Celebrity Big Brother

[DB7]

A bit of side interest for us film fans - the barking mad Ken Russell has gone into the Big Brother house.

[Carmel]

And a bunch of nobodies followed

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by DB7 A bit of side interest for us film fans - the barking mad Ken Russell has gone into the Big Brother house.

Apart from clips shown on other programmes, thankfully I've never seen a normal Big Brother let alone a celebrity version. I'd rather eat my own feet than allow such grotesques invade my home!

I suppose Celebrity Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here are a way of reviving flagging or non-existent "showbiz careers" of very sad people who will do just about anything to remain in the shadow of the slimelight (a sort of latter day Celebrity Squares). Afterwards they can look forward to regular guest spots on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and daytime chat shows etc to guarantee a generous income over the next few months rather than go out to work for a living like the rest of us!

Unfortunately people will continue to watch such cobblers and there will be more variations on the same theme in the future until one day there will be more "celebrities" in this world than normal folk!

[Santonix]

Unfortunatley the time has come for this utter rubbish to appear on our tv screens once again. I just cannot understand why people waste their time watching such dreadful television. Happy New Year Everybody.

[julian_craster]

I can understand why Ken Russell would want to appear on this ghastly show - most of its yoof viewers will never have heard of him, and he needs to promote his film work to a younger generation if it is to survive commercially.....

[julian_craster]

The Independent

First Night: Celebrity Big Brother, Channel 4
Who's in the house? That's a good question
By Robert Hanks

Published: 04 January 2007

Many people have trouble sticking to their New Year diets; but Channel 4's determination to shed weight seems to know no bounds. As Davina McCall (apparently, though I wouldn't have recognised her - what does she think she's doing scraping her hair back like that?) announced at the start, this year's Celebrity Big Brother is the longest yet: 25 days of television without substance or purpose.
Last year - Chinese Year of the Cat - saw Chantelle Houghton, a fake celebrity, emerge triumphant from the Big Brother house, a fully-fledged star. This year a rumour ran round that, in a spasm of post-post-modern irony, Jade Goody, made famous by reality television, was to enter the Big Brother house. This turned out to be untrue; but the casting of this year's series still inspires some thoughts on the nature of modern celebrity. Does Jermaine Jackson, the only male Jackson apart from Michael to have enjoyed solo success, count as a star in his own right, even though few of the other inmates had any idea who he was? Is his celebrity just a facet of his brother's notoriety? (In answer to a question from Davina, Jermaine said that Michael would probably be watching: "He has a way of seeing everything." Suspicions of divinity confirmed, then.)
Given the warmth of the crowd's reception for Jo O'Meara - the one in S Club with the big chin who could actually sing - why did her solo career crash, while her prettier, less talented colleague Rachel Stevens had a string of hits? Clearly, popularity and commercial success are only tangentially related. And why did H from Steps feel the need to "come out" in The Sun prior to the programme, when those of us who have followed his career thought he had come out some years ago?
The biggest star in the house is probably Shilpa Shetty, an ex-Bollywood megastar who, as she confessed in her pre-admission interview, expects to find life hard without an entourage; but her celebrity has no purchase in Britain; none of the other celebrities had the faintest idea who she was. Almost everybody, on the other hand, knew who Leo Sayer was.
Otherwise, we have Ken Russell, optimistically self-described as "the most famous English film-maker", and at 79 having trouble with the stairs; Danielle Lloyd, disgraced former Miss Great Britain and girlfriend of Teddy Sheringham, who is reported to believe that Winston Churchill was America's first black leader; Donny Tourette, lead singer of the band Towers of London, who listed among his pastimes spitting and "never lifting the seat", and whose leering, two-fingering procession into the house lifted him from near-anonymity to panto-villain status; Cleo Rocos, former sidekick to Kenny Everett; and Dirk Benedict, Face from The A-Team.
Finally, and most oddly, we have Carole Malone, a Sunday Mirror columnist, who has disapproved publicly and virulently of Big Brother. She said she could not resist being at the centre of a story "every journalist in the country" wants to write about. Every journalist? Some journalists were looking forward to spending an evening finishing a Joseph Conrad; instead, we get dispatched to the Heart of Darkness. The horror! The horror!

