[LEE]

THE SELECTION PROCESS

This year, 12 contestants will be selected to enter the Big Brother house, after an in-depth selection process. In brief:

Ø There were over 100,000 requests for application forms.
Ø Over 10,000 applicants sent in videos and of those, 2,500 were auditioned.
Ø All candidates are over 18 and all short-listed were subjected to a police screening.
Ø All participants will have been through at least four selection filters including multiple interviews with psychotherapists and psychiatrists.
Ø They can leave the project at any time.

Between December 2002 and February 2003, Big Brother received over 100,000 requests for application forms. Just over 10,000 applicants sent in videos and of those, 2,500 were auditioned at various locations around the UK. The Big Brother team then whittled down the applications to 90 candidates, all of whom underwent extensive group sessions and individual interviews with the Big Brother senior editorial team. From this group a short list of 50 have been selected. This year there will be 12 housemates and they will be selected from this group.

A team of mental health professionals is involved throughout the selection process, which includes one-on-one interviews with the show’s producers, group discussions and, importantly, interviews with psychotherapists and psychiatrists. All short-listed candidates were subjected to a police screening. All housemates must be over 18.

All participants will have been through at least four selection filters – they will have read and understood the Big Brother rules and had at least two weeks to consider their participation before committing to the show. They can leave the project at any time.

A subsistence payment is made to all participants as a contribution to help pay for out-of-pocket expenses (such as rent) while they are in the house. This is a flat fee and is not tied to an individual’s loss of earnings, but is based on jury service payments and is around £30 per day.


THE RULES

The new housemates will live in a purpose-built house, cut off from any contact with the outside world. For nine weeks, cameras will watch their every move and microphones record their every word, both day and night, as they experience Big Brother’s extreme conditions.

There are ten basic rules regarding life inside the Big Brother house. They are set out in their simplest terms below:
1. There is no contact with the outside world.

2. You are filmed 24 hours a day and must wear your personal microphones at all times.

3. The Diary Room is the only place in the house where Big Brother will acknowledge you. Visits to the Diary Room are compulsory.

4. Each week you will be required to go to the diary room and nominate two people; you must give frank and honest reasons for your nominations.

5. You are not permitted to discuss your nominations, or try to influence anyone else’s nominations.

6. The public will decide who is evicted.

7. All tasks are compulsory.

8. You may not threaten, intimidate or act violently towards any other housemate.

9. If you break the rules you may be asked to leave the house.

10. Big Brother reserves the right to change the rules at any time.


Personal Belongings
The housemates are restricted as to what personal belongings they can bring in for their experience. Neither musical instruments nor games can be taken into the house.

Participants will be allowed to take one suitcase and one small bag into the house. The suitcases will be the same size for all participants and no additional bags or baggage will be allowed. Big Brother will check the contents of the suitcases before the participants enter the house and inventories will be compiled.

As in past years, participants will be allowed to take up to six bottles or cans of beer, or two bottles of wine into the house. Housemates are allowed to bring in a reasonable quantity of toiletries but they will need to prioritise which items they want to bring in. Any additional items needed during the duration of the stay must be purchased out of the joint weekly food budget, which will be determined by the success of the weekly task.

Items banned from the house include writing materials, mobile phones, radios, walkmans, CDs or CD players, computers, PDAs (Psion, Palm Pilot, etc), calendars, clocks and watches, drugs and narcotics, personal medication (except in consultation with Big Brother), weapons, any electronic equipment or items requiring batteries and clothes with prominent logos.

Other House Rules
Participants must wear their radio-microphones at all times during waking hours. Microphones can only be taken off in bed, in the shower and in the swimming pool. Participants are responsible for changing the batteries in their mics at regular intervals. If participants attempt to communicate without the cameras or microphones recording the communication (e.g. tampering with microphones, writing secret messages, mouthing words off-camera) or if they try to tamper with, or cover recording equipment, the production team reserve the right to expel them from the house.

If a participant behaves inappropriately, they may be required to leave the house immediately.

The participants of the Big Brother project are not allowed to talk to the media prior to entering the house


FOOD, HOUSEKEEPING AND WEEKLY TASKS

The supply of food, alcohol and other luxuries in the house will have to be earned. The supply of luxuries is dependent on the group’s performance in compulsory weekly tasks, which will be set on a Sunday and resolved on a Wednesday.

As soon as the task is announced by Big Brother, the housemates will have to work together as a team to complete it in four days’ time. But this year, the stakes are high and the outcome will determine their weekly food budget. The group will be required to place a minimum 50% bet on the result and success or failure could radically change their levels of comfort in the house.

In addition, Big Brother will be providing the housemates the chance to win individual privileges on a Saturday night to be shown live on Channel 4.

[Kaz]

Neither musical instruments nor games can be taken into the house .........

This is the only thing I don't quite agree with.

Dean and his guitar were involved in some of the best 'bits' of BB2 (including the 'Dinner Date' night sing-song).

