Big Brother 8

Big Brother 8 is the eighth season of the US version of the reality TV-show Big Brother on CBS. The season was announced on February 1, 2007.  Julie Chen returned for this season as host. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan are executive producers. Arnold Shapiro stepped down as producer following last season's All-Stars edition, but serves as executive consultant on the show. Casting calls ran until May 5, 2007. A preview was shown on the The Early Show on July 5, 2007, the day of the premiere. The show aired three times a week; Sundays at 8 p.m. (EDT / PDT), Tuesdays at 9 p.m., and Thursdays, which was broadcast live, at 8 p.m.

CBS's cable/satellite premium network Showtime Too carried a spin-off of the series called Big Brother: After Dark, which aired nightly from 12 midnight—3 a.m. (EDT / PDT). The show was live for the viewers on the East coast, however viewers on the West coast viewed it on a broadcast delay. This program featured house activity happening between the local hours of 9 p.m.-12 midnight in the House, and was edited only for slanderous statements and music copyrights.

Big Brother House

House pictures were released on June 27, 2007. The house has an Alice in Wonderland theme and contains an over sized bedroom and a small bedroom. The small bedroom features a very small doorway and five beds which are only five feet long, while the over sized bedroom features shoulder-height beds and enormous drawers which need a ladder to reach. The walkway to the Head of Household room is a modernist inspired enchanted forest.  The backyard contains animal-shaped topiaries, flowers, a swimming pool, and a spinning teacup. The lavish blue bathroom has a shower which features a lion-shaped water spout.

Prizes

The HouseGuests compete for a top prize of $500,000 and a runner-up prize of $50,000. In addition to the Grand Prize and the Runner-Up Prize, various smaller prizes were offered throughout the game. Most of the time the prizes were given out during Veto competitions or Luxury competitions.

In week two, during the second Power of Veto competition, Dick won a plasma TV. On Day 23, during the fourth Power of Veto competition, Dustin won $5,000 and a trip for two to Barbados. On Day 30, during the fifth Power of Veto competition, a prize of $10,000 was offered to anyone who would step down from the competition, but no one did. On Day 44, during the sixth Power of Veto competition, Daniele and Amber won a secret trip outside the House, which was later revealed to them that it was to New York City to compete on the CBS game show Power of Ten; Amber won $1,000, and Daniele did not win any money. On Day 50, during the first Luxury competition, Amber, Daniele, Jameka, and Jessica won a two-minute shopping spree of designer clothes inside the House. In the HoH competition on Day 62, a prize was rewarded to whoever could fill a jar the fastest with tea. The prize was a three-minute phone call home. Eric won this prize, but chose to give it to Jessica.

Interactive options

This season, there were two options for viewers of Big Brother to become more involved with the game. They were CBS' "America's Player" and Canadian broadcaster Global TV's "Big Brother interactive." 

America's Player

At the end of each show (starting July 8), Eric was asked to complete a task that America specified by voting on CBS.com or by text messaging. For every five tasks Eric completed, he was rewarded with $10,000 (USD).[27] Viewers were able to vote on tasks from the end of an episode until midnight Pacific Time. The Thursday task involved pitching nominees to the Head of Household (HoH), the Sunday task was something interesting that might not affect the strategic game play, and the Tuesday task was swaying the opinion of the other HouseGuests on who to evict (unless it is he who is nominated). Once Eric received the task, he had to make a meaningful effort to complete the task. However, he could have decided how to complete the task. In addition, Eric cast his eviction vote for whom America chose to evict.  Eric was a jury member on finale night, and the viewers voted that Dick should receive Eric's vote to win the game.

The title "America's Player" did lead to a bit of confusion, since Canadians were still allowed to vote online. Allison Grodner, the executive producer, chuckled while telling Global TV, "We are certainly not trying to exclude any of our viewers so we will call this...the 'Canadian-American Player'." or as Canadian fans might say, the "Viewer's Player". 

AP Task Overview

Every week Eric was given three tasks he must attempt to complete. He was given the task in the Diary Room shortly after voting ended, which is midnight Pacific Time on nights that CBS airs episodes: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. As of Week 7, all tasks that were given on Thursday night dealt with Friday's nominations, all tasks given on Tuesday night dealt with Thursday's eviction, and Sunday's tasks varied but did not deal with either nominations or evictions. 

