David, 21, is a “former army ranger” from Deerfield, Florida. Translation: he’s unemployed. Have you noticed that every season on one of these shows there’s the guy who gives quick, flip, smartass answers to every question in his Q&A that are generally funnier in his own mind than on the page? That would be David. The three adjectives that best describe him are “who,” “really,” and “cares,” not one of which qualify as an adjective (again, the section on grammar in the screening questionnaires must have been awfully skimpy - and yes, I get that he wasn’t being serious about it. Neither am I.), his personal hero is Fred Flintstone, his biggest fear upon entering the house is wrestling a sumo midget, and his favorite board game is Hit Yourself In The Face With A Board. He doesn’t list a favorite sport because he hates referees, so you can add in a dislike of authority figures as well. His wondering if his brother’s still in Iraq as far as news he’ll miss could be serious, but given his other answers, it’s hard to tell. Generally, past contestants who have answered questionnaires in this manner have tended to be obnoxious, cocky, and have gone quickly, although once in awhile they’re genuinely funny and stick around. That’s my prediction for David: he’s either going to be incredibly funny or incredibly obnoxious with no in between. I will give him a point for his motto, though: “Life’s a bitch and she’s back in heat!”
Erika, 33, is a Pilates instructor from Los Angeles, although it would seem she has some Chicago in her background somewhere as her favorite teams are the Bulls, Bears, and Cubs [Editor’s Note: OK, she has my vote to win!]. She also gave an answer I loved: she won’t miss any news from the outside world because it’s mostly all bad. Honestly, that’s why I tend to avoid the news too: I get depressed very easily by it. I figure if there’s anything truly earthshattering it’ll show up in Yahoo! Headlines. Anyway, Erika is the most likely to be considered a threat, and indeed, her greatest fear is being voted out first. Everything about her suggests determination and focus. As a Pilates instructor, obviously she’s in great shape physically. In her Q&A answers, she describes herself as strong and competitive, lists her weaknesses as “Never heard of them!”, and plans to win by having a strong working alliance with each HouseGuest and making secret alliances, which is certainly a coherent game plan. Yet she also describes herself as “compassionate” and says that her biggest strength is her “ability to relate with anyone,” so she would seem to have good people skills as well. Her personal hero is “any person that dedicates his or life to helping others,” which is certainly admirable even if it does sound somewhat like a pat beauty pageant contestant answer. Really, the only quibble I have with Erika is her choice of nonalcoholic beverage: Diet Sierra Mist?!? That’s something that’s given away in product placements, not a voluntary choice!
Jack, 58, is a retired FBI agent from Birmingham, Alabama, who frets that he’ll be voted out first if his job background comes to light. Really, the most notable thing about Jack’s Q&A and favorites is just how utterly impossible it is to pick up on anything about him beyond him seeming like an affable middle-of-the-road family man. His personal hero is John F. Kennedy and his favorite musical artist is Bruce Springsteen, so in that respect he kind of seems like a typical boomer as well. (It just hit me that there are probably some potential American Idol contestants out there who might not have a clue who either of them are. Hold on - “Gramps” here needs to catch his breath before continuing.) The news he’ll miss the most is “terrorism,” and I’m certainly hoping he meant to put “updates on” in front of that or it would seem rather ghoulish. Overall, though, I’m not left with much of a strong impression of Jack one way or the other.
Jun is a 27-year-old investment manager from New York City whose responses are refreshingly candid. Witness why she wants to be on Big Brother: “All the attention I want AND a 1 in 13 chance at half a million? C’mon!” As far as favorite sports: “Um, go U.S. Olympics team? Sorry, I’m not even going to pretend.” (She also admits that when it comes to challenges, by no means is she an athlete, although she doesn’t mind volleyball.) Her favorite TV show is Sex and the City and she does have that sort of vibe to her: shopping’s a hobby; the type of news she’ll miss the most is fashion, nightlife, and celebrity gossip; her favorite magazine is Cosmopolitan (although she also likes magazines that are more traditionally “men’s” like Playboy and Maxim), and her drink of choice is the high maintenance-sounding Midori sour. Perhaps she thinks she’s going to be spending the summer locked in a sensory deprivation tank, because what she’ll miss the most from home is “everything about my bed - my pillows/sheets/dreams.” She plans to win the game by “doing what she does best: charming the men and befriending the ladies,” but her biggest fear is “being portrayed inaccurately or unfairly; I would like to pick up my life post-BB4.” She won’t have much to worry about on this show: the 24/7 live feeds that capture all the action negate any editing slants on the televised shows. My one reservation: people who describe their sense of humor as “wacky” generally should be reaching for the adjective “grating” instead. Overall, Jun has a very strong, distinct, urban personality; I have a feeling I’m going to like her, but she might be a little much for some of the other contestants.
Nathan is a 23-year-old personal trainer from Edmond, Oklahoma, whose biggest fear upon entering the show is “no privacy.” On this show, I would think that’s more of a reality than a fear, myself. He wants to be on Big Brother because “this show is what I’m good at.” Eh? His biggest strength is that he’s “hard to read and understand.” Evidently. Meanwhile, his biggest weakness is that he “gets aggravated very easily.” His personal motto is “Live the dream!”, which sounds frighteningly like a late night infomercial slogan. His favorites for the most part are pretty middle-of-the-road - U2, Friends, Sports Illustrated, and the like - but the news source he’ll miss the most is The O’Reilly Factor, which could indicate rightwing leanings. It’s honestly really hard to get a good read on Nathan; he’s going to be the one I’ll really need to see on the show to form any real opinion. For some reason, though, I see him as either staying in the background or a somewhat bratty younger brother type.
