April 5, 2011 – As rumour is rife on who the Kenyan contestant for Big Brother will be in 2011, M-Net has announced that the show kicks off on Labour Day, May 1.

Going under the name Big Brother Amplified, M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi says the ‘louder, more powerful show’ will run for 91 days with the grand prize still at just over Sh16 million.

“By definition amplified means to increase the volume… And that’s exactly what we want to do with season six. To take the elements that audiences find so fantastic and present them in a refreshing new way while adding big surprises and entertaining twists.  Amplified is such a well-known pop culture term and Big Brother has definitely become a pop culture success. So the name fits perfectly.”

Officials are concluding the selection process and Kenyans who were short-listed were to have received word on whether they would be in the ‘final’ audition in mid-March.

“We received an unprecedented amount of entries this year,” says Alabi. “It’s been truly phenomenal, with almost 7000 written entries received from across the continent and countless more people attending the ‘last chance’ open auditions. We’ve had people from all walks of life from very different backgrounds with completely different aspirations… It’s really heartening to see that if anything, the show is going from strength to strength.”

Created and produced for M-Net by Endemol South Africa, the series will once again be hosted by Nigerian TV presenter IK – whom we hope will not still be a pale shadow of KB?

There will be 14 participating countries namely: Kenya, Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Do you think the Kenyan will be a celebrity or a nobody? Leave your comments below.

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