Thursday's Task

If Eric had won the HoH competition on Thursday night then he would have automatically completed the Nomination Task. In this case the top vote getting in CBS's AP poll would have been nominated along with a second player of Eric's choosing on Friday night, and Eric's task would have been complete. When Eric did not win the HoH competition, then he had to convince the HoH to nominate the AP poll winner on Friday; however, if the HoH did not put up the player Eric/America was targeting on Friday, then Eric had a second chance to complete this task at the Veto Ceremony. Eric completed all but the last of his nomination tasks. 

Tuesday's Task

When Eric was nominated for Thursday's eviction, his Tuesday night task was to flatter and do whatever it takes to make sure a specific person did not vote to evict him, and he completed this task if that person voted to evict the other nominee. When Eric was not nominated, then his Tuesday night task was to target one of the two nominees for eviction. Eric automatically voted for the winner of the AP poll, and he completed the task if the majority of HouseGuests voted to evict the same player he had been instructed to target. Eric successfully completed five of the eight tasks involving persuading the house to evict a nominee. The one time Eric was on the block and had to flatter Dick to secure their vote, he chose not to. 

Sunday's Task

Sunday's tasks dealt with Eric's relationships in the House, or were attempts to shake things up in the House. They varied greatly in difficulty and consequences for Eric.

Results

Out of 28 tasks Eric completed 21, and failed 7, earning him a total of $40,000.

HouseGuests

One major twist this year was "Biggest Nemesis", as there were three sets of enemies living together, and were revealed as Joe/Dustin (ex-boyfriends), Daniele/Dick (estranged daughter/father), and Carol/Jessica (ex-best friends). The twist quickly fell apart as Carol and Joe were evicted in the first two weeks and Daniele and Dick became close. Another twist was HouseGuest Eric was "America's Player". Major alliances this season included the Mrs. Robinson Alliance (Kail, Nick, Mike, and Zach), a week 3 alliance (Mike, Kail, and Jen), the Late Night Crew (Dick, Daniele, Eric, Dustin, Amber, Jameka, and Jessica), and the Little Julie Chens (Dick, Daniele, Jessica, and Eric).

Amber

Amber M. Siyavus (born March 17, 1980) (formerly Tomcavage before her divorce) is a cocktail waitress at Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a divorced mother (she was married April 11, 2000 and divorced after four years of marriage), and says her ex-husband is one of her best friends. She is also known to be very emotional, most notably crying at situations and in-house events such as after most nomination ceremonies, veto competitions, veto ceremonies, and evictions, sometimes for seemingly no reason at all, even if she did not really like the person. She would cry in nearly every diary room session broadcasted. At one point she referred to herself as "ridiculous" for all the crying she does, and realizes that she needs to be less emotional or it could cost her the game. Amber has admitted to a previous addiction to methamphetamine. She is known for swearing on her daughter's life and often praying to God out loud. Amber garnered national attention after making anti-Semitic statements. Hollywood news conglomeration Defamer criticized Amber's sentiments.  Notably, aggregate TMZ reported about Amber's remarks, especially those about being able to recognize a Jew by the size of their nose or their last name.  After this, Amber yelled at fellow HouseGuest Eric after she claimed that he betrayed her by threatening to use secrets about her past (faked pregnancies, abortions, and a drug addiction) against her while in the House for strategic reasons.  On Day 52, Amber beat Daniele in the opening round on Power of 10 with three questions answered correctly to zero. She went on to play for $100,000 but missed the question and won $1,000. On Day 62, Amber was evicted from the Big Brother house with a vote of 3 to 1. It was also revealed on her eviction night that 78% of America's Player eviction votes were cast against her. 

Carol

Carol M. Journey (born March 3, 1986) is a student from Lawrence, Kansas, born and raised in Haysville, Kansas. Carol attends the University of Kansas and is part of their dance team. She is the daughter of Kansas State Senator Phil Journey.  Jessica and Carol were best friends as young teens, but had a falling out and went their separate ways. They were also cheerleaders together at their high school. She was the first HouseGuest evicted in a 10-1 vote in favor of Amber. 

