Big Brother 13

Big Brother 13 is the thirteenth season of the American reality television series Big Brother. It will begin on July 7, 2011 and will air on CBS and Showtime 2, concluding in September 2011 when the winner will be determined. The format of the program will remain largely unchanged from previous seasons; a group of contestants, referred to as HouseGuests, are enclosed in the Big Brother House under the surveillance of cameras and microphones. Each week the HouseGuests voted to evict one of their own until two HouseGuests remained on finale night. The winner will be decided by the last seven evicted HouseGuests, collectively known as the Big Brother Jury. Julie Chen will front the season premiere, evictions and the season finale. The program will include a group of participants, while their fate is decided by their peers. The HouseGuests are competing to win a $500,000 prize with a $50,000 prize offered to the runner up. This season is being promoted as "The Summer of Double Trouble"

Production

Big Brother 13 is produced by Endemol USA and Fly on the Wall Entertainment with Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan returning as executive producers. This season of the program was announced on September 15, 2010, before the season finale of Big Brother 12 was transmitted due to significant increases in the ratings over Big Brother 11. Casting for season began in mid-April with applications and video tape submissions that did not have a set deadline. Applicants chosen to be a finalist went to Los Angeles, California, from which applicants were narrowed down to a pool of 40 finalists. Robyn Kass, casting director for Big Brother, revealed on her Twitter account on June 8, 2011 that the semi-finalist were contacted while no final decision on who would be selected for the program. The selected group of HouseGuests were put into sequester on June 25, 2011 and interviewed by the media with their identities revealed on Yahoo TV on the morning of June 30, 2011. The 8 original cast members entered the house on July 2nd, 2011.

Broadcasts and platforms

The main television coverage of Big Brother will be screened in three weekly highlight programs that will transmit on Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), Wednesdays at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), and Thursdays at 9 p.m (live ET/delayed PT) on CBS in the United States and Global Television Network in Canada. The episodes summarize the events of the previous two to three days in the House. Along side these shows is a spin-off show, Big Brother: After Dark, which screens three hours live directly from the House was shown on Showtime 2 and Global Reality Channel in the United States and Canada respectively.

Big Brother will maintain an online platform with live subscription feeds from RealNetworks, a redesigned and relaunched website, online videos, full episodes, a fantasy game, a mobile game based on Big Brother and two Twitter accounts; one featured updates from the production staff and one featured updates from the current Head of Household. The website will contain more videos, photos, content which will include summaries of events in the House, descriptions of weekly challenges and a voting history page. Episodes of Big Brother will continue to be streamed on CBS Mobile Channel on FLOTV. Mobile users were also able to interact and influence the show through SMS text messaging and a simulation game based on Big Brother will also available to mobile customers. New features include a video trivia game and the Big Brother Ultimate Fan contest where the winner will be able to attend the season finale and the chance to meet the HouseGuests.

Format

The format will remain largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests are incarcerated in the Big Brother House with no contact to or from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests take part in several compulsory challenges that determine who will win food, luxuries, and power in the House. The winner of the weekly Head of Household competition is immune from nominations and must nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest becomes Head of Household, he or she is ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. HouseGuests (except for the Head of Household) also take part in Have vs. Have-Not competitions in which they are divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have Nots" depending on their performance in the competitions. HouseGuests that become "Have Nots" for the week must eat only "Big Brother Slop" in addition to another food chosen by the viewing public, take cold showers, and sleep on uncomfortable beds. The winner of the Power of Veto competition wins the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercises the power, the Head of Household must then nominate another HouseGuest for eviction.

On eviction night, all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees vote to evict one of the two nominees. This compulsory vote is conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household must cast the deciding vote, announcing it in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of Big Brother (in which discussion of nominations and voting are almost always verboten), the HouseGuests may (and are encouraged to) discuss the nomination and eviction process open and freely. The nominee with the greater number of votes from the other HouseGuests will be evicted from the House on the live Thursday broadcast and will be interviewed by Julie Chen. HouseGuests may voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who break the rules may be expelled from the house by Big Brother. The last seven evictees of the season, known as the jury members, will vote for the winner on the season finale. The jury members will be sequestered in a separate house and will not be allowed to watch the show except for segments that include all of the HouseGuests (generally competitions and nomination and evicition ceremonies). The jury members will not be shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that include strategy or details regarding nominations.