How many have you heard of ?

Leo Sayer, 58, Singer from the late 70s who recently reappeared at number one Odds: 4-1
Dirk Benedict, 61, Starred as Templeton 'The Face' Peck in 'The A Team' two decades ago. Odds: 5-1
Ian 'H' Watkins, 30, Believes people see him as 'the blond knob from Steps'. No longer blond. Odds: 5-1
Jo O'Meara, 27, Former member of S Club 7, now turned to dog-breeding. Odds: 6-1
Shilpa Shetty, 31, Bollywood star who hopes every Indian will be proud to see her on 'Big Brother' Odds: 8-1
Donny Tourette, 25, Singer from punk band Towers of London entered the house to chants of 'Who are you?' Odds: 8-1
Danielle Lloyd, 23, Stripped of Miss England title because she dated competition judge Teddy Sheringham. Odds: 10-1
Ken Russell, 79, Film director entered house unsteadily, telling Davina McCall 'I don't want to go.' Odds: 10-1
Carole Malone, 47, 'Sunday Mirror' journalist who wrote that Big Brother contestants are 'a bunch of morons'. Odds 12-1
Cleo Rocos, 44, Writer and actress who played Miss Whiplash in 'The Kenny Everett Show' in the 1980s. Odds: 12-1
Jermaine Jackson, 52, Former member of Jackson 5 and staunch supporter of his brother. Odds: 14-1

[penfold]

I expect the cash will come in handy for ken, too...filmmakers aren't renowned for having their pension plans in order. Most famous English filmmaker? Living, yes, I would say so. He writes a good book too...his 'Fire Over England' and The Lion Roars' are very readable, and recommended.

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by penfold I expect the cash will come in handy for ken, too...filmmakers aren't renowned for having their pension plans in order. Most famous English filmmaker? Living, yes, I would say so. He writes a good book too...his 'Fire Over England' and The Lion Roars' are very readable, and recommended.

Well his house burned down last year so he'll need the money alright, and he will do anything to get his face on regional programmes down this neck of the woods as he is "the only film director in the village"!

[Jim]

Originally Posted by Carmel And a bunch of nobodies followed

Correct!

[Wolfgang]

I would hardly describe Dirk Benedict as 'nobody' - he is huge star in 1980s having starred in two iconic television programmes: The A-Team and Battlestar Gallactica. He is easily biggest star ever to go on Big Brother.

[thirdlady]

Originally Posted by Carmel And a bunch of nobodies followed

I agree with you there!

[Wolfgang]

Ken Russell flashes Miss England


Danielle Lloyd told her other housemates in disgust of how Ken Russell pulled down his underpants in front of her while getting ready for bed: "I could see his meat and two veg...it was just hanging there between his legs. I am scarred for life". After thinking about it she came to conclusion that "maybe he wanted me to see it".

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang Ken Russell flashes Miss England Danielle Lloyd told her other housemates in disgust of how Ken Russell pulled down his underpants in front of her while getting ready for bed: "I could see his meat and two veg...it was just hanging there between his legs. I am scarred for life". After thinking about it she came to conclusion that "maybe he wanted me to see it".

Just like his films, controversial for the sake of it and totally out of context!

[Jim]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang Ken Russell flashes Miss England Danielle Lloyd told her other housemates in disgust of how Ken Russell pulled down his underpants in front of her while getting ready for bed: "I could see his meat and two veg...it was just hanging there between his legs. I am scarred for life". After thinking about it she came to conclusion that "maybe he wanted me to see it".

What a sad jerk!

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang After thinking about it she came to conclusion that "maybe he wanted me to see it".

And her problem is what exactly?