Diary of an old cheeser

Hi there! Like other blogs, this is my chance to wax lyrical (some might say talk utter cr*p) about a) what's happening in my life b) all of my pet obsessions in particular music, tv, movies, books and other generally connected things, quite often of the retro, old and "cheesy" variety. Hence the title of my blog. Feel free to leave a comment if the mood takes you. There's nothing like a good chinwag about one's favourite topics and besides I love to meet new people! Cheers, Simon

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Out go Cleo and Jo...

I'm feeling ill and run down again...grrr! Have a bit of a throat virus and a blocked nose at the mo, which I think I picked up from someone at work. Double grrr! And I thought I was done with colds and coughs for the time being, especially as I had a flu immunisation a short while back. It doesn't seem to have done the trick. Although as someone pointed out, real flu is far more severe than this. So maybe it's helped a bit, I dunno...I'm sure the cold weather we're currently enduring has got something to do with it too.

Anyway enough moaning and groaning. I have the whole weekend to crash, unwind and get better at home. Which is nice. I love being cosy and cuddled up chez moi. Lots of time to surf the net, write some more blog posts, read my fellow bloggers' own stuff, and catch some TV...I've got lots of DVDs to watch too like "Space 1999" and the first series of "Fame". Oooh!!

I had to curtail a night out last night due to my impending illness and came home early just in time to see the latest CBB eviction. It's all about to finish and on Sunday the overall winner will be announced. Hard to believe that it's nearly all over, the weeks have sped by.

And it was Cleo and Jo who were voted out this time. While I felt Jo deserved to be evicted, I was a bit shocked that Cleo was chosen for the other ousting.

As you might have gathered from my previous posts, I'm not much of a fan of Ms O'Meara. Firstly because of her schoolgirl bullying with Jade and Danielle against Shilpa. Second, because I didn't really think she was a particularly engaging or likeable personality. The usual montage of clips we saw in the post-eviction interview was a nifty piece of editing and media manipulation, with lots of shots of Jo laughing and smiling, dancing and dressed up in a variety of costumes and generally looking like a jolly soul. However for the majority of her stay in the house I found her to be someone who didn't "give out" much or make any kind of significant effort or contribution to proceedings. Most of the time she seemed content to lie back on her bed, doing remarkably little, with a face like a permanently slapped a*se.

And once again it was good to see Davina giving an evictee the grilling they deserved. As with Jade, Jo was subjected to a barrage of news clips showing all of the media ruckus surrounding the accusations of racism / bullying, which clearly came as a surprise to her. She told Davina "it's making it out to be worse than it is" but once the show of clips had finished she didn't have much else to say, seemingly shocked into silence, which was rather telling. Davina didn't spare her blushes though. She asked Jo about the Jade-Shilpa row and why she didn't intervene, to which Jo replied that it was between Jade and Shilpa only. Davina responded: "But you were complicit in what happened though, weren't you?" True enough.

In Jo's defense she said she wasn't a racist (apparently some of her relatives are Indian) and that she and some of the other housemates even mimicked Shilpa in her presence, which Ms Shetty herself found funny. I guess it's a case of not what you say, but the intent behind what's said and exactly how far one is prepared to go with things. To refer to an example of my own, some of my close friends occasionally make gay jokes. I don't mind this atall because I know it's all done in the spirit of jest and some of the jokes are hilarious anyway (including certain George Michael gags which I must post up here some time). I even take the p*ss out of my own sexuality when appropriate. If you can't laugh at yourself, who can? The point is, comments about minorities can be okay within certain boundaries and when not made in a deliberately harmful fashion. I stress "can be"; it's still a bit of a grey area! Going back to Jo and co, even if they didn't intend racism, it's easy to see why some of their remarks might have been interpreted that way. Well, if Ms O' Meara has an ounce of nous, she'll reflect on what's happened, make some mental adjustments and move on.

And what of Ms Rocos? She was a funny one. Once out of the house and in the hotseat with Davina, she seemed oddly subdued and rather sad. Was she upset about being evicted? Perhaps. As I said, I didn't think she deserved to go and I was surprised by the public's ultimate decision. Perhaps it was her baiting of Dirk that influenced the people's vote. And she did show some drama queen tendencies whilst in the house. As Ian noted perceptively, Cleo exhibited a habit of adopting other personas (dressing up as an array of "new" characters in wigs etc) in order to hide her own insecurities. I reckon Kenny Everett's influence clearly rubbed off on her all those years ago (or - was it her influencing Kenny??). She does like to hide behind a mask, or masks, to a certain degree. But I wouldn't say that any of this made her a profoundly difficult or horrible person. Cleo's strengths were her calmness, negotiation skills and ability to see things from both sides (particularly in relation to some of the conflicts that went on between the housemates). Of course by not siding with any one particular person / group in the house, she could have been regarded as "hedging her bets" or playing a game. Difficult to say for certain. But she had a wisdom and maturity about her which I liked, which set her far above the petty and childish behaviour exhibited by Jade and her bitchy posse.

And I loved Cleo's style. Whilst unfortunately lacking in ability as a comedienne (surprising for someone as flamboyant, theatrical and camp as she could be) she always dressed well and more than twenty years after the Kenny Everett Show, she still looks beautiful. Her hairstyle became increasingly outlandish as the days went by, but she's definitely a stunner. Much more so than sullen sourpuss Jo.