David, 21, is a “former army ranger” from Deerfield, Florida. Translation: he’s unemployed. Have you noticed that every season on one of these shows there’s the guy who gives quick, flip, smartass answers to every question in his Q&A that are generally funnier in his own mind than on the page? That would be David. The three adjectives that best describe him are “who,” “really,” and “cares,” not one of which qualify as an adjective (again, the section on grammar in the screening questionnaires must have been awfully skimpy - and yes, I get that he wasn’t being serious about it. Neither am I.), his personal hero is Fred Flintstone, his biggest fear upon entering the house is wrestling a sumo midget, and his favorite board game is Hit Yourself In The Face With A Board. He doesn’t list a favorite sport because he hates referees, so you can add in a dislike of authority figures as well. His wondering if his brother’s still in Iraq as far as news he’ll miss could be serious, but given his other answers, it’s hard to tell. Generally, past contestants who have answered questionnaires in this manner have tended to be obnoxious, cocky, and have gone quickly, although once in awhile they’re genuinely funny and stick around. That’s my prediction for David: he’s either going to be incredibly funny or incredibly obnoxious with no in between. I will give him a point for his motto, though: “Life’s a bitch and she’s back in heat!”
Erika, 33, is a Pilates instructor from Los Angeles, although it would seem she has some Chicago in her background somewhere as her favorite teams are the Bulls, Bears, and Cubs [Editor’s Note: OK, she has my vote to win!]. She also gave an answer I loved: she won’t miss any news from the outside world because it’s mostly all bad. Honestly, that’s why I tend to avoid the news too: I get depressed very easily by it. I figure if there’s anything truly earthshattering it’ll show up in Yahoo! Headlines. Anyway, Erika is the most likely to be considered a threat, and indeed, her greatest fear is being voted out first. Everything about her suggests determination and focus. As a Pilates instructor, obviously she’s in great shape physically. In her Q&A answers, she describes herself as strong and competitive, lists her weaknesses as “Never heard of them!”, and plans to win by having a strong working alliance with each HouseGuest and making secret alliances, which is certainly a coherent game plan. Yet she also describes herself as “compassionate” and says that her biggest strength is her “ability to relate with anyone,” so she would seem to have good people skills as well. Her personal hero is “any person that dedicates his or life to helping others,” which is certainly admirable even if it does sound somewhat like a pat beauty pageant contestant answer. Really, the only quibble I have with Erika is her choice of nonalcoholic beverage: Diet Sierra Mist?!? That’s something that’s given away in product placements, not a voluntary choice!
Jack, 58, is a retired FBI agent from Birmingham, Alabama, who frets that he’ll be voted out first if his job background comes to light. Really, the most notable thing about Jack’s Q&A and favorites is just how utterly impossible it is to pick up on anything about him beyond him seeming like an affable middle-of-the-road family man. His personal hero is John F. Kennedy and his favorite musical artist is Bruce Springsteen, so in that respect he kind of seems like a typical boomer as well. (It just hit me that there are probably some potential American Idol contestants out there who might not have a clue who either of them are. Hold on - “Gramps” here needs to catch his breath before continuing.) The news he’ll miss the most is “terrorism,” and I’m certainly hoping he meant to put “updates on” in front of that or it would seem rather ghoulish. Overall, though, I’m not left with much of a strong impression of Jack one way or the other.
Jun is a 27-year-old investment manager from New York City whose responses are refreshingly candid. Witness why she wants to be on Big Brother: “All the attention I want AND a 1 in 13 chance at half a million? C’mon!” As far as favorite sports: “Um, go U.S. Olympics team? Sorry, I’m not even going to pretend.” (She also admits that when it comes to challenges, by no means is she an athlete, although she doesn’t mind volleyball.) Her favorite TV show is Sex and the City and she does have that sort of vibe to her: shopping’s a hobby; the type of news she’ll miss the most is fashion, nightlife, and celebrity gossip; her favorite magazine is Cosmopolitan (although she also likes magazines that are more traditionally “men’s” like Playboy and Maxim), and her drink of choice is the high maintenance-sounding Midori sour. Perhaps she thinks she’s going to be spending the summer locked in a sensory deprivation tank, because what she’ll miss the most from home is “everything about my bed - my pillows/sheets/dreams.” She plans to win the game by “doing what she does best: charming the men and befriending the ladies,” but her biggest fear is “being portrayed inaccurately or unfairly; I would like to pick up my life post-BB4.” She won’t have much to worry about on this show: the 24/7 live feeds that capture all the action negate any editing slants on the televised shows. My one reservation: people who describe their sense of humor as “wacky” generally should be reaching for the adjective “grating” instead. Overall, Jun has a very strong, distinct, urban personality; I have a feeling I’m going to like her, but she might be a little much for some of the other contestants.
Nathan is a 23-year-old personal trainer from Edmond, Oklahoma, whose biggest fear upon entering the show is “no privacy.” On this show, I would think that’s more of a reality than a fear, myself. He wants to be on Big Brother because “this show is what I’m good at.” Eh? His biggest strength is that he’s “hard to read and understand.” Evidently. Meanwhile, his biggest weakness is that he “gets aggravated very easily.” His personal motto is “Live the dream!”, which sounds frighteningly like a late night infomercial slogan. His favorites for the most part are pretty middle-of-the-road - U2, Friends, Sports Illustrated, and the like - but the news source he’ll miss the most is The O’Reilly Factor, which could indicate rightwing leanings. It’s honestly really hard to get a good read on Nathan; he’s going to be the one I’ll really need to see on the show to form any real opinion. For some reason, though, I see him as either staying in the background or a somewhat bratty younger brother type.
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