Several twists however, were added to this season. On opening night, all HouseGuests were partnered up with another player, either by their own choosing, or by knowing them from a prior season. If a HouseGuest wins Head of Household, their partner will enjoy total immunity from nomination and eviction for the week. The Head of Household winner will nominate one pair to face eviction. The member of the nominated pair surviving eviction will be left without a partner, and will receive a "Golden Key". The Golden Key is an exemption from challenges, nominations, and evictions until only ten HouseGuests remain.

^* Contestant's age at the start of the season.

Summary

On the first night eight new HouseGuest entered the House and were informed that they needed partner up with another HouseGuest of their choice. The pairs were Keith & Porsche, Cassi & Shelly, Adam & Dominic and Kalia & Lawon. Shortly after the new HouseGuests were informed there were more HouseGuests that would enter shortly and were already partnered. The other six participants were from past season of the program. The first former pair to enter was Brendon & Rachel from Big Brother 12, Jeff & Jordan from Big Brother 11 and "Evel" Dick and Daniele from Big Brother 8. A second twist revealed when a HouseGuest wins Head of Household their partner would receive immunity from eviction as well. Instead of the Head of Household nominating two individual HouseGuests for eviction the Head of Household would nominate only one of the pairs for eviction with one member of the pair being evicted. The HouseGuests competed in the first Head of Household competition Going Bananas which required the pairs to hold on to giant bananas suspended in mid air while being splattered with chocolate and cream. Rachel won the competition and became the first Head of Household and her partner Brendon gained immunity from eviction. The final twist on Day 1 introduced Big Brother's Golden Key which is given to a HouseGuest once they lose their partner. Big Brother's Golden Key gives the holder immunity from all eviction and exempts the player from all competitions until there are only ten HouseGuests left in the House but they still voted during evictions.

Rachel nominated Keith & Porsche for eviction and "Evel" Dick decided to voluntarily leave the House on Day 6 due to an urgent personal matter. Daniele, his daughter, was his partner inside the House and was told the reason he left did not have anything to do with her immediate family. Big Brother gave her a Golden Key because her partner decided to voluntary exit the House.  During the Captain Veto Holder veto competition (similar to Big Brother 9's "Cupid is as Cupid Does" veto competition) both Keith and Porsche tried to throw the competition (each thinking the other didn't know) and were successful with Rachel and Brendon emerging victorious. The pair decided not to use the veto, and on Day 13, Keith was evicted by a vote of 6-4.  

On Day 13, Jordan won the HoH competition "The Big Brother Open". Each houseguest made a single putt trying to land their ball in slots closest to, or in the hole-in-one. The closest shot won the HoH. The order of competition was determined by Rachel as outgoing HoH, allowing her to have the returnees putt last. Jordan won the competition by landing her ball in the third slot. 

On Day 14, Adam, Cassi, Dominic, and Shelly were the Have Nots for the week after losing the March of the Ants competition. Jordan nominated Adam & Dominic for eviction.  Adam & Dominic won the Power of Veto competition and elected to use the veto.  Shelly and Cassi were the replacement nominees.  Cassi was evicted on Day 20 by a 9-0 vote.

On Day 20, Rachel won the Head of Household competition Big Brother Online. The competing HouseGuest answered questions based off of a poll posted on CBS.com, in which the answer was either A or B. If a HouseGuest was incorrect, they were eliminated.  Rachel then nominated Adam and Dominic for eviction.  On Day 22, Brendon won the Power of Veto, by scoring the longest word of the competitors. His winning word "understanding" was the same word he had previously used to win a similar veto challenge in Big Brother 12.  Brendon and Rachel decide not to use the power of veto, keeping the current nominees up for eviction. Brendon and Rachel find out from Shelly that Dominic and Daniele are trying to backdoor them with a new alliance. Dominic was evicted on Day 27 by a vote of 7-1. 