And in BB3, the only time Spencer really came to life was when he was briefly given a guitar to play before Tim's arrival.

[WILDCHILD]

I will agree with you - Dean provided some really cool music in the house like the Dinner Dates and all of them singing.
However, sometimes instruments and games and books can make people quite unsociable. I know they need stuff to keep them busy inside the house but some of them sit there for hours amusing themselves but their not really amusing the public.
If you turn over and watch the live feed and watch someone reading a book, its not that exciting.
Although I think instruments should be brought in cos it can get a party started and i think everyone needs a bit of music in their lives!

[Mairi]

As a person who couldn't possibly live without music, I'm SO disappointed that the housemates aren't allowed to bring in musical instruments yet again, this year.

I'm still hoping that perhaps they will be able to win some sort of musical instrument by completing one of the tasks.

[James]

I'd only allow them to take in musical instruments if they could actually play them. Dean was good though.

And are they going to be allowed any books and magazines this year? Last time they had the few they were allowed confiscated.

[Sticks]

One of the possible reasons for the musical instrument ban could be down to the Perfoming Rights Society and various copyright rules.

If someone starts playing a known tune, then royalties and permissions may be required before that can be transmitted. As they only have about 15 - 20 minutes delay loop, getting permission could be tricky.

If they sing as well, then the lyrics could be covered by separate copyright rules. What I heard is that when Dean was playing the guitar, they had to drop the sound, because they did not have the permissions to transmit the songs he played and sung.

Deluxe slipped through because it was Dean's own composition and because he is a professional musician he was also licenced to give a performance of hius own works, being a paid up member of the Musicians Union.

I hope this clears up this matter

Hello ?


Oh thay have all gone away to the Kiss of Death thread again and left me here alone

[rachb]

Dean also played a lot of songs that weren't his aswell though,I seem to remember in bb2 there were sheets with song lyrics on
perhaps they were told what they could and couldn't sing???
I do hope we have music this time

[kaphc]

Originally posted by Mairi

I'm still hoping that perhaps they will be able to win some sort of musical instrument by completing one of the tasks.

I agree, maybe this could be linked to the Saturday night "individual" task where each housemate could compete for the right to bring something extra of their choice into the house.

[Mairi]

I've just seen this on AOL under "Big Brother New Look" and can't remember whether it's been posted on TiBB before. If it has, sorry but I'm SO pleased because it's what we all wanted.

The group weekly task has been reintroduced to give the contestants an opportunity to work as a team.

[susieq]

From the Channel 4 BB website:

BACK TO BASICS

After weeks of rumour and speculation we can finally confirm that the fourth series of Big Brother will start at the end of May. Twelve new contestants will enter the most famous house in Britain, with one triumphant winner emerging £70,000 richer nine weeks later.

This year, Big Brother is going back to its roots. There will be no rich/poor divide, just 12 people living together and getting voted out as the weeks progress. As usual, they will be cut off from the outside world - but with their every move observed by a host of cameras and recording equipment.

The weekly task is also coming back - with a vengeance. The housemates will have to work together as a team on a task that will determine their weekly food budget, and this year there's no playing safe. The stakes - if not the steaks - will be high.

Each week, the housemates will be required to place a minimum 50% bet on the outcome, rather than the 10% of previous years. If they fail, they’ll have to live on an unappetising sounding diet of chickpeas and cauliflowers. Which could have some unwelcome repercussions…

In addition, the housemates will still take part in a live challenge each Saturday night. And, of course, Big Brother will also have plenty of surprises up its sleeve. As the rules state:

"Big Brother reserves the right to change the rules at any time."

There are, however, no changes proposed for the eviction process. Every Monday, each participant will enter the Diary Room and nominate two fellow housemates for eviction. The two or more housemates receiving the most votes are then put up for the public eviction vote.

So forget the frills, forget the gimmicks. This year, it's back to basics. As executive producer Gigi Eligoloff says: "The absolute essence of the show is the people and their existence, cutting individuals off from society and getting them to live together as a community.

"Big Brother is all about character and personality and this year's focus should allow people the scope to reveal who they really are.

"All this and an all-important game to play - just what will people do for £70,000 and what tactics, if any, will they employ to stay?"

But will the tactics - or even the tictacs - work? In the end, as ever, you decide. It's coming soon. Keep an eye out for it...

This is definitely more like it. Back to the 'old' BB. Working as a team towards the tasks etc, no bars, no rich/poor sides -looking good!!

[James]

The minimum bet of 50% of the shopping budget could result in the kind of mutiny and unhappiness that's on I'm a Celeb... at the moment.

Just a bit of pessimism from me there.

[Sticks]

Originally posted by James
Just a bit of pessimism from me there.

Oi!

That's my job

[James]

There's a bit in the Sun about the ban on instruments in the house:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4...10737,,00.html

Nice title to the story again.

[Amy]

Here's the story from Ananova

Nice picture with this article

[kaphc]

Boooo !!!

I suppose the housemates will have to make up their own songs, and sing them.

What a shame!!