From Sky News ....

'Hit reality show Big Brother is for the first time staging open auditions to try to find its next set of housemates.

Would-be participants will try to convince the show's producers that they should star in the fifth series.

Producers of the Channel 4 show, who usually select contestants from videotape submissions, are asking for couples as well as individuals to apply.

A spokeswoman for the show, which last year saw Orkney fish seller Cameron Stout crowned winner, said: "Producers hope the new system will allow them to see more people and a wider cross-section of the public than ever.

"From the moment people get to the venue, the production crew will be selecting them from the queue outside, so contestants will have to impress from the moment they get there."

Auditions will be held in each week until the end of March. The first are in Glasgow, followed by Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast and London.'

Taken from here.

Anyone going? Care to report back ? Thanks.

There's another news item here from Ananova, it's almost word for word what you have posted from the Sky website though, Eejay.

From the Telegraph Online ....

'Hundreds of hopefuls have flocked to auditions for the next series of the reality television show Big Brother.

This year, open auditions are being held up and down the country for the ten places in the fifth series of the Channel 4 show. In the past, contestants have been selected from videotape submissions but this time would-be participants have been invited to turn up in person.

Producers in Glasgow were speechless when two would-be participants stripped naked despite the chilly February weather. The two men were promptly awarded a ticket to the next stage of the selection process.

Hopefuls who caught the judges' eyes were sent into the through to the next stage. They were ushered into a "diary room" similar to that in the television show and given a minute to make an impression.'

Taken from here.

At the risk of sounding alarmist, BB5 is going to be a disaster. I can't bear to watch.

'....One of the two streakers, Lindsay Vine, 24, from Kirkcaldy, said: “We were standing behind an elf and we didn’t stand out so we had to do something.”

He added: “I’m doing this for the money and also because I’m an attention seeker. Being in a room with 100 cameras on me would be my idea of heaven.”

A would-be contestant who made it through to the next stage without stripping off was Tracy Philp, 24, from the village of Windygates in Fife.

She said: “I think it would be outrageously funny. It would change my life for ever.

“I want to be the first fat, blonde girl in the house and I want to spice things up. Last year it was a bit mediocre.”

This year couples as well as individuals have been invited to apply.

Kevin McMillan, 24, and Kate Antliff, 23, both from Glasgow, made it through to the diary room but were rejected and sent home.

Mr McMillan said: “We had our photos taken, then we went and sat in the booth and said our piece. We didn’t get in, but it was really exciting anyway.”

Channel 4 commissioning editor Sharon Powers said: “We are looking for people who stand out. If they leap out of the crowd and make an impression we think they will make an impression on our viewers.”

Phil Edgar-Jones, head of factual entertainment at production company Endemol, said: “Lots of people in the queue were potential housemates, particularly those two guys who took all their clothes off and showed us their bottoms.”

He added: “Scottish people are basically the best. Being Scottish myself I want to see a Scot in the Big Brother house.

“If anyone wants to come to any of the other auditions they don’t have to act because we want people who are real. We will notice them. We will spot them.”

Producers are planning to hold other auditions in Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast and London over the coming weeks.

Mr Edgar-Jones said the new show, which will go out in the summer, would stick to the basic format but would include “some surprises”.

Those who made it through today’s process were invited back tomorrow for more in-depth interviews and the chance of going on to the next stage.'

Taken from here.

Oh dear. Make a coherent sentence from these words: 'dung, pile, of, big, going, to, be, this, is'.

I was really enthusiastic about the prospect of my attending the London auditions. Though I haven't yet decided not too, having seen these reports, I'm inclined not to.

You should go Eejay. Hopefully by the time the audition train hits London things will have improved.

I read on BBC1's interactive red button teletext thingy they are welcoming not just individuals but also couples to the auditions aswell. Wonder if couples is an angle they maybe exploring?

Forgive me if you lot already knew this.

couples??? .... yeah,why not. It certainly wont be BB as we know it, but it might work.

As the the "naked men" thing, I suppose Channel 4 want to the make the pre-BB, audition shows, as interesting as possible (full of "characters" etc ). Hopefully the final bunch wont be comprised of people like those *******.

[SIZE=1]Extract from above news article [/SIZE]

[color=red]Phil Edgar-Jones, head of factual entertainment at production company Endemol,[/color] said: “Lots of people in the queue were potential housemates, particularly those two guys who took all their clothes off and showed us their bottoms.”

He [color=red]added: “Scottish people are basically the best. Being Scottish myself I want to see a Scot in the Big Brother house.[/color]

Not wishing to rake up the old arguement of last year's BB4 again, but going by the above statement, is that why they were so keen for Camoron to win last year ??

After all, wasn't much chance of a Scot winning in BB3 was there ? Lynne was voted out way too early and Sandy walked.

Btw, I have nothing against Scottish people, ( the sham an exception ) just an observation here on my part that's all. I for one would have loved to have seen Lynne stay in the BB3 house a lot longer

Ditto, although with this influx of wannabes, by the time they get to London the concept of a housemate with some self-respect might become a refreshing novelty for the producers I hope so anyway heh heh.

