Big Brother Albania 1 was the debut season of the Albanian series of the worldwide franchise of Big Brother. It launched on Saturday, 23 February 2008, with fourteen Housemates entering the House with Romina being the first contestant to enter. The show ran for 100 days and the winner was Arbër Çepani. He received a €50,000 prize.
The show aired on two cable channels 24 hours a day on the DigitAlb cable network, as well as in two additional channels on DigitAlb Mobile. Daily reviews were shown Monday to Saturday on Top Channel at 17:55 CET. The eviction show aired Saturdays at 21:00 CET, while a weekly review closed off the week at 17:55 CET on Sunday.
The main host was Arbana Osmani, while Eno Popi received the contestants in and out of the house and conducted interviews with their families. A panel of opinionists was present on the Saturday night show. Mevlan Shanaj, a film director, and Armand Peza, a screenwriter, had permanent positions in this panel, while different singers, psychologists and relevant art figures were invited every week to give their insight. One of the most notable guests was singer Jonida Maliqi who became known for her tough debates with the evicted contestants.
A reunion show called Brenda Big Brother (Inside Big Brother) was held the week following the finale. The housemates received a series of prizes ranging from work offers abroad to vacation packages and other prizes. Juna, an aspiring singer, received a record deal for one song and a video clip from an Albanian label company. Jonida, on the other hand, earned herself a gig as an anchor at Top Albania Radio.
Contestants Housemates Age Entered Exited Status Arbër 21 Day 1 Day 100 Winner Olsi 33 Day 1 Day 100 Runner-Up Astrit 35 Day 1 Day 100 Third Place Najada 22 Day 1 Day 100 Fourth Place Pol 21 Day 1 Day 100 Fifth Place Jonida 25 Day 65 Day 94 Evicted Dorina 22 Day 65 Day 85 Evicted Besarta 20 Day 1 Day 78 Evicted Romina 21 Day 1 Day 78 Evicted Shkëlqim 38 Day 1 Day 71 Evicted Julinda 23 Day 1 Day 64 Evicted Ilda 22 Day 30 Day 54 Ejected Mardiola 25 Day 30 Day 54 Walked Ina 24 Day 1 Day 50 Evicted Ervis 23 Day 1 Day 43 Evicted Leonard 27 Day 1 Day 36 Evicted Juna 20 Day 1 Day 29 Evicted Ingrid 29 Day 1 Day 15 Evicted
Summary
A total of 14 housemates entered as original members, while 4 others were introduced later in the game. The originals would receive the full prize if they were victorious, while the newcomers would only receive a proportional amount based on the days they spent inside the house if they were to win at the end. However, an original housemate won the show, therefore winning the full prize.
Each member cast two nominations every Saturday along with two valid reasons for each nomination. Valid reasons were mandatory. Three or more players faced the public vote. The public then had one week to vote off the person that they thought should be evicted. Five contestants made their way to the final where the public voted 35% for original housemate Arbër Çepani to win the grand prize.
The normal eviction procedure was dramatically interrupted on three occasions. The ammunition explosions in the village of Gërdec rocked the house of Big Brother which was situated 500 meters away from the scene, forcing the network to evacuate the housemates in a secluded hotel room and cancelling the normal Saturday show. The second interruption was due to the violent fight that exploded between the two newcomers Ilda and Mardiola. Mardiola walked off the show while Ilda was ejected by the Big Brother staff. The Saturday night eviction was canceled and the SMS money spent by the public was donated to charity. The third and final delay happened the last week of the show when Dritan Hoxha, president of Top Channel, died in a car accident. The network postponed the Saturday show, therefore changing the projected length of Big Brother Albania from 99 to 100 days.
The tenth round of evictions was also unusual, since the housemates were instructed to cast two secret nominations without a reason, and the three contestants with the most nominations would be up for a speedy eviction by the public at home. In 20 minutes of SMS voting, the public decided to vote off Besarta with 41% of the vote.
Highlights
Days 1–15
14 original housemates entered a spacious home in one of the wealthy villages of suburban Tirana after being secluded in hotel rooms without any contact with the outside world. The first verbal spars started between Romina and Shkëlqim as the opening show was still airing. An obvious struggle for "leader" status was taking place between the two, however, this conflict remained dormant for several weeks as the attention quickly shifted to Juna and her heated debacles with many of the housemates. The house became split after the first real fight erupted between Juna and Romina over what Romina considered "irrational usage" of the food supply. Juna told her to "go get checked", words which fueled an ongoing rivalry between the two girls. Juna had another argument with Shkëlqim over his loud singing which she disliked, as well as with Astrit due to her irritation with some of his "rural" behavior.
Despite Juna's many animosities, the housemates were more ticked off at her friend Ingrid due to her overly sensitive nature. She took many of the things that the other housemates would tell her very personal, often responding rudely or by running to her room and crying. Shkëlqim dubbed her as "mentally sick" in a private conversation with some of the roommates.