Daniele

Daniele Donato (born August 20, 1986) is a Hooters waitress from California. Dick is her estranged father, with whom she had not spoken for two years before entering the House. Daniele's budding relationship with HouseGuest Nick was well received by her father Dick. Daniele lied by telling the HouseGuests she was 21-years-old on Day 1, while she did not turn 21 until August 20. The eligibility requirements for Big Brother state that contestants must be 21 years of age at time of application.  She has two nautical star tattoos, one on the front of each hip. Daniele has won two Head of Household competitions (Week 5 and 7) and five Power of Veto competitions (Weeks 1, 2, 7, 9 and 10), tying Janelle's record. In Weeks 2, 6, and 10, she was nominated against her father, however both survived to make it to the next week. In Week 10 however, Daniele was nominated for eviction and won the final veto of the season, and used it to save her father from eviction. She was ensured a place in the final 3 when Dick, (the only HouseGuest able to vote) voted to evict Jameka. She later made it into the final 2 when Dick won Head of Household and evicted Zach. In a 5-2 vote, Daniele became the Big Brother 8 runner-up and won $50,000, receiving the votes of Jen and Jameka.

Daniele has co-hosted Housecalls on Mondays with Gretchen Massey the last two(2) years consecutively. She picked the winner of Season 9 & 10 her first week of each season on Housecalls. She was scheduled to do Housecalls for Season 11, but due to no sponsorship, Housecalls was cancelled.

Daniele is currently attending college to acquire her Bachelors Degree.

Dick

Richard Louis "Evel Dick" Donato (born June 24, 1963) is from Los Angeles, California. Daniele is his estranged daughter. Dick is an acquaintance with numerous celebrities, one in particular being Cher, with whom he claims to have once had dinner. He is also friends with Dilana from the reality show Rock Star: Supernova. He also claimed that he had dated Jerri Manthey of Survivor fame, even though they eventually broke up, he says they remain friends. Grodner reports that Dick was a stand-in for Keith Richards during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.  He is an atheist although his mother is an ordained minister

Dick was quite abusive to the other HouseGuests, ridiculing their sexualities, their religious beliefs, and their ethnicities. Although Dick has been admonished as crass, he was nonetheless relatively popular with the public.

Dick was a finalist in the selection process for Seasons 5 and 6.  Dick and Daniele have started to mend their relationship, and Daniele had told Dick she loved him while he was participating in last HoH competition. Dick has said he will do anything for Daniele. An example of this when they were both nominated on Day 42. After Dick won the Power of Veto, he used it to save Daniele rather than himself.

In Week 2, Dick said that he was playing to keep himself and his daughter as the final two, so that no matter how jury members felt about them, and their potential betrayals of allies, the jury must vote the half-million prize to either Dick or Daniele. In week 2, 6, and 10, Dick was nominated for eviction. In week 10 he was spared when his daughter saved him with the Power of Veto, ensuring him a place in the final 3. As the only HouseGuest able to vote, he then voted to evict Jameka. On Day 76 Dick won the final HoH and evicted Zach taking his daughter to the final 2.

On Day 81, the jury cast a 5-2 vote that crowned Dick the winner of Big Brother 8 and the recipient of $500,000. Dick received votes from Eric, Dustin, Amber, Zach, and Jessica.

Dustin

Dustin Simon Erikstrup (born January 21, 1985) is a shoe salesman from Chicago, Illinois, and is of Danish descent. Dustin and Joe used to be a couple, and had a bitter breakup. On Big Brother, Dustin was the fourth Head of Household of the season. His actions during that week's Power of Veto competition drew criticism from other HouseGuests who called his acceptance of $5,000 and a vacation to Barbados selfish.  After Dustin asked to be put on the block against Dick (a move intended to rub in Dick's seemingly imminent eviction), America's Player (Eric) was instructed to vote against Dustin, causing Eric to begin talking in favor of voting out Dustin. Eric flipped their vote against Dustin, and Dustin was evicted by a 4-2 vote on Day 48, thus becoming the first member of the Jury. Ironically, Eric said privately he was glad to eliminate Dustin, whose vote had saved Eric from eviction the prior week. Even Dick was stunned at the twist of events, since he had purposely, viciously insulted the others to draw certain eviction, when he and his daughter were both in danger as nominees.  

