[BrutalGentleman]

Big Brother Finland returns and will run 10 weeks starting from September 1, 2019.

This is the 11th season altogether if counting the 2013 celeb version. The show celebrated its 10th anniversary in Finland in 2014 but was then put on a hiatus. During that time, the rights to the format were sold to Nelonen Media, a competitor of the Bonnier-owned "Sub" TV channel, which used to produce the show in all of its previous seasons. The old BB house in Kilo, Espoo — the second BB house in Finland — was dismantled. But now BB is back!

The exact location of the new Big Brother house (building and floor) is still not known but according to the information released so far, it will be in the Kalasatama ("Fish Harbor") district of Helsinki, very near the new mall:

Youtube video

Some focal points of the area are the Kalasatama metro station, which is connected to the recently-finished REDI shopping mall, and eight (planned) high-rise buildings, one of which (Majakka, which means "Lighthouse" in English) is now nearing its completion and will be the tallest residential building in Finland (at 35 floors and 134m).

Seven other tall buildings – all part of the same plan as Majakka – will also rise around REDI the mall:

Youtube video

The local media reports the BB house will be built "in the base of a high-rise building under construction", which narrows it down quite a lot. I'm not sure if this means Majakka, which is nearly complete, or a neighboring building, Loisto ("Shine", 32 floors), which is currently under construction, but it will be one or the other.

See these links for more information about the buildings:

https://www.srv.fi/en/loisto-eng/

https://old.srv.fi/sites/default/fil...22017_digi.pdf

https://files.srv.fi/uploads/2019/04...i_aukeamat.pdf

In addition to the house itself, the housemates will get access to "a cozy roof garden and a task area".

It has been hinted that REDI the mall will also play a part in this season as a commercial partner, and host the eviction studio in its premises. Endemol Shine Finland's Unne Sormunen has commented this could also mean letting the housemates visit some grocery stores or other functions within the mall, outside the official opening hours. They might also get food delivered to the house from some of the restaurants located in REDI. But this is partially still speculation at this point.

Sanoma Corporation, the owner of Nelonen Media, advertises the possibility of sponsoring the show and sells product placement deals to interested commercial partners.

Many sources now confirm Ruutu.fi, Nelonen Media’s streaming video platform, will host a 24/7 service for this season. No further details have been given on the breadth of this service (how many DC or camera feeds, pricing and availability etc.) or its international availability without a proxy or a VPN. If you're interested, bombard Ruutu.fi with questions using this question/feedback form: https://kauppa.ruutu.fi/node/163260

In addition to 24/7, 90-minute (!) dailies will be broadcast on the JIM TV channel (available locally as an FTA channel via terrestrial broadcasts, and on basic cable, and also via the Ruutu+ service) Mon–Sat, and eviction shows on Sundays. Half of the dailies will be hosted by Kimmo Vehviläinen, the other half by Alma Hätönen. Eviction shows are hosted by Elina Kottonen (who used to be known as Elina Viitanen in the previous seasons but got married and took her husband's name.)

If you click on the Ruutu.fi link above, you will currently get to see two video clips related to this season. One of them is an ad for applying to become a housemate, with a BB-controlled drone flying about and choosing fictitious "housemates" with diverse backgrounds. Another one introduces the hosts.

[BrutalGentleman]

A bit more information is available here:

https://www.nelonen.fi/ohjelmat/big-brother-suomi/

This seems to be a place where Nelonen Media collects pre-season press releases published by themselves. The articles are in Finnish but Google Translate can get something out of them:

https://translate.google.com/transla...-brother-suomi

They have also taken the ownership of the domain http://bigbrother.fi/ (previously managed by SubTV) but it currently only redirects to the original press release (from last January) about reviving the show in Finland; the official site for the 2019 season isn’t up yet.

[BrutalGentleman]

A brief update:

The domain http://bigbrother.fi/ now redirects to https://www.nelonen.fi/ohjelmat/big-brother-suomi/ (currently apparently serving as the official homepage for the show), instead of the original January press release about BBF revival.

They have added a schedule of upcoming broadcasts. The season starts on September 1 at 21:00 EEST (Helsinki time).

