Sipe faces her final hour

Big Brother Hotshots comes to an end on Sunday with eight contestants all vying for the ultimate $300 000 (about K156 million) prize. For the fifth time in the nine seasons of creating instant millionaires, Malawi is in the finals of the reality series through Sipherile Chitambo.

She or one of JJ, Butterphly, Tayo, Idris, Macky2, Nhlanhla and M’am Bea will be crowned as Big Brother Hotshot in a finale that promises explosives.

Africa is voting for who they think should win, not who they want to leave the house. The housemate with the most votes at the end of this week will be the winner.

Zambian hip hop star Macky2 has been the most chilled of the housemates. His quietness has, at times, been interpreted by fellow housemates as manipulative. Africa, on the other hand, believes he is sneaky; hence, awarded him two gifts courtesy of Biggie’s weekly poll questions.

Loverboy Idris has worked the hardest in the house to get every woman on his side. From Botswana’s Goitse to South Africa’s Samantha and, more recently, Uganda’s Ellah, he has tried his luck on them.

His strong personality has delighted Africa as they have watched him grow week after week.

South African model and actor, Nhlanhla, has played a subtle, but highly manipulative game. His scheming has been a constant highlight throughout the nine weeks.

Zimbabwe is still represented by two housemates; Butterphly has over the weeks grown so much confidence. She has even emerged from her cocoon to being vocal than the first weeks when she was a sleepy head.

JJ is a multi-talented Zimbabwean who has been a strong competitor for the entire season. He is a natural leader although some housemates find his authoritative demeanour overbearing.

Ever highly emotional, Nigeria’s Tayo remains the focal point of the many disagreements that happened in the house. He messes up and the next moment he is apologising to fellow housemates or Africa in a river of tears.

The fashion designer from Ghana, M’am Bea, has had a strategy of not directly getting involved in anybody’s business, playing the resident shoulder-to-cry-on pitch perfectly. Hers has been a classic strategy of surviving in the big brother house. She has kept a clean record of only being up for possible eviction once, a week when 25 housemates were up.

Sipe, on the other hand, has largely flown below the radar as she is mostly in the background. She is also in a fix as Zimbabwe and Zambia, the only countries with a clear alliance with Malawi, are still in contention.

Ever conscious of how she looks, Sipe always makes sure that she looks beautiful for the cameras—ever the glamour queen. Her lips have almost taken on a life of their own; they are a Hotshot. She is fashionable, enjoys partying and is a fun person, never afraid to speak her mind.

Having won the Star Meter twice, the Malawian diva has a following and can consider her prospects of winning as being in her favour.

Ironically, during the last eviction, which saw Sipe baking the star gift, the hairdresser got two country votes from Malawi and Zambia; Idris got Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania votes while Tayo earned four from Ghana, Nigeria, Rest of Africa and Rwanda.

With all this, what are the chances of Sipe winning?

“That question was already answered by Big Brother himself last week when he announced to Africa that Sipe had won the star meter to have what it takes to win,” Sipe’s mother, Ellen Kanjanga, tells The Nation.

Asked as to who, among the seven other housemates, poses a big challenge to her last born daughter, Kanjanga said: “I think the girls are doing well, there is Idris who is just lucky to be regionally positioned where everyone in East Africa is out, and Tayo who, as you know, has got people from Nigeria almost everywhere in Africa. Sipe can still win, but l’d say Bea and Butterfly are the challenges”.

MBC journalist and staunch Big Brother Africa follower Frank Kandu believes Malawi is in a tight spot with all its supporting countries in the finals as well.

“It is going to be tough for Sipe because of the presence of Zimbabwe and Zambia in the final. These countries could have supported Malawi, but they now have to support their housemates. South Africa, with the absence of Namibia and Botswana in the final, has an advantage. West and East Africa too have high chances as people are voting along regional lines,” he explained.

Former Big Brother Malawi representative Fatima Nkata believes regionalism will decide the outcome of the winner.

The unfortunate trend when it comes to voting at this stage in the game is that regionalism plays a huge role with East Africa, West Africa and the Sadc region rallying behind contestants from their respective regions. As it stands we have M’am Be and Tayo vying for the West African vote; JJ, Macky2, Nhlanhla, Butterphly and Sipe are vying for the Sadc region votes and Idris has the East African vote all to himself which leaves the ROA vote up for grabs.

“In my opinion, the biggest competition at this moment would be Idris, Tayo and Macky2 and with the splitting of the Sadc regional vote between five contestants the odds are against our Sipe, but then again, voters are unpredictable at times. This could turn out to be a David versus Goliath scenario and Sipe the weakling could walk away with the money. When it comes down to this, every vote counts. We must not be discouraged by how the odds are stacked. Lets challenge perception and continue voting for Sipe,” said Sipe’s mother.

With the finale almost upon us, which of these fascinating hotshots will be the final Hotshot? Are we in for a shocking decision, will one of the quieter, less obvious housemates steal the show? Will it be one of the more obvious and vocal hotshots who garners enough votes to be made $300 000 (about K156milliion) richer?

Sunday’s show starts an hour earlier, as it is a two hour special, from 7pm until 9pm.