I would guess that the rules about the identities of the contestants being secret when they go into the house would rule out Lindsay Vine and Tracy Philp getting into the house then

From the Sunday Herald ....

'BIG Brother producers were underwhelmed by the lack of enthusiasm and originality demonstrated by the hundreds of Scottish hopefuls who queued yesterday for a chance to get on the reality TV show.
Despite high hopes for Scottish candidates after Cameron Stout from Orkney won the public’s vote last year, the production staff from the Channel 4 show appeared thoroughly unimpressed with the would-be contestants on offer.

The young wannabes, many of them wearing homemade costumes, queued up for the only Scottish auditions at the SECC in Glasgow yesterday. But after vetting around 20 of the would-be contestants, the judges announced to those waiting that nobody was even coming close to the standard required to be on the show.

Grabbing a megaphone, one of the production staff shouted: “Everyone we have seen in the last half an hour has been completely miserable. Unless people start coming through here and begin selling themselves then, as far as I can see, you may as well all go home.”

It was hoped the all-day audition, the first of eight days to be held across the UK, would attract many thousands of hopefuls from all over Scotland. But in the end only a few hundred turned up.

“We are looking for people who stand out,” said Channel 4’s commissioning editor Sharon Powers. “If they leap out of the crowd and make an impression we think they will make an impression on our viewers.”

For previous Big Brother shows, people had been asked to send in videotapes of themselves explaining why they should be selected. But public auditions were chosen for Big Brother 5 in a bid to see a greater variety of potential housemates.

Those auditioning were first vetted outside the SECC in small groups where they were asked to sell themselves to the best of their abilities, to the judges and the other hopefuls. Only the select few who got through this process were invited inside for one-to-one interviews, and those who were successful at this stage were asked to return today for a second round....'


Read the full article.

OMG .... reading the above and other thread makes me believe the worst. They seem to be looking for:

- A house full of Alison Hammonds
- Couples (for the sex) - Something BB seems to want to happen

I hope its not going to be as dire as I think it may be ....

From the Sunday Mail today ...

'EGOS, tears and tantrums yes Big Brother was back. More than 300 Scots queued at the SECC in Glasgow yesterday for the first open auditions of the show.

Test questions included 'What are your feelings on black pudding?', 'What is the strangest thing you have ever done?' and 'What would people find irritating about you?'.

But most of the hopefuls left with the words 'Don't call us, we'll call you' ringing in their ears.

Here's six of the BB best from yesterday including the contenders for first couple.

A big impression

WACKY FRASER LEWARS, 18, of Carluke, Lanarkshire, impressed the judges with an impression of David Hasselhoff.

He said: 'There has never been anyone like me in the house and I am sure I would set the cat among the pigeons.'

I'm raring to go

DONNA MYATT, 22, of Stirling, made it to today's second audition and is confident of winning a place in the house.

She said: 'I had a transformation in The Salon on TV last month. Now I'm raring to go and the public better be ready for me.'

Grant's head start

STUDENT GRANT GUTHRIE, 26, of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, hoped his outrageous choice of headgear would catch the BB judge's eye.

He said: 'I wasn't sure how to impress the judges so I just acted like my wacky usual self.'

Bag lady's success

FASHION student DEBORAH ANDERSON, 19, was among those called back for a second audition.

Glasgow girl Deborah said: 'I impressed them by speaking about my bag, Bob. He comes everywhere with me and he brings me luck.'

The first couple

SEAN McLEAN, 21, of Motherwell.

He says: 'Last year's BB was very dull. We think we could bring a bit of excitement to the new series.

'Marie says we wouldn't have sex, but who knows what could happen if we were still in there after eight or nine weeks.'

MARIE VALENTE, 20, of Motherwell.

She says: 'I've always wanted to be on Big Brother but thought I would miss Sean too much.

'Now that they are looking for couples to take part we thought it was the perfect opportunity.

'We would definitely liven up the show with our hot-tempered arguments and our making-up sessions.'

Taken from here.

Is anyone interested in watching this kind of thing?????? I'm not
Bob the Bag sounds the most interesting of this lot.

I agree with you. When I learned they were augmenting video selection with open auditions I was pleased, because I always felt the videos pre-selected extrovert types, and prevented a genuine mix. Now this. It does sound dire, dosen't it?

I've got no confidence in the production team having learned from the dire mistakes that were BB4. They seem to be going out of their way to replicate their choices of bland media whores all over again.

Found some pics of the first auditions. Just click on a pic to enlarge

BB Glasgow Audition pics

That would be great! She should not have been voted out.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- A house full of Alison Hammonds
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She should and did get voted out, thank goodness

A few days of Allison was enough for me, was glad to see the back of her with her over the top performance.

If BB5 has a houseful like her, I don't intend watching it. If I want to see clowns I can visit the circus.

Hooray! Thank you, Endemol. This may be the key to my finally overcoming my addiction to BB.