*****

There are also official Big Brother Finland Facebook and Instagram accounts:

https://fi-fi.facebook.com/bigbrothersuomi/

https://www.instagram.com/bigbrothersuomi/

*****

The current information from Nelonen / Jim is there will be two 24/7 live feeds – both of them presumably directed feeds. You get access to these by subscribing to a basic Ruutu+ service (two first weeks are free, thereafter €9.95 per month). There are no additional fees for the BB feeds – BB is part of the basic service, not a separate "premium" service.

It is something of a disappointment if Nelonen/Jim will not continue the SubTV BBF tradition of offering, in addition to the two DC feeds, four "raw" feeds from the house cameras with fixed house mic sound, mostly tied to a particular location (bedroom, living room, kitchen, etc.).

During the previous seasons, the raw feeds were often a very welcome lifeline that enabled following a particular group of housemates who were neglected by the directors of the DC1 and DC2 feeds but still doing or discussing something interesting – maybe even something more interesting than what the directors considered "interesting".

Without these "raw" extra feeds, some of the key discussions between the housemates, offering background to the social tensions in the house or to the events later unfolding in the house, would have remained unknown, and the underlying reasons and motivations for the housemates' behavior a mystery. So I hope the concept of raw camera feeds will be reinstated at some later point, even if it now seems they do not offer it for this initial revival season – assuming there will be more BBF seasons after this one, of course.

There is no information on whether you can watch the Ruutu+ 24/7 feeds from abroad without using a VPN service or if you can register as a Ruutu+ user and pay your subscription without having a Finnish address / phone number / bank account. I can’t confirm any of those things, either, as I live in Finland. But maybe someone will want to try it out, or ask them about it – e.g. in their Facebook space, where they seem to answer questions.

*****

The latest video clip release from production features the three hosts, and was shot in and around the REDI shopping mall, whose immediate vicinity the BBF house is located. The mall hosts the studios for shooting the daily shows (the segments with hosts) and is also the likely location of the actual BB house control room, although this latter detail has not been confirmed yet.

According to the video, the central plaza of REDI the mall will be used for shooting the weekly eviction shows. So there will be no permanent soundstage built for that purpose. Instead, they rig the plaza in a way that allows them to shoot the live shows in that space each Sunday.

The video also shows one of the hosts (Elina) riding the elevator which will "eject" the evicted housemate into the live show.

*****

The new Big Brother Finland house was designed by the architect and environmental artist Marco Casagrande. As the season has not begun, there are no pictures of it available yet, but here’s a gallery of one of his previous works - the "Taitung Ruin Academy":

https://www.designboom.com/architect...an-10-02-2014/

According to the descriptions given so far, the new BBF house might have a similar run-down and "recycled" industrial/hippie vibe to it. (Marco likes it rough!)

[BrutalGentleman]

The BBF 2019 is soon upon us (the season will kick off on Sunday, at 9 p.m. EEST), so it’s time for some updates:

As mentioned, the Big Brother Finland 2019 house is located in the REDI complex in the Kalasatama district of Helsinki. The complex and its surroundings are a largish urban development project which is being built in a former harbor/industrial area. Once finished, the complex will consist of a largish mall, a metro station, a courtyard (park on an elevated platform) and eight high-rise towers, six of which will be residential. The remaining two towers in the development plan will host businesses and a large hotel, respectively.

Here’s as a rotatable 3D model of the area (press down the Ctrl key and rotate the view by dragging from a desired center point using the left mouse button):

https://www.google.fi/maps/place/Red...5!4d24.9794508

Some parts of the REDI complex – the metro station, the mall, the courtyard, and one of the high-rise buildings – have already been completed but the majority of the high-rise towers are still under construction, or erecting them has not actually started yet.

Even the towers which are not yet complete (or which are not actively being worked on right now, or just yet) already have their foundation, basement, ground-level floor and a couple of lowest floors above the ground level finished. These stub “foundation buildings” have been equipped with a temporary roof. At least some parts of them have already been taken into use while waiting for the rest of the tower construction to begin.

The BBF 2019 house has been built inside one of these stub “foundation buildings”.

Here’s a plan of the same area giving the exact locations of the towers-to-be:



The residential tower "T2" (Majakka, "Lighthouse") has already been erected to its full height and is just about finished now.

The residential tower "T3", (Loisto, "Shine"), is currently under construction.

