Big Brother Africa: Wave the flags … and (wo)man the barricades!

IF energy could be sliced with a knife, not even the sharpest of knives would have been able to cut through the energy which Big Brother Africa enthusiasts, and the contestants themselves, delivered at Sunday night’s big launch in Johannesburg.

They screamed, shouted, cheered, danced, ululated and did just about everything and anything to welcome the fourth season of Big Brother Africa – Revolution. Whether it has or has not sunk in yet is not the point. The point is: the Big Brother Africa Revolution is upon us, and the euphoria that enthused the launch was beyond words. The hordes of people who turned out to witness the beginning of the revolution on Sunday evening are testimony to the immense pulling power of Big Brother.Another high was when dancers took to the stage waving the flags of participating countries with the phenomenal K’naan singing ‘Let’s wave those flags high Africa’ in the background, creating a sense of African pride in the crowd. Contestants were welcomed onto the stage one by one and shared a bit about themselves with the ballistic crowd before making their way into the house. Asked to describe himself in three words, Ugandan housemate Hannington Kuteesa said: ‘The dog against man’, while Kenyan housemate Edward Muthusi said he deserves to walk away with the cash because ‘I’m just a nice guy’. Ghanaian housemate Wayoe Geordge definitely gave the crowd enough reason to keep watching the show with his watagwan Rastafarian ways, while South Africa’s Quinn Sieber got props for his fluent Zulu and Xhosa.The contestants make for an interesting bunch, each bringing their own individual aspects to the show. The launch was but the first glimpse into the revolution in the making. The rules have changed and the show promises more twists, drama, laughter, sweat, pain, backstabbing and action.The stakes are higher, so contestants have to go all out if they do All 12 contestants have promised to be real. Only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure: there’s nothing predictable about a revolution.* You can watch Big Brother Africa 24 hours a day on DStv channel 198. The daily show, live nominations and eviction shows will be broadcast on M-Net Africa (DStv channel 102). Africa Magic (DStv channel 107) will broadcast all repeats.