adminMelissa Mpofu and Bongani Ndlovu
WHETHER or not a Zimbabwean is named the ultimate Big Brother Africa (BBA) Hotshot tomorrow, the country’s two Housemates, JJ and Butterphly will walk out as winners.Both housemates fought a good fight, first for putting their differences aside and tolerating each other and for being the only pair from one country to make it through to the finale.
The two also managed to clean the country’s image which had been dented by former housemates, Roki and Maneta who fought in the House and were disqualified for their behaviour.
Fans of the popular reality show will be glued to their television screens tomorrow evening to see which housemate will walk away $300,000 richer.
Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Namibia and Rwanda were long booted out leaving Tanzania’s Idris, Nigeria’s Tayo, Zambia’s Macky2, South Africa’s Nhlanhla, Malawi’s Sipe and Ghana’s Ma’m Bea with JJ and Butterphly.
The last week of the game has been a tough one for the housemates as tempers have been flaring, probably because of the pressure of trying to impress viewers.
But, though a “Hotshot” will be crowned tomorrow, this year’s BBA was generally a yawn as it lacked the excitement and intrigue of previous editions.
The show had average Housemates who did not stand out as the likes of former Housemates, Uti, Pokello, Ricco, Confidence, Munya, Gaetano, Elikem and Luclay who kept viewers glued on the screen during their stints in Biggie’s house.
For previous editions, it has been easy to tell who would win, but this year’s House was full of boring Housemates and Zimbabweans were no exception.
Though Butterphly sailed through to the finale, her performance was disappointing as she spent the greater part of the show sleeping, shutting Africa out of her life, instead of letting people in. Though she came alive here and there, it was insufficient for the show, or perhaps it was her strategy to stay longer in the game.
Butterphly however stuck to her words as she had made it clear before entering Biggies house that she would not engage in sexual activities.
She resisted all romantic moves by the likes of Permithius and Mr 265 showing how committed she was.
JJ on the other hand was stubborn throughout the show, always wanting housemates to execute his ideas during tasks. However, most of the times Housemates were led by him, they lost those particular tasks, leaving a lot to be desired about his skills.
But, with all his character flaws, JJ showed a romantic softer side when he shared moments with South Africa’s Samantha.
The two had an understanding of each other throughout the show and JJ was a different person when he was around her. He was also good at playing the guitar and loved exercising. Zimbabwe’s chances of winning BBA tomorrow are slim as the two housemates’ votes will likely be split. While the other remaining six housemates are guaranteed of one solid country vote from their respective countries, Butterphly and JJ are fighting for their country vote.
Southern Africa has been supporting fellow countries from the region and Zimbabwe will once again be compromised as most of the remaining housemates are from that region compared to East Africa which will probably throw all its weight on Tanzania’s Idris.
West African countries will probably vote for Tayo from Nigeria, thereby increasing Tayo and Idris’ chances of winning.
But, Big Brother Africa is always full of surprises, and anyone, even the least expected housemate has the potential to win.
It remains to be seen if life will change for Butterphly and JJ through clinching life-changing deals outside the House, or if they will just go back to where they were before entering the show.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter