October 11, 2010 – I know you are wondering why a reality TV show named Big Brother Africa has gotten my attention enough for me to post it on my blog. Well it’s simple, I’ve watched every BBA since the 2nd installment where Richard from Tanzania won and honestly I think BBA All Stars has for me been the best of all of them so far.

I say this because I guess for one I already knew the characters getting into the house so therefore I didn’t have to spend my TV time trying to understand these guys and gals and how they operate, I already knew who I liked, who I didn’t and who I’d give a chance to understand. It was like watching the sequel of a movie; you know the characters – so what’s left is the story line.

The second thing that made this particular installment interesting was the Barn concept and personally I think that right from the beginning that should have been the set up for the whole show; but I do get why MNET had to create the whole Glam vs Farm look for contrast.

It was through the Barn that I got mentally and emotionally connected to the guys who were in there over those that were in the house, and to be honest my Channel 198 was tuned to the barn 24/7 through the alternative view of the show.

I miss Hannington. He had some real swagger that I felt the other guys were lacking. It was unfortunate that he didn’t walk away from that fight with Lerato, but oh well, such is life. All in all kudos to the MNET team for putting together all the twists and turns that happened this season, they were almost unpredictable and very interesting.

It’s at this point I submit my CV to be in the think tank for the next season: I am very creative & extremely crafty (qualities that I think are key for such a job).

But I digress, the purpose of this post was to ask that Kenyans VOTE FOR SHEILA and here are my reasons:

-First, she’s the closest representation of who I believe is regular middle class (or target market of DSTV) girl living and working in Nairobi today. In her previous BBA people chastised her for being untidy, not being girlie enough, not being willing to cook or clean; that she smoked, drank and cursed too much (on top of being a lesbian or bi-sexual) and to be honest, and am sorry for those of you who believe that such women don’t exist in our country coz they do. The city bars, pubs and lounges are full of them; successful women who do what tickles their fancy, they wear t-shirts, jeans and sneakers on a night out, talk in any language that suits them, drink like fish in a desert and party like the world would end if they didn’t.

So that aside, i.e. knowing that there are others like her who exist, the only thing that remains is Sheila’s personality and I think like any human being she has her flaws but Sheila is about all the right things.

I mean compared to Tatiana whose backside we saw at a frequency we really didn’t need to and all those lap dances she gave to even married men; or Lerato who inspired the worst fight ever but was unwilling to own up to the part she played; or to Paloma who has a warped sense of what an African woman really is in this day and age…

I say that Sheila for me stands out as the woman who should win this BBA… and yes I said woman! I mean Sheila was right when she said that Africa has double standards. We allow our men to do the things they do but when we do the same we are told that we aren’t being “AFRICAN” enough! Honestly, what does that even mean!? But I won’t go into that debate; it’s another one for another day.

Let’s VOTE SHEILA… because for heaven’s sake… a Kenyan just needs to win this time round!? Even if it is just so that we can jivunia – just this once?

(For more of Wambui’s blogs, take a look at http://networkedblogs.com/8Y2H9).