Eric

Eric Scott Stein (born January 25, 1980) is a talent management assistant from New York, New York. He grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York and attended Boston University. He has a 31-year-old brother named Josh and a 23-year-old brother named Alex. He is "America's Player". In weeks 3 and 4, Eric's orders from the viewers to vote for Kail's eviction caused the HouseGuests to wonder who the extra votes were from. He has also stated he is of the Jewish faith (though he is not very religious, he does observe the major Jewish holidays). Eric and fellow HouseGuest Jessica shared their first kiss on Day 58. Eric runs a small theater company called "Off Center Productions" in which he acts as owner, director and co-choreographer. The company has been on hiatus while he pursues other interests, but past productions have included Godspell and Grease. After failing to be chosen to compete in a Power of Veto competition for the first eight weeks of the show, Eric was finally chosen for, and won, the Power of Veto competition in Week 8. Eric was evicted by a 2-0 vote in week 9 in a special Double Eviction. By completing 21 out of 28 tasks as "America's Player" Eric earned $40,000. He recently guest starred on an episode of Big Brother 9, with current girlfriend, and former houseguest Jessica. He once stated that he "loved Katie Holmes so much I could cry." 

Jameka

Jameka Linette Cameron (born July 20, 1978) is a school counselor from Waldorf, Maryland and attended Elizabeth City State University. Fellow HouseGuest, Dick, wrote in his Head of Household blog that he felt Jameka was smart and trusting. Jameka has consistently been seen as deeply religious, believing that God wanted her to play for the person who drew her name for the Veto competition, regardless of who it was. During the Power of Veto competition on Day 36, Jameka chose to forfeit five HoH competitions and rejected a $10,000 personal offer when seeking the Veto for Eric in her alliance;

Jameka had previously rejected a $5,000 offer when supporting her alliance, despite strong fears she will not win the show's prize money. She was evicted in week 10 by a 1-0 vote. 

Jen

Jennifer "Jen" Marie Johnson (born April 25, 1984) is a nanny, estate manager, and bikini model. Jen is from Beverly Hills, California. On July 29 during the live feeds, she admitted to Kail that she worked for Vanna White. Mike "Boogie" from Chilltown has reported that he helped train her. Her previous television appearances include playing for the NY Euphoria in the 2006 Lingerie Bowl, and has said she appeared on an episode of Wheel of Fortune before being employed by Vanna White. Jen was also an extra on the show Las Vegas. She was a girl sitting poolside in a red bikini in the episode, "Wagers of Sin". Jen became the second Head of Household of the season. Jen's family and friends have told producers and the public that Jen was "playing dumb" in the House and Jen has claimed that it takes time to get to know her real personality.

On Day 36, during the veto competition, "Numbers Don't Lie" (which Jen has claimed to Gretchen Massey is her favorite competition), Jen agreed to wear a bunny suit for five days, eat slop for 30 days (which she had started to ignore on Day 52, and was penalized with a vote for eviction from Big Brother), have funk dumped on her, and give up half of her prize money should she make it to the end of the game. This meant that Jen was only eligible to win $250,000 if she won Big Brother. Jen had always said she was there for the Big Brother experience and not for the money, and she was not sure if the money would make her life better or worse. As she was already satisfied with her life, she was willing to give up some of the prize money had she won the game. This had no effect on her game as Jen was evicted 6-0 by a unanimous vote (with her penalty vote taken into account) on Day 55, August 23, 2007. Although Jen had earlier stated in the show that she might not participate in the jury house, on the September 11 episode she was shown entering sequester following her eviction.

Jen briefly returned to the Big Brother house in 2008, where she participated in a food competition with the Big Brother 10 houseguests. The competition was designed to celebrate 10 seasons of Big Brother, with one representative from each season. 

Jessica

Jessica Lynn Hughbanks (born December 22, 1985) is a Wichita State University student, Wichita Wild Indoor Football and Wichita Thunder dance team member from Haysville, Kansas. Jessica is also a Maxim Hometown Hottie and appeared on Maxim's website. Jessica and Carol were best friends as young teens, but had a falling out and went their separate ways. Jessica won the Head of Household competition on Day 41, beating Jen in the final round of the "Let's Make a Duel" HoH competition. Jessica won her second Head of Household on Day 55, beating Dick in the "Tanks for the Memories" HoH competition. Jessica and fellow HouseGuest Eric shared their first kiss on Day 58. Jessica had considered nominating either Dick and/or Daniele for eviction (fearing their combined votes later in the game), and her end-game ally Eric had the Power of Veto to allow naming Dick/Daniele; however, Eric, as America's Player, was not able to use the power of veto on the nominations, and Eric insisted for Jessica to "trust" that Dick/Daniele would honor their alliance to become the final four. However, Jessica's suspicion was confirmed, and in the next round, Zach immediately nominated her for eviction, in secret alliance with the Donatos. Jessica was evicted in a 2-1 vote (by Dick and Daniele) on Day 69, becoming the fourth juror and the 9th person evicted. In her exit interview, Jessica stated that she could not "trust the Donatos" in the end-game. In her goodbye message from Eric, Eric had told her that he loved her minutes after Jessica had told Julie Chen that she loved him.

