Mutiat Lawore
The Nigerian television entertainment scene kicked off to a roaring start this year with the announcement of the fourth season of Big Brother Naija.
Perhaps what was most exciting about the announcement was that the BBNaija house will be making a return to Nigeria. Organisers of the show, MultiChoice Nigeria, made this announcement back, in January, when they finally cleared all doubts and put anxious minds to rest on the fourth installment of the series.
Following the reveal, social media was awash with a flurry of comments on how different this season would most likely be given the proximity of the fans to the action!
Many joked about how parents would be able to take an okada (motorbike) to the house to get their ward out in the likelihood of them engaging in any act that could “jeopardise their family’s reputation”.
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Others are just plain excited that they would now be able to attend the eviction shows and support their soon to be revealed favourite housemates.
Although MultiChoice have not disclosed the exact location of the house, fans of the famed show are eager to see what the house would look like.
This is because the house is an integral part of the show. Look at it this way: the house is a custom-built habitat where these 10 or so individuals will live in, interact and compete each other in a bid to win the grand prize.
And with the house returning to Nigeria, there are a lot of expectations on how this season will meet and surpass the excitement the last two seasons brought.
So, what do we know about the new BBNaija house? First, we know the house was built from scratch. Chief Customer Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria, Martin Mabutho, disclosed this at the media briefing in January.
According to him, it is the first purpose-built facility in Africa and perhaps in the world housing all the zones in one complex. Previous facilities had the house, studio for the live shows, production and post-production units all in separate buildings and sometimes in different locations.
This new and improved BBNaija house, which we gather measures about 1800sqm with an additional 250sqm for support building services such as the sick bay and artiste lounges, is designed and built to be bigger and better than any of the Big Brother Africa or Mzansi houses.
For example, the studio for the live eviction shows is said to be double the size of what was in the house in South Africa, which means we can expect bigger performances, wider coverage of studio audience reactions and other stage and sound production.
Fans should also expect to have more camera vantage positions in the house to capture even more content.
An insider revealed that the house is designed to take 7x hand held cameras and 32 que ball cameras that will capture every activity in and outside the house.
Speaking of the house’s exterior, we have come to expect a garden area which provides grounds for a jacuzzi and other outdoor recreational activities for the housemates to engage in during the show.
This insider promises that the garden area will be the most beautiful BBNaija garden seen yet with aesthetics that trump others of the previous seasons!
Then there’s the arena where the adrenaline racing Friday night games happen. This area will also be receiving a major upgrade by up to 270sqm, providing more room for pulsating ground and mid-air activities, themed games, puzzles and competitions this season.
From the Friday night games to the Saturday night parties, we have it on good authority that the in-house club would be better equipped to give the housemates this season more room to party with celebrity DJs (and maybe celebrity guests!).
Although the general layout of the BBNaija house is the same every year, the décor varies for each season based on the theme.
With this year’s theme yet to be unveiled (this is usually revealed at the start of the show by the host) we can only imagine what the art direction will be.
Judging from the past two seasons of the show, we can guess that there would be a vibrant display of colour, texture, form and of course, a lot of Naija-ness which will make for a stunning overall look and feel.
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Since its debut in 2006, BBNaija has helped to enhance the quality of TV production in the country.
It has also facilitated technological transfer between Nigerian and South African production firms who managed the inaugural show.
Aside from these technical firms, there are many others whose business survival is tied to the success of the show.
These groups range from the editorial crew who mostly bill at hourly rates to makeup artists and costume designers, amongst others, who all earn middle class livings and are instrumental to the growth of the economy.
With the BBNaija house making its return to Nigeria, MultiChoice is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the best hands are on deck to produce a show of this magnitude and followership.
Insider sources also revealed that there have been multiple teams and vendors working day and night shifts on the project.
“The pace has been fast considering the scale of the development, the complexity and number of overlapping processes”, the source revealed.
