The decline of Celebrity Big Brother- Praise the lord

Last week I had to write a topical article about a relevant and current issue so naturally I chose CBB. Anyway it was for a job, and seeing as I probably won't ever use it I thought I'd share my hatred of CBB here... enjoy!

Image courtesy of Big Brother

Whilst it has long been a point of contention for many of us there is no denying that the start of CBB7 last week has gripped the nation with approximately 6.2 million of us tuning in to watch the opening show on Sunday. Whilst perpetually flogging the proverbial dead horse year after year the series’ producers Endemol have really outdone themselves for this their final outing, with a not-so-glittering celebrity line up which aptly sums up our society’s collective need to have our five-minutes of fame– making anyone and everyone into a celebrity.

It’s a sad state of affairs when CBB’s street cred is so low that they need to import celebrities from America for us to watch, having failed to secure what could have been the coup of the year– a slightly past-it Boy George, who alas was denied permission to appear by the Crown Prosecution Service due to being on probation for the false imprisonment of a male escort. What misguided round-the-clock television that would have made for!

So instead flying the British flag we have a cross-dressing cage fighter, who is incidentally Jordan’s only fan, and a much scorned ex-lover of an aging Rolling Stone. For me it really speaks volumes when the most credible housemate is ‘hard man’ Vinnie Jones, whom bookmakers Ladbrokes have already tipped to win (5/2).

It wasn’t too long ago that we had the scandal that was Goody-gate where Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was unwillingly caught up in a race row with the most famous Big Brother contestant to date, the incomparable Jade Goody. Since Jade’s untimely passing it’s easy to forget how controversial the whole affair was and what a big falling out CBB had with the British public. Ratings plummeted to an all time low and resulted in the show being postponed in 2008. So why resurrect it? I’ve often asked myself this as I’m sure you have too. Unfortunately for many among us it’s a guilty pleasure and is something we love to hate, especially when the Geordie voiced Big Brother makes the hapless celebrities do all manner of demeaning tasks, allowing us to revel in their misery.

With this year’s version of the iconic CBB logo redesigned with fire to represent the theme ‘Hell Lies in Others’ one can only imagine (whilst rubbing our hands with glee) what hell lies in store for the most tedious batch of housemates ever to grace the house. So much for the old adage of going out on a high. The only good thing about this year’s show is that a small percentage of profits generated will go to comic Relief– which strangely the producer’s haven’t seen fit to do since the first series.