The residential towers "T1" (Kompassi, "Compass"), "T4" (Kapteeni, "Captain"), "T5" (Luotsi, "Pilot"), and "T6" (Kartta, "Map") are all currently just stub “foundation buildings” for the upcoming towers, sharing their current state with the planned office tower "T7" and the hotel tower "T8", neither of which have any fancy names yet.

The BBF 2019 house is located inside the current stub “foundation building” for the tower "T7" — the one which will later become the base of an office tower. It seems the housemates’ yard/patio is enclosed within the area limited by the east-side outer wall of the "T7" building and the "V"-shaped pedestrian path.

Here’s an earlier aerial view of the area (from this summer) roughly in the state of completion as it still is now (a view from the west, or southwest; click to get a larger version):



The task area would appear to be located south of the "V"-shaped pedestrian path where the plan would put a small roof garden. But there’s no garden in there now, just a fenced-off rectangular area seen under construction in the above picture, and also in the picture below (a view from the north):



Finally, here’s how the area should look like when eventually completed (a view from the east):

[BrutalGentleman]

The BBF 2019 24/7 live feeds (all two of them :P) are now viewable and “live” on the Ruutu.fi service...

https://www.ruutu.fi/series/3347614



...but currently only show the Big Brother logo (the season will kick off on Sunday at 9 p.m. EEST):

[parmnion]

I like the house location. ..but is there subtitles?

[BrutalGentleman]

Originally Posted by parmnion

I like the house location. ..but is there subtitles?

The housemates will be local (Finnish-speaking) and the show is being produced for the local (Finnish-speaking) audience, and subtitling 71 days of two 24/7 live feeds might be a non-starter, anyway...

(Exception: If there’s going to be an exchange with some other BB production, the housemates will speak English with the exchange housemate. We’ve had several exchanges in the past seasons... but since the show just returned from a five-year hiatus and is now being produced for a different TV network I have no idea of whether a housemate exchange would be in the cards for this season.)

In addition to the 24/7 live streams, dailies and Sunday eviction shows will be available for viewing through the same website (and also broadcast locally on JIM and Nelonen; two local TV networks owned by Nelonen Media) — but those edited shows are unlikely to have any subtitling, either.

So I’d say no, unfortunately.

Ruutu.fi has a mobile phone app for Android and iOS (Apple devices) (called "Ruutu"). At least the Android version supports streaming to Chromecast and that way to your TV screen – I just tested that this works. They claim the iOS version supports streaming via Apple TV but I have no way of confirming that.

Obviously, in order to view the live feeds, you need to create a user account on the Ruutu.fi website and register as a paying customer using your credit card (€9.95 per month), and log in to the mobile app using the same credentials if you intend to stream to a TV. Living in Finland, I have no idea whether any of this works from abroad without resorting to VPNs and other trickery.

[Denver]

I'm a housemate

[parmnion]

If I watch the live feed are you available for a live running commentary?

[michael21]

I want sexy girl to win

[parmnion]

I'm actually gonna try this out..

[michael21]

Me 2

[BrutalGentleman]

Originally Posted by parmnion

If I watch the live feed are you available for a live running commentary?

You can get daily WHATM threads and other commentary at BBPlaza (a Finnish BB fan forum) — they have already set up a placeholder section for those, just like during every past season (an example). Caveat: you need to learn how to read Finnish. Or use Google Translate to transmogrify it into something that sometimes almost resembles English.

(I might be able to answer random questions and give occasional summaries if you ask nicely. No promises.)

[BrutalGentleman]

Aerial (drone photography) images of the BBF2019 house and its yard:

[BrutalGentleman]

A sneak peek into the BBF2019 house (images gathered from media sources, click on them to get a larger version):


A reddish corner of the living room.


Here’s where the housemates will gather to hear the results of nominations, evictions, and other important things.


Revolution will be televised!


The living room is recycled and retro-themed.


All plates, mugs, utensils, etc. are of second-hand variety.


The “glass igloo” yard sauna.


The “igloo” sauna is made out of hexagonal glass panels.


The yard and the patio. A view from inside the “igloo” sauna.


A little bit of green.


At least this TV actually works.


Big Brother’s eye number 27.