I was also surprised that Dirk wasn't the one to go in Cleo's place. But that just shows how perverse and unpredictable the viewing public can be. As mentioned I rather suspect that Cleo's "bothering" of Dirk brought her down in people's estimation. Dirk on the other hand is no angel and on many an occasion has been moody, uncommunicative and a law onto himself. In one of her more enlightened moments, Jo noted that he likes to laugh at his own jokes and only joined in/participated when it suited him. A bit rich coming from her, but a fair point. I reckon it's the "cheesy" connection (A Team, Battlestar Galactica) that has helped to keep Dirk in the house. Plus the fact that the housemates were given an A Team-themed task to do which he seemed to enjoy. And I will concede he has a certain dryness / wryness about him which might appeal to some. But overall I think he's too much hard work.

So...who do YOU want to win Celebrity Big Brother 2007? YOU decide.

7 Comments:

  • At 4:10 pm , Blogger Running Post said...

    Well writen post mate.I would like to see Derk win!.He is flying by the seat of his pants and not paying any sort of game..plus he was in the A team-and Quantum leap i think?.....Good post by the way!.ps,i think that H looks like beaker from the Muppet's.

     
  • At 1:33 am , Blogger TimeWarden said...

    I think you're right about Jo. Your description gave me a good laugh anyhow! Good thing she has no pretensions towards being a singer, chain-smoking her way to certain death... sooner rather than later.

    I don't mind H. He's a bit ineffectual but I think he's a sensitive soul and his brush with stardom doesn't seem to have had the same effect on him as Leo.

    I used to lap up "Fame" too. I remember a scene where the music teacher had all his students bashing out Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" on pianos in unison. Had a crush on cellist Lori Singer too!! She's good in a film called "Trouble in Mind" with Kris Kristofferson and David Carradine.

    Sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather and hope you get well soon.

     
  • At 2:12 am , Blogger TimeWarden said...

    Make that Keith Carradine, half-brother of David!

     
  • At 5:32 pm , Blogger Steve said...

    I wanted Cleo to win so am most disappointed that she was ousted. I guess the country is divided between people who loved Kenny Everett and therefore have an affection for Cleo and people who have utterly no idea who Cleo is and so dismiss her as a slightly batty but well-preserved has-been.

    I've a feeling Jermaine will win. As Cleo herself said, he is the king of the house. It would be nice to see Shilpa win but it would seem just a little bit too contrived.

    Dirk I quite like. I think he knows himself - he knows he's bad tempered and irascible and I'm sure he's as puzzled as everyone else why he's still in there. For an American he's quite outward thinking, i.e. he's aware of a world outside America and seems actually quite well informed and cynical of the American dream - all of which earn him huge brownie points in my book.

    I found Davina's treatment of Jo very intriguing. I don't think I've ever seen Davina quite so steely and cold. In my opinion she still went easy but you can't really cover much ground in a ten minute interview. There was definitely a marked difference in her treatment of Jo and her treatment of Cleo. Jo came over as a piece of inconsequential trash in comparison. Deservedly so. I felt she even got a rougher ride from Davina than Jade did... possibly because Jade did at least hold her hands up to the bullying thing straightaway. Jo seemed unwilling to accept it. I also suspect that where Jade is just plain stupid and Danielle is just plain immature Jo, having a modicum of intelligence, was more culpable because she should have known better. Who knows?

    All three should be strung up spaghetti western style in my opinion. "Jade Goodey... known as the pig..."

     
  • At 8:19 pm , Blogger Glenda Young said...

    I've been amazed at how much I've wanted to see Cleo Rocos win and was sad she was booted out. She's been compelling to watch. Good, old fashioned, eccentric glamour which we don't see the likes of these days. More Cleo on telly is what's needed to chase the winter blues. She's a genuine star.

     
  • At 7:58 pm , Blogger matty said...

    I hope you're feeling better!

    I wish I could see this show!!!

     
  • At 1:23 pm , Blogger Old Cheeser said...

    Shaun - Thank you for your comments...you will most likely be disappointed by Dirk not winning then? Ha ha - poor H! Although I can kind of see your point, he has the same hair as the aforementioned muppet, and there's a certain similarity between the two...

    Timewarden - Yes, Jo does have a bit of a worn-out old slag quality about her. In 10 years time she'll probably be resembling Pat Butcher. Whoops! I'm going to burn in hell!

    Yes H/Ian seems refreshingly pleasant and unpretentious.

    Fame! I'm gonna live forever! I'm gonna learn how to fly - HIGH! I will have to write a post on it soon. Lori Singer was a bit goofy but nice.

    Feeling better now although had yesterday off work as was coughing and sneezing lots - yuk! The germs are slowly abating now. That's my bug for the winter done with, I hope!

    Steve - I think that's probably true about Cleo, unlike some of the other celebs she is probably less well known and that may have unfluenced people's decision. Personally I think she deserved to come closer to winning than she did. I would place her above Dirk for instance.

    Jermaine had very humane, calm and spiritual qualities about him which I liked. Perhaps in terms of entertainment value though he wasn't always desperately exciting - sometimes he was so laid back he was virtually asleep. Still it's interesting that both the runner up and winner were both very spiritual kinds of people - perhaps those are the kinds of celeb the public are favouring in 2007??

    I can see your points about Dirk but ultimately I found him too much hard work and so did a lot of the other housemates.

    And as I said in my recent post, Jo is now getting it in the neck...serves her right!

    Nora - It would indeed be nice to see more of Cleo on the TV but she needs a decent vehicle. Sadly her attempt to make BB laugh fell to earth with a thud. She has the attitude, glamour and the looks undoubtedly but she needs some genuinely good jokes! If she teamed up with someone else I could see her doing a chat/quiz show in the Julian Clary/Graham Norton mould. We'll see.

    Matty - thanks babes! Try You Tube for some clips...

     

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