Big Brother (also known as in , ) is a Romanian version of the international reality television franchise Big Brother produced by Endemol. A group of people (called the Housemates) live together in an isolated house. They don't have TV, the Internet, newspapers or watches. 24 hours a day, their life is recorded by hidden cameras in all the rooms in the House. The Housemates are completely isolated from the outside world. Every week, each of them must enter the Diary Room and nominate two of the other people for public eviction. The two or more housemates with most negative votes become nominated. For almost a week the TV viewers have to decide which of them to be evicted, voting via SMS or phone calls.
Every week the Housemates have a weekly task. Depending on whether they successfully complete the task or not, their shopping budget is increased or decreased.
During the final week, the viewers vote for which of the remaining people in the House they want to win the show. The person with the most positive votes becomes a winner and receives a big money prize. In the first season was the prize US$50,000 and in the second season was the prize €75,000.
The show in Romania lasted for two seasons. Both aired on Prima TV.
History Production Prima TV acquired the format of Big Brother and announced on 2 December 2002 that it will be launched in the early months of 2003. A team of eleven people was sent to Budapest for the Hungarian version of Big Brother, for four months to learn how the show will work.
Spin-offs Following the end of the first season, a show called Big Brother – Revanșa () aired on Prima TV, which consisted of several housemates discussing for half an hour what happened during their time in the house and what they plan to do after the show finished.
Big Brother 1 (2003) The first season started on 16 March 2003 and ended on 6 July 2003, lasting for 112 days. It was hosted by Andreea Raicu and Virgil Ianţu. The winner was Sorin Fișteag "Soso".
The house was located in the area of Semănătoarea.
In June 2003, Laura Stanciu, the spokesperson for the show, released a book which contains behind-the-scenes information about the season.
Housemates
Name Age Occupation Hometown Adrian 21 DJ Melinești, Dolj Alida Mocanu 26 Student Ploiești Andreea Vasile 22 Student Râmnicu Vâlcea Costel 27 Administrator Jibou, Zalău Ernest Francisc Takacs 22 Student Petroșani Florin Staicu 25 Ski and snowboard supervisorBrașov Iulia 29 Economist Baia Mare Izabela 25 Barman Satu Mare Nicolae "Mumu" Covle 32 Administrator Oradea Nadira 22 Student Iași Sorin "Soso" Fișteag 21 Student Reșița Violeta Ivu 24 Director Bucharest
Nominations table Public nominations: The first housemate in each box was nominated for two points, and the second housemate was nominated for one point. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 Final Soso NadiraVioleta Iulia? ?? ?? ?? ?? CostelIzabela CostelFlorin Winner(Day 113) Alida NadiraAdrian Mumu? ?? ?? ?? ?? AndreeaFlorin CostelFlorin Runner up(Day 113) Florin NadiraIzabela Iulia? ?? ?? ?? ?? AndreeaSoso AndreeaAlida Third place(Day 113) Andreea ErnestNina ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? FlorinIzabela CostelFlorin Fourth place(Day 113) Costel NadiraIulia Iulia? ?? ?? ?? ?? AndreeaSoso AlidaSoso Evicted Izabela NadiraAdrian Mumu? ?? ?? ?? ?? AndreeaSoso Evicted Ernest NadiraIzabela Iulia? ?? ?? ?? ?? Evicted Adrian NadiraIzabela Iulia? ?? ?? ?? Evicted Violeta IuliaAndreea Mumu? ?? ?? Evicted Iulia NadiraAdrian Mumu? ?? Evicted Mumu NadiraIulia Iulia? Evicted NadiraIzabelaIulia EvictedPublicnominationsnone 2-Mumu1-Andreea 2-Ernest1-Iulia 2-Violeta1-Izabela 2-Ernest1-Adrian 2-Costel1-Andreea 2-Andreea1-Izabela 2-Costel1-Florinnone Up foreviction IzabelaNadira IuliaMumu IuliaIzabela IzabelaVioleta AdrianErnestFlorinSosoCostelErnest AndreeaIzabela CostelFlorin AlidaAndreeaFlorinSoso EvictedNadira56.9%to evict Mumu56%to evict Iulia58%to evict Violeta51%to evict Adrian45%to evict Ernest54%to evict Izabela61%to evict Costel52%to evict Andreea6%(out of 4)to win Florin12.9%to win Alida 17.6%(out of 2)to win SurvivedIzabela43.1% Iulia44% Izabela42%Izabela49% Ernest43%Florin9%Soso3% Costel46% Andreea39%Florin48% Soso82.4%to win
Big Brother 2 (2004) The second season was produced by Endemol and aired from March 13, 2004, to June 14, 2004, lasting for 91 days. It was hosted by Andreea Raicu and Virgil Ianţu. The winner was Iustin.