As previously mentioned, the BBF2019 house has a recycling/ecological/urban theme. It was designed by the architect and environmental artist Marco Casagrande. A quote from the promo material:

Originally Posted by BBF

The house is designed by architect Marco Casagrande, who is renowned for his environmental art and intends to draw inspiration from the urban construction site surrounding the house.

"The BB House is located at the site of one of the largest construction projects in Finland to date. The architecture of the premises is woven from the material and energy flows of the city and the building sites — something between a machine, a ruin and a temple — an Orwellian construction site and a psychological compost; a human swamp. The yard is an industrial Zen garden while the ecological architecture invites into post-industrial meditation. The building materials are sanctified by recycling and create their own ecosystem into the BB space which the housemates need to take care of. The inhabitants will grow potatoes, bathe in the sauna, and wait for the butterflies to hatch," says Casagrande.

[BrutalGentleman]

One of the "test subjects" who was invited to spend 24 hours in the new BB house (among some other media representatives and local celebs) was Wilma Ruohisto, a reporter for the local tabloid Ilta-Sanomat:



Here's her account on her experience:

https://www.is.fi/tv-ja-elokuvat/art-2000006221001.html

The article is in Finnish but Google Translate does a pretty good job translating it to English if you copy-paste the text into the left-hand box. (Copying the mere URL and then clicking it on the right-hand side does not work with IS.fi while it works with some other sites.)

[BrutalGentleman]

Eviction show stage in REDI:


The live eviction shows will be televised from the central concourse of REDI, a recently-completed largish new mall and public transport hub located in Kalasatama, Helsinki. The Big Brother house, while not technically part of the mall, is part of the same residential and commercial building complex.

[BrutalGentleman]

IS.fi has published new pictures of the house and a nearly complete house tour video hosted by Wilma Ruohisto:

https://www.is.fi/tv-ja-elokuvat/art-2000006223557.html

The video does not show the diary room or the bedroom but visits their doors. Storage room is also mentioned but not shown.

This is the first season the house has been toured before kick off. The housemates are already in isolation, of course. (I guess – it hasn’t been explicitly stated.)

Here’s a copy of the video just in case:

Video: BBF 2019 - Pre-season house tour hosted by Wilma Ruohisto (IS.fi) (Gofile) (File Dropper)

The new photos:


The living room is quite colorful.


The hallway is shiny and lined with mirrors.


The BBF 2019 house was designed by the architect and environmental artist Marco Casagrande.


This is how the bathroom looks like. Communal showers seen in the back.


The “glass igloo” yard sauna once again.

[BrutalGentleman]

The House Rules have now been published and are available for study here:

https://www.bigbrother.fi/uutiset/ta...illoin-tahansa

Translation by Google Translate, with some light manual fixes here and there:

Originally Posted by Big Brother Finland

These are the rules of BB — Big Brother may change the rules at any time!

Big Brother's rules are very simple. The most important rule is that the rules can change.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE BIG BROTHER HOUSE

1. Obey Big Brother.

2. Stay visible and audible.

3. Do not touch the cameras.

4. Do not cover the microphones.

5. Hiding is prohibited.

6. It is forbidden to communicate with or attempt to communicate with the outside world.

7. Violent behavior or any form of violence against a sex, minority, ethnic group or religion is strictly prohibited.

8. Housemates nominate each other for eviction voting on a weekly basis. Mentioning nominations outside the Diary Room is forbidden and scheming associated with them is forbidden.

9. Deliberate damage to the house or its furnishings is prohibited.

10. Talking about production matters or persons involved with production is forbidden.

Big Brother may change the rules at any time if he so wishes.



FOOD AND ECONOMY

Housemates will receive their basic food supplies in the storage room. The supplies are replenished as needed. Housemates have to make do with what they get.

Big Brother decides what products are offered and the supply can be regulated according to how well the housemates are performing the given tasks.

The housemates have a shared weekly budget (€20 / inhabitant / week) from which purchases are made.

Housemates can increase their weekly budget by betting on the success of their weekly assignment.

The housemates shop according to the instructions given by Big Brother.



DIARY ROOM

You must always go to the Diary Room immediately upon Big Brother’s request.

You can also request access to the Diary Room yourself.