On Day 27, Daniele won the Head of Household competition, Big Brother Slalom. The competing HouseGuests stood against a wall, elevated on a pair of skis while holding on to ski poles. Throughout the competition, the mountain tilted back and forth every so often, the skis moved side to side continuously, and snow was blown onto the HouseGuests for small periods of time. As an added twist, the first 5 HouseGuests to fall off picked one snowball which contained a mystery inside. Lawon, Brendon, and Jordan fell and picked a snowball that contained a Have-Not ticket. Jeff fell and picked a snowball with a $10,000 ticket. Adam fell and picked the snowball containing an elf suit ticket which means he will wear an elf costume for one week.

As Head of Household, Daniele nominated Brendon and Rachel for eviction on Day 28, but on Day 29, Brendon won the Power of Veto for the third time. 

On Day 31 he chose to use the veto on Rachel, leaving himself on the block. Daniele's replacement nominee was Jordan. On Day 34, Brendon was evicted by a vote of 5-2 with Rachel and Porsche voting for him to stay. 

Following Brendon's eviction, Julie informed the HouseGuests that they should adjust their strategies before the Head of Household competition, as there was a chance that the next evicted HouseGuest could be returning to the Big Brother game following their eviction, but failed to tell them the full nature of the twist. Viewers at home were then informed that the first four evicted HouseGuests - Keith, Cassi, Dominic and Brendon, had all been individually sequestered since leaving the game, and would also have a chance to return to the game. Viewers were invited to vote for which of the four they would like to see return to house, and after the votes have been tallied, the HouseGuest with the most votes would go head-to-head in a live competition against the fifth evicted HouseGuest, with the winner regaining their place in the house. Dick, who left the house voluntarily in the first week was not eligible to return, as he had not gone into sequester following his departure.

Later on Day 34, Kalia won the Head of Household competition, Check Mate, becoming the first of the new housemates to win a Head of Household competition. The HouseGuests faced off against each other by answering a series of questions about the first three evicted HouseGuests, Keith, Cassi, and Dominic. Jeff, Jordan, Rachel, and Shelly lost the Have Not competition and America voted for them to have coconuts and catfish in addition to slop. 

On Day 35, Kalia nominated veterans Jeff and Rachel for eviction. Jeff won the Week 5 veto competition "Big Brother Odyssey" and removed himself from the block. The houseguests were to roll a ball back and forth with the first person reaching 300 the winner; it came down to Jeff and Adam. In a pre-planned strategy, Kalia chose Lawon as the replacement nominee: he asked himself to be nominated thinking the upcoming twist would bring him back into the house. On Day 41, Lawon was evicted by a vote of 6-0 and was surprised to hear that he would have to compete in a live battle outside the backyard against a previously evicted HouseGuest. With more than one million votes, America chose Brendon to compete for a second chance spot.

In the live battle competition, That's How We Roll, Lawon and Brendon had to shoot a complete set of fourteen balls (out of 150 balls) entitling the fourteen original HouseGuests of the season in three minutes. The person who shoots the complete set at the fastest locked time would regain HouseGuest status. If neither Lawon or Brendon finish a complete set, the person who shot the first ball would automatically win. Brendon shot a complete set at about 2:40 and regained HouseGuest status on Day 41.

Later that evening Daniele won her second Head of Household competition, Count on America. Shelly and Adam were nominated for eviction the next day by Daniele. Adam won the Power of Veto competition Big Brother Cornhole on Day 43 and saved himself from eviction on Day 46. During the competition, HouseGuests competing won a variety of prizes including, a Caribbean Vacation for Kalia, $5,000 for Jeff, a Veto ticket for Daniele, ensuring her a spot in next week's Veto competition, 24-hour solitary confinement for Shelly, with the privilege of receiving a phone call from home, and a "humilitard" to be worn by Jordan for a week. Daniele then nominated Brendon for eviction along side Shelly. By a vote of 5 to 6 Brendon was Evicted and is the 1st Jury Member

Following Brendon's eviction, the remaining eligible HouseGuests competed in the game, All Washed Up, where HouseGuests had to obtain a ping-pong ball inside a container, by transferring Liquid Detergent in a small cup to fill the container across the yard, while on a slippery surface. Jeff was successfully the first to do so, and became the new Head of Household. Unbeknownst to the HouseGuests, Julie Chen announced to the viewers, that next week (Day 55) will be a double eviction night.  

