Reality TV, African Style

ENDEMOL

IN DA HOUSE: The dwindling band of housemates

The quarreling sounds oddly familiar. Assigned to learn one another's national anthems, the dozen Big Brother Africa contestants cannot even agree on who should sing first. After an initial blowup, Bayo, an argumentative economist from Nigeria, says he has been insulted by Kenyan psychology student Alex and slinks off to mope, complaining that "nobody listens to me." "Don't behave in this way," advises Stefan, a forensic psychologist from Namibia, "because the entire house will suffer."

The contestants on the African reality-television program may be divided, but their antics have united viewers across the continent...

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