Housemates
Name Age Occupation Hometown Aly 26 Real estate agent Brașov Andreea 27 Student Bucharest Ciprian Cavescu 27 Jurist Galați Daniel Burcea 24 Barman Curtea de Argeș Evelina 21 Barman Bucharest Fily 29 Engineer Drăgășani George 27 Financial analyst Bucharest Iustinian Ghita 23 Painter Cluj-Napoca Monica 22 Student Râmnicu Vâlcea Raluca 22 Assistant manager Deva Tino 26 Fitness trainer Bucharest Virginia 29 Toy maker Baia Mare
Nominations table
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 Final Iustin EvelinaGeorge EvelinaAly FilyDaniel EvelinaDaniel DanielGeorge DanielMonica ?? GeorgeCiprian Winner(Day 94) George EvelinaTino EvelinaAly AndreeaFily EvelinaVirginia Virginia Fily Raluca Virginia ?? IustinMonica Runner up(Day 94) Ciprian EvelinaTino EvelinaAly AndreeaFily EvelinaVirginia Virginia Fily VirginiaRaluca ?? IustinMonica Third place(Day 94) Raluca EvelinaAly EvelinaAly EvelinaAndreea EvelinaGeorge DanielGeorge DanielGeorge ?? IustinMonica Fourth place(Day 94) Monica EvelinaAly EvelinaAly FilyEvelina EvelinaDaniel Fily Daniel Virginia Raluca ?? GeorgeCiprian Evicted(Day 87) Daniel EvelinaTino EvelinaAly FilyAndreea Virginia Evelina Virginia Fily VirginiaRaluca ?? Evicted(Day 79) Virginia EvelinaTino EvelinaAly AndreeaEvelina FilyEvelina Ciprian Fily DanielMonica Evicted(Day 72) Fily EvelinaVirginia EvelinaAly AndreeaDaniel EvelinaVirginia Virginia Iustin Evicted(Day 65) Evelina AlyTino AlyDaniel AndreeaFily FilyVirginia Evicted(Day 58) Andreea TinoEvelina EvelinaAly FilyEvelina Evicted(Day 44) Aly EvelinaTino EvelinaFily Evicted(Day 30) Tino EvelinaAly Evicted(Day 16) Publicnominations Tino26.3%Evelina22.1% Evelina37%Aly26.9% Andreea21.8%Fily18% Virginia38.5%Evelina25.2% Virginia58.9%Fily13.7% Virginia31%Raluca16.4% Ciprian20.6%Daniel20.2% ?? none Up foreviction EvelinaTino EvelinaAly AndreeaEvelina EvelinaVirginia FilyVirginiaDanielVirginia CiprianDaniel IustinMonica CiprianGeorgeIustinRaluca EvictedTino63.4%to evict Aly53.5%to evict Andreea58%to evict Evelina61.4%to evict Fily70.4%to evict Virginia50.1%to evict Daniel61%to evict Monica?%to evict Raluca ?%to win Ciprian ?%to win George ?%to win SurvivedEvelina36.6% Evelina46.5% Evelina42%Virginia38.6% Virginia29.6% Daniel49.9% Ciprian39% Iustin?% Iustin51%to win
Reception and cancellation The show quickly gained the attention of the Orthodox Church, claiming that they have warned the producers regarding shows which "promote prostitution and violence." Furthermore, the contestants in the first season were "shy" and "reluctant" to perform suggestive actions, with one contestant being dubbed "the girl with the cape" due to the fact that she wore a cape each time she showered.
News outlets believed that pre-recorded material was used for the first season rather than live recordings; their affirmations would be later confirmed by the show's spokesperson. The latter claimed that pre-recorded material was indeed used as it was "impossible to broadcast it live due to the bad weather at the time."
The ratings for the first season were "disappointing", as the show did not live up to the viewers's expectations, most likely due to the suggestions that the National Audiovisual Council proposed to the producers to "keep the show civil." To make things worse, the season's grand finale was eclipsed by the screening of the Indian film Yaadon Ki Baaraat on Antena 1. The show ended up, however, being a financial success.
During the second season, some contestants engaged in racy activities. Their actions were met with backlash by the Orthodox Church, the National Audiovisual Council and several political figures, which criticized the show for "promoting prostitution." The National Audiovisual Council also requested for Prima TV to show their decision for sanctioning the show due to violating the Audiovisual Act by "broadcasting pornographic content." Distrust was also created between the network and some viewers, who believed their online votes were not counted.
Following the sanctions imposed by the National Audiovisual Council, the breaching of autochthonous regulations and fluctuating ratings, Prima TV "did not see why they should keep a show like this with high production costs." After the show's cancellation, the network aimed to re-brand itself.
In 2014, Prima TV had announced that they acquired the format of Utopia, which worked similarly the way Big Brother did and that it would air during the fall of that year. Although, in October, Cristian Burci, the owner of Prima TV, stated that "the show will be scheduled to air either at the end of the year or next year." Subsequently, the show was "postponed indefinitely" due to the "financial issues that Burci was facing."
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