Jeff nominated Porsche and Kalia for eviction. However, after he also won Power of Veto he removed Porsche from the block and replaced her with Daniele, completing his plan to "backdoor" Daniele. On Day 55, Daniele was evicted on a 3-2 vote, becoming the second Jury member. However, the HouseGuests were informed on eviction night that it was Big Brother Fast Forward, with a Head of Household competition, nomination ceremony, Veto competition and ceremony, and eviction vote all occurring on the same day. Kalia won the Head of Household competition and nominated Rachel and Jeff. Porsche won the Power of Veto, and chose to use it on neither of them. As a result of a tie in the eviction votes, Kalia, as HoH, voted to evict Jeff, making him the seventh evicted housemate of the season, the eighth evictee, and the third member of the Jury.

Porsche won Week 8's HoH competition, Snake-Eyes, and nominated the two remaining veterans, Jordan and Rachel, for eviction. As HoH, Porsche decided to open Pandoras Box (PB), and was awarded $10,000 that she had to split with one other player. She chose to partner up with her ally, Kalia. The other twist unleashed upon the House was the return of the Duo Twist - Porsche & Kalia, Rachel & Jordan, and Adam & Shelly became the new duos, with all of the original duo roles back in play: duos had to be nominated as a whole, and if one member of a duo won the Veto, they could take an entire duo off of the block. Rachel won the PoV competition, and removed Jordan and herself from the block. Thus, Adam & Shelly automatically went up on the nomination block (Kalia was granted immunity because she was partnered with the current HoH). Staying true to their word, Jordan and Rachel voted to evict Shelly while Kalia voted to evict Adam and Shelly was evicted by a 2-1 vote.

Week 9's HoH competition, Rollin' in the Dough, was won by Rachel. The win puts Rachel at five multi-seasonal HoH competition wins, placing her second only to Janelle from Big Brother 6 and Big Brother 7, who has six. A Pandora's Box twist was offered to Rachel which led to Tori Spelling entering the house on Day 64. Kalia and Porsche were nominated for eviction. Adam won Power of Veto and let the nominations stand. Kalia was evicted by 2-1 vote, with HoH Rachel casting the tie-breaking vote after Jordan voted to evict Porsche and Adam voted to evict Kalia. Kalia became the fifth Jury member, and the second newbie on the Jury. The next HOH competition, Big Brother Fortune Teller, was won by Adam on Day 68.  Adam nominated Jordan and Porsche for eviction.  

The houseguests played a veto competition, Big Brother Jukebox, which Porsche won, making this her third win of the season. Prior to the live veto ceremony, Rachel convinced Porsche that keeping her would be beneficial, because so much of the jury is against Rachel. At the live veto ceremony, Porsche removed herself from the block and Rachel replaced her as the only possible alternative nominee. Immediately, Porsche cast the sole vote to evict against Jordan, and she became the sixth member making her the fourth veteran of the jury on day 69. 

Week 10's HoH competition had three parts. The final three HouseGuests began playing Big Brother Mixer to determine the winner of the first part. Adam was eliminated after 29 minutes. Rachel won when Porsche fell after 48 minutes into the competition. Porsche and Adam competed in the second part, an underwater challenge, which Porsche ultimately won. Rachel and Porsche competed in the third part of the HoH competition which Rachel won by providing the only correct answers, and tied Janelle's record of multi-seasonal HoH competition wins, 6. She evicted Adam. By a jury vote of 4-3 Rachel won the $500,000 grand prize. She surprisingly gained Shelly's vote and it was a shock to see Adam vote against her. Porsche placed second and won the $50,000 runner-up prize. Jeff then won $25,000 for being America's favorite player.

Forums

Fan groups on Yahoo for each contestant are available by clicking the links below:

Dominic Briones, Kalia Booker, Keith Henderson, Lawon Exum, Cassi Colvin, Shelly Moore, Porsche Briedfa, Adam Poch, Jordan Lloyd, Daniele Donato, Rachel Reilly, Brendon Villegas, Jeff Schroeder,

Dick Donato