All Diary Room conversations with Big Brother are filmed and recorded and can be shown to viewers.

Unless Big Brother instructs otherwise, it is forbidden to disclose to the other housemates what was said in the Diary Room.



WEEKLY AND DAILY TASKS

Every week, housemates will receive a task that they must perform.

Housemates can increase their budget by betting on the success of the weekly assignment.

Bet is between 25% and 99% of your weekly budget. If the weekly assignment fails, the budget will be reduced by the percentage that was bet. The betting percentage cannot be changed after it has been announced to the Big Brother.

When the assignment is given, the housemates have five minutes to decide on the amount they want to bet on the success of the assignment in the next week's budget.

Housemates receive written material through the mailbox explaining the task in more detail.

The weekly assignment is generally mandatory for everyone.

The housemates can also get day tasks. The rules for weekly and daily tasks are not negotiable.

Any housemate who refuses to participate in a weekly or daily assignment may be penalized.

Big Brother will decide if the completion of the task was successful or not.



NOMINATIONS

One of the housemates' most demanding tasks in the Big Brother House is nominations. This procedure will be used to single out the people who will have to leave the Big Brother house at the end of the voting week.

The nominations are given in the Diary Room.

The nominated persons will be up for eviction, and one of them will be removed from the Big Brother House on the basis of the votes of the viewers.

In principle, a housemate will always be asked to nominate two other housemates. The first housemate they name will receive two nomination points, the second one one.

Thus, when housemates are asked to give their nomination points, they should award two points to the person they want to leave the house the most. The remaining point should be awarded to the person that they want to leave the house the second-most.

Everyone must participate in the nomination. Upon each nomination ceremony, the housemate must explain why the person they named should be evicted from the Big Brother house.

It is important that the housemates will carefully consider their arguments for both nominees and will be ready to formulate their opinions clearly in the Diary Room.

The housemates with the highest number of nomination points are nominated for eviction.

The housemate cannot nominate themselves or use any kind of lottery or draw method for determining their persons they’re going to give their points.

A housemate must not scheme with the naming. A housemate is not to imply or refer in any way to the persons whom they have nominated for the purpose of disclosing this information to others.

Housemates will later be told which of them have been nominated for eviction voting.



EVICTION VOTING

Viewers will decide by voting which housemates will have to leave the house.

The result of the vote will be announced simultaneously to the housemates and to the TV viewers on the Sunday Live Show.

The housemates will hear the result of the vote through the house PA system.

Housemates nominated for eviction vote must pack all their belongings so that they are prepared for a possible eviction. Once the name of the evictee is announced, the housemate in question has one minute to leave the house. The evicted housemate will be taken from the house to the studio where the live broadcast is in progress.

[BrutalGentleman]

T-19 min

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/finland/helsinki

[Nerd]

Originally Posted by BrutalGentleman

T-19 min

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/finland/helsinki

Hey, my boyfriend is from Finland but we are in the UK. Do you know how we could watch it?

Thanks,

Nathan

[BrutalGentleman]

Originally Posted by Nerd

Hey, my boyfriend is from Finland but we are in the UK. Do you know how we could watch it?

Everything you need to know about watching online is in this post:

http://www.thisisbigbrother.com/foru...69&postcount=5

However, I have not yet heard any reports on whether you can register your credit card as a non-local or watch from abroad without resorting to a commercial VPN service with a Finnish endpoint (to masquerade your true location.) Maybe, maybe not. I have no way of testing this as I live in Finland myself. For me everything works.

[BrutalGentleman]

BBF 2019 has been live for an hour and 12 minutes now.

WHATM threads, screencaps and more on BBPlaza.

Use Google Translate to your advantage.

[Jake.]

This came 1st in its slot with a 37%(?!) share

[Nerd]

Originally Posted by BrutalGentleman

Everything you need to know about watching online is in this post:

http://www.thisisbigbrother.com/foru...69&postcount=5

However, I have not yet heard any reports on whether you can register your credit card as a non-local or watch from abroad without resorting to a commercial VPN service with a Finnish endpoint (to masquerade your true location.) Maybe, maybe not. I have no way of testing this as I live in Finland myself. For me everything works.

We managed to register to the on demand website but unfortunately it says that they do not have the rights to show it in our country. Tried with a VPN too.