instant laugh, not so much. David comes across as a likable guy in the interviews. But is it all to fall apart in the house? We'll see!