The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
Diana Nabiruma and John Vianney Nsimbe
19 November 2008
"Tom, are you coming for Morris' eviction party?" I ask. "It's bound to be fun". Tom looks at me and asks, "Who is Morris?"
I think, "This guy actually has a point. Did Morris Mugisha, Uganda's representative in Big Brother Africa III attain celebrity status?"
When he jetted back into the country, there was no big crowd to greet him, if we go by Gaetano Juuko Kaggwa's standards in 2003.
Ugandans love to stare but this time they did not line the roadsides to catch a glimpse of the "star". Someone in the newsroom caused laughter when he asked two days after his return, whether Morris had been evicted.
This is a far cry from when Gaetano, Uganda's representative in BBA1 returned after his eviction.
President Yoweri Museveni who hardly pays attention to social events sent his official chopper to ferry Gaetano and his BBA fling Gaby Plaatjes to Tororo.
To date, he is a celebrity.
"So, what is it that made Kaggwa famous that Morris failed to do?" one will wonder. Is it that his personality is lacking? Is he not charming? Is it that he did not 'succeed' with the female housemates?
Sylvia Ataro of Sylvie's Boutique said, "I do not think Morris was meant for that kind of game because he did not show the viewers anything." Suzan Angeyo, another viewer said the only thing Morris did was use hi-end English vocabulary.
Rita Nabachwa, a fan, fiercely argues against the allegation that Morris' personality is lacking.
"And he is such a gentleman! How charming can one get?" she asks.
Right there, she just mentioned Morris' undoing. Being a gentleman in Africa seems a sure way of getting on peoples' lists of boring people.
Generally, it seems it is the loud, immoral and dirty that hits with TV viewers. It is the reason why Tanzania's Richard won last year even after cheating on his wife with the Angolan housemate. It is the reason Angola's Ricco is likely to win this year, even after his sexcapades with the Tanzanian Latoya. I am sure Morris' chances would have been better if he had just pretended to sleep with Latoya; he would have attained fame so fast his head would spin. Even Gaetano owes his fame to his BBA sexual escapades.
But perhaps, it is not just Morris.
"What is good about Big Brother without the shower hour?" Some ask.
Rap musicians Mith and Navio had contrasting views
"It is hard to compare the different BBA shows. Each had its exciting moments and although it was clear that this time certain moments like the shower hour were changed, I enjoyed watching the characters," said Mith.
But Navio said, "The individuals this time were not as outgoing and free like the ones in previous shows."
Ataro said it bluntly: "The housemates this time were the worst BBA collection. While in previous editions I would run home early to watch, this time I did not."
Sylvia Nansimbe, a student at Makerere said: "All we waited for were nomination and eviction nights but we never watched regularly in the hostels."
Joseph Ikong, a Sadolin Power basketball player said BBA has lost its steam and needs re-invention.
Asha Nabakooza, another viewer said, "BBAIII has been too predictable. We would easily tell who was going to be evicted and also what tricks Big Brother was going to pull."
Giving it a break may be hard. While it took four years for BBA to be screened for the second time last year, it has been argued by some observers that when DStv lost the majority screening rights of the English Premier League (EPL) that began in August to Gateway Television (GTV), they had to find a way of keeping a substantial number of their viewers and subscribers, many of whom are swept by the EPL excitement. Rekindling the BBA moment for 91 days made sense.
Julie Nakayenga, a Makerere University student agrees: "For us women, football is not a big deal but Big Brother is."
But Helena Mayanja, the publicist of Multi-Choice told The Weekly Observer before BBAIII started that its return was because DStv wanted to give its viewers programmes they want to watch.
Emma Mulindwa of Makindye sports bar told The Weekly Observer: "In 2007, for people to watch BBA they paid Shs 2000 without [argument] but this year, I have had to 'practically' look for people to watch BBA. There were no people."
Besides, after two seasons, this year's housemates were acting. Each of them had come up with strategies on how to win basing on winners of previous shows.
There is a kitchen vote. Just because Zambia's Cherise (BBAI) and Nigeria's Ofuneka (BBAII) and won and were first runner up respectively, housemates came into BBAII with aprons and recipes. Mimi (Ghana) amazed many when she spoke of how they were fighting for that vote with Malawi's Hazel. There is the Casanova vote after Richard won BBAII. This is the vote Angola's Ricco hopes to get.
Also, this time round, Africa killed the show by voting out the motar-mouths first. When Nigeria's Uti, Mimi and Sheila (Kenya) got evicted, the house got boring.
BBA1 was new and exciting. BBAII came after 4 years so there was a bit of anticipation for it. Before people could get over the boring BBAII housemates, BBAIII was unveiled. Without MTN. Without a local TV screening reruns. Let's face it, MTN knows how to strum the publicity strings.
Even at Morris' eviction party at Club Palui, not that many people lined up for autographs and photos. Besides, he kept talking to Kenyan housemate Sheila instead of his fans. And the dancing? He did a few minutes of it. And this was the person supposed to entertain his way into our hearts.
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