BBA: Goldie's Eviction

Finally one of Big Brother StarGame’s most famous love affairs came to an abrupt end on July 15 as Nigeria’s Goldie was evicted from Upville after receiving the fewest country votes from the continent. In a moment of cliffhanger, the bombshell hit the Nigerian representative like a bolt from the blue. Apparently it did not occur to her that she was expendable. After a lame goodbye hug to her Kenyan lover, Prezzo, Goldie broke down in tears before finally leaving the house.
The implication of the pop singer’s exit is that for the first time in four years, the Nigerian flag failed to fly to the end in the keenly watched reality game that has become the continent’s biggest TV addiction. Goldie’s eviction completed a cycle of disappointment started earlier with the unceremonious exit of the Nigerian representatives in Downville, Ola and Chris.
Goldie most likely would suffer further emotional constipation by the time she reviews her stay in the house and discover that she was involved in a one-sided romance. Will she be horrified to discover that the man she loved actually nominated her for eviction two weeks ago?
It is not a sin to play the romance card in the house. After all love, kiss and sex are the icings on the Big Brother’s cake. The caveat, however, is that such can boomerang. In the case of Goldie, she unwittingly set herself up for exploitation. Firmly in the grip of love, she became somewhat subservient to Prezzo’s whims and caprices, a man who on the other hand turned out to be a “bingo”, who spent his time dinning, wining and wenching.  In return, he played the love role, filling her ears with sweet-nothings. In the end, she was so blinded by love she ended up a Prezzo pawn.
How could she be that gullible? That is the question on the lips of many Nigerian fans of the reality TV. Many Nigerians are of the opinion that she misrepresented Nigeria, especially when she is profiled side by side with Karen Igho, the Nigerian representative in the last BBA, a model with boob job who turned slyness to such a fine art that won her the ultimate prize.
More rationally, Goldie’s overall performance conjured a counter image of her. The Goldie we used to know – clad in leather, holding leather whip, reeling out tough lyrics - was a toughie, a tomboy, a no-nonsense gal with element of Lady Gaga’s angst and antics.  In The BBA StarGame, her hidden depth came to life, and shockingly, she came across as soft and vulnerable.
As a result, she became the ace up Prezzo’s sleeve, a sly player who had no scruples about exploiting their supposed ‘love’ as a game to stay in the competition. When he found himself at crossroads he did not hesitate to sacrifice her to save his own neck, by nominating her for eviction two weeks before Goldie’s eventual exit.
Argued back and forth, the bottomline remains that Goldie’s romance with Prezzo was her undoing. For a start, they are an odd couple, with hardly anything in common in look or outlook. “For God’ sake what is she doing with this hunter from Kenya?” a colleague asked in exasperation when their romance was warming up.  Even when it comes to feelings, Goldie did the real loving, while Prezzo acted a script. The handwriting was on the wall since when a flirty Liberian gal, Zainab, joined Upville and Prezzo’s attention temporarily strayed to her. During a run-in between his two love interests, the Kenyan rapper bragged to his Ghanaian inmate, Keitta, that ‘They didn’t know that they were playing themselves. I’m too experienced.’  Cold and calculative, he lived by the Machiavellian creed: the end justifies the means. And true to his nature, soon after Goldie became the Head of House, Prezzo quickly made up with her.
That she is so naïve not to see through Prezzo’s smokescreen is the reason Nigerians are angry with Goldie. Nollywood star actress Kate Henshaw was one out of the multitude of Nigerians who felt bad about the unequal love equation Goldie got herself into.
“[I] really don’t want to [talk about this] but jeeez (Jesus)! This BBA that has the Nigerian girl (Goldie) and this Kenyan guy (Prezzo) is pissing me off!
In the final minutes of her eviction, Goldie learnt one home truth. She was shocked to learn that she had been nominated by Ghanaian Keitta, whom she thought they had an ‘understanding’ with. Does anyone blame Keitta? After all, Goldie once replaced Prezzo with Keitta on June 18, 2012, when the chips were down and she was called upon in her capacity as the Head of the House to do the ‘Save and Replace’.
After her eviction, Goldie was slow in waking up from her daydreaming. When quizzed about finding love in the house she replied lamely that you never really know what happens – “you meet people, you develop feelings for them and that’s all”. Asked to define her relationship with Prezzo, a downcast Goldie confessed she had “come to care for him very much”.
Now with her exit, it will be interesting to see how Prezzo fares in the house on his own as the remaining nine housemates in the game continue in their quest for the USD 300 000 prize for the next 21 days. What is next for Goldie? No qualms really. After all the BBA is a game. She came, she saw, but she failed to conquer. Life continues