The first week's activity was for all the housemates to split into two groups and make two paintings. They decided to paint the things that matter most to them in their lives. The paintings were put up for auction during the remainder of the season and were ultimately purchased for 1400 euros, money that went to the Red Cross.
They passed the first week's challenge, but failed the second one, therefore cutting their budget in half. Ingrid was evicted with 50% of the vote. Most of the contestants were happy, except for Juna and Julinda who were closer to her. Meanwhile, Olsi was given a symbolic punishment by "Big Brother" for not helping in the kitchen and spending too much time with the girls. He was ordered to peel two sacks of potatoes and choose one of the other contestants to help him out. His choice was Juna. Unbeknown to him, his real-life girlfriend Lusika had been watching the show very closely for the past two weeks and had come to the studio to get an explanation for his behaviour. The host did not inform Olsi about Lusi's presence in the studio, however, she asked him to explain what he feels for his girlfriend and for Juna and Najada, another housemate he was close to. Olsi said that he feels relaxed with them, however "he will always love" his girlfriend. Lusi, on the other hand, admitted to the host that if he did anything with them, she would dump him.
Days 15–29 Olsi started getting much closer to Najada, however, he could not hide away his attraction to Juna either. Although she rejected him at first, they began to bond as the weeks progressed, a move that bothered Najada. The two girls had a negative attitude toward each other but managed to keep a distance. Privately, Najada complained about Juna's loud fits with all the housemates, while Juna complained about Najada showering four times a day, arguing that the hot water gets wasted and blaming it on the fact that "Najada does not sleep alone", an obvious swipe at her proximity with Olsi and the other guys. Romina and Najada became united against Juna, finding themselves in alignment with Ervis and Shkëlqim who considered her a "spoiled brat" and wanted her out.
Najada could not wait for Saturday to come, certain that a nominated Juna would be evicted by the public. However, on Saturday, 15 March, an extremely powerful ammunition dump blast took place in the village of Gërdec, 500 meters away from the Big Brother house. The housemates were shell-shocked and terrified due to the high pressure and noise that rocked the home, forcing the network to evacuate everyone over security concerns and postpone the show for one week. The contestants were sent to a secluded hotel room and returned after 24 hours. They immediately held a session to donate blood for the victims of the tragedy.
This unlikely time-out warmed up the relationships with former rivals. Romina and Juna held a little heart-to-heart, although differences remained. Meanwhile, the Gërdec tragedy made Julinda very emotional as she thought back at her family, who did not approve of her participation in a reality show. Ina and Pol warmed up considerably towards each other although no one was ready to commit to anything serious. Ervis, on the other hand, created a strong friendship with the two of them, becoming the strategic "trio" of the house. One night he decides to tell some of his roommates about having worked as a gigolo in the past, which he later dismissed as a joke. This joke, however, did not go well with the public at home.
Juna could not keep away from another fight, this time involving Astrit. The assigned weekly activity consisted of the housemates creating a theatrical play, with which they decided to depict the differences between rural and city people. Juna decides to dress as a "villager", but Astrit, who is a farmer himself, considered it a deep insult, claiming that gypsies dressed that way, not villagers. Shkëlqim tried to fuel the disagreement even further, causing Astrit to walk away angrily as Juna laughed it off.
The Saturday night eviction ceremony began badly as the contestants lost half their budget due to their inability to pass that week's challenge. However, the biggest drama unfolded as an unsuspecting Juna gets evicted with 59% of the vote. She leaves the house in tears after a final meeting with Olsi. The troubles for Juna had only just begun as she still had to face the panel of opinionists. In a showdown with famous Albanian singer Jonida Maliqi, Juna is heavily questioned about her relationship with Olsi, especially about the ring that she carried on her finger. She said that it was a gift from Olsi and she was not going to take it off, even if her boyfriend at home asked her to. She later broke up with her boyfriend.
Later that night, Ina and Pol are treated to an exotic private date and Julinda is ordered to serve them because of her poor performance in the weekly challenge. On the other side, Olsi gets drunk and the network later revealed tapes of him and Najada engaging in a series of sexual movements under the covers. It was interpreted as sexual activity for the remainder of the season by the public and his girlfriend, however, Olsi denied it during the finale.
Days 29–36 Olsi's obsession with Juna grows bigger in the wake of the eviction eve. He tells Najada that he wants to sleep in Juna's bed because of her fresh smell still being there. She joking response that she will "cut his face-up". Later, Romina finds him wrapped around a pillow on Juna's bed in a very distressed mood. Astrit is ticked off at the other housemates as they continue to make jokes about how villagers cannot integrate with city life. He tells them to stop joking in his presence. The weekly activity assigned by Big Brother is to paint the walls of the hallway. Olsi decides to paint a portrait of Juna, angering Najada even further. In a private talk with Julinda and Romina she confessed that when she saw Olsi for the first time, she thought he was gay.
Eviction night begins by the housemates winning the weekly challenge, a quiz on Albania's cities and cultures. Later that night, Leonard is evicted, although there wasn't a major upset in the house as he had become very withdrawn.