Big brother is back in town, looking for Kenyans who qualify to represent the country in this year’s edition of Big Brother Africa, which kicks off in May.

Interested participants have until Valentine’s Day to prove that they are the superstars that Africa has been waiting for, or just to have good cooking and interaction skills.

To qualify, participants have to be above the age of 21 and speak fluent English.

A statement from MultiChoice Kenya also spells out the need for interested parties to possess qualities such as tolerance, determination, enthusiasm, open-mindedness, gutsy, adventurous and the ability to entertain.

As is the norm, each season of BBA has something new to offer, which will be revealed at a later date.

“As always, we won’t say much about the new season but I can confirm that we’ve added a new element that I think will get the hearts of viewers racing,” promised M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi.

She adds that the big surprise this year in BBA 8 is one that ‘audiences are expected to fall in love with’.

Participating countries other than Kenya are Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, which has swapped places with Liberia.

Entry forms are available on www.africamagic.tv/bigbrother, while printed forms will be available at the MultiChoice offices from February 1.

Sivan Pillay, the MD of show producers Endemol expressed: “I am hopeful that this year we are creating a red-hot show that will include familiar trademarks like nominations and evictions alongside a very special new development.”

Along with several other possible goodies in between, the winner will walk away with about Sh25 million, or $300,000 if you like, if they manage to stay in the house for 91 days.

The Kenyans best remembered for being in the house are Alex Holi, Sheila Kwamboka, Malonza Chege and the Swagger Farmer musician Prezzo, who came closest to winning the cash.

Once again Kenyans are hoping to take it home, with some demanding a more transparent system of voting that is favourable to countries with smaller populations than the most frequent BBA winner, Nigeria.

As far as love goes, Sheila’s pairing with Nigerian winner Uti seems to have panned out over the years, and tongues are still wagging right now with no real confirmation on what is really happening between Prezzo and Nigerian girl Goldie.

What would you like to see this year?