Jessica appeared on the first episode of Big Brother 11 and was allowed a shot to come back into the house. If her "clique" won the HOH, she would enter the house as the 13th, and final HouseGuest, and she would be crowned the first HOH of the season. However, the popular crowd came second, meaning Jessica was eliminated, and would not re-enter the Big Brother House. 

Joe

Joseph Barber II (born September 28, 1983) is a receptionist from Chicago, Illinois. Joe and Dustin were a couple but had a bitter breakup. By a vote of 9-1, he was the second HouseGuest evicted. Joe once made an appearance on elimiDATE.

Kail

Kail Lucille Harbick (born October 5, 1969) is a business owner from McKenzie Bridge, Oregon who works as a real estate agent for Prudential Financial. In addition to her estate business, she and her husband own several businesses in Blue River, Oregon: a grocery store, a motel,  a restaurant, and a resort.  A devout fan of Big Brother, Kail had previously applied for Big Brother 5 and Big Brother 6. On Day 34, she stated in the Diary Room that she wanted to leave the House and walk; however, she was talked out of it by the show's producers. During the veto competition on Day 36, Kail agreed to sit out the HoH competition for the next five weeks, however it had no effect on her game as Kail was evicted by a 4-3 vote on Day 41. 

Mike

Michael S. Dutz (born August 20, 1980) is a painting contractor from Three Lakes, Wisconsin, and is a model with BMG Model & Talent Agency. He has appeared on the Lifetime show Gay, Straight or Taken?. He was the straight and available one. Mike was known in the Big Brother House for being quiet and not connecting with the other HouseGuests. Mike was nominated alongside Kail by Dick. Fellow HouseGuest Dustin said, "Mike, I'm sorry, you've been in the House for three weeks, and I know four things about you: You're from Wisconsin, you like planes, you're a model, and you eat a lot of meat." Mike was evicted by a vote of 7-2 on Day 27  

Nick

Nicholas Anton Starcevic (born March 5, 1982) is a former college American football player from Kimball, Minnesota and was once crowned MTV's "Spring Break King" while on vacation in Cancún. Nick has worn t-shirts of his former teammate and Eastern Washington University Eagle Jake Young, having last played for EWU's Big Sky Conference championship teams in 2004 and 2005. He played American football for the University of Minnesota Crookston for 4 years and then played professional football in Europe for Team Finland of the European Football League (EFL). Nick was nominated alongside Kail on Day 31 in place of Jen, being evicted on Day 34 by a 6-2 vote. Before moving into the House, Nick lived in Shepparton, Australia and taught Biomechanics, Anatomy & Physiology and Outdoor Education.

He and Daniele had a close relationship in the show. When Daniele left the house to play on the game show Power of 10, Nick was brought in as her supporter. However, Daniele did not make it to the main round and did not get to see Nick.

Nick is represented by Silver Models, New York City. 

Zach

Zachary Joseph Swerdzewski (born April 17, 1977) is a graphic designer from Tallahassee, Florida. Zach graduated from Florida State University, where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He owns a company called Dolphin Crash. On the show, he has been seen wearing shirts with the company's name and logo, and sports the logo as a tattoo on his upper-left shoulder on his back. Zach once made an appearance on an episode of E!'s Style Court. Zach mentioned that he and his friends had a robot finish in 2nd place on Comedy Central's BattleBots. On Day 62, Zach won the "Tea Party" Head of Household competition. He won the "Niagara Balls" Power of Veto competition on Day 69. In Week 10, Zach won his second HoH competition, guaranteeing himself a spot in the Final 3. Zach was evicted and became the final member of the jury when Dick won the final Head of Household and chose to take Daniele with him to the Final 2.

Highlights

Each week in the Big Brother House is summarized in the table on the main page. A typical week began with the Head of Household competition during the live Thursday episode and ended with the eviction of a HouseGuest during the following Thursday's episode. The next "week" immediately started after the eviction with the next Head of Household competition. Evictions, competitions, and other noteworthy events for a particular week are noted. Some of the events listed may not be in order of sequence.