Out go Cleo and Jo...

I'm feeling ill and run down again...grrr! Have a bit of a throat virus and a blocked nose at the mo, which I think I picked up from someone at work. Double grrr! And I thought I was done with colds and coughs for the time being, especially as I had a flu immunisation a short while back. It doesn't seem to have done the trick. Although as someone pointed out, real flu is far more severe than this. So maybe it's helped a bit, I dunno...I'm sure the cold weather we're currently enduring has got something to do with it too.

Anyway enough moaning and groaning. I have the whole weekend to crash, unwind and get better at home. Which is nice. I love being cosy and cuddled up chez moi. Lots of time to surf the net, write some more blog posts, read my fellow bloggers' own stuff, and catch some TV...I've got lots of DVDs to watch too like "Space 1999" and the first series of "Fame". Oooh!!

I had to curtail a night out last night due to my impending illness and came home early just in time to see the latest CBB eviction. It's all about to finish and on Sunday the overall winner will be announced. Hard to believe that it's nearly all over, the weeks have sped by.

And it was Cleo and Jo who were voted out this time. While I felt Jo deserved to be evicted, I was a bit shocked that Cleo was chosen for the other ousting.

As you might have gathered from my previous posts, I'm not much of a fan of Ms O'Meara. Firstly because of her schoolgirl bullying with Jade and Danielle against Shilpa. Second, because I didn't really think she was a particularly engaging or likeable personality. The usual montage of clips we saw in the post-eviction interview was a nifty piece of editing and media manipulation, with lots of shots of Jo laughing and smiling, dancing and dressed up in a variety of costumes and generally looking like a jolly soul. However for the majority of her stay in the house I found her to be someone who didn't "give out" much or make any kind of significant effort or contribution to proceedings. Most of the time she seemed content to lie back on her bed, doing remarkably little, with a face like a permanently slapped a*se.

And once again it was good to see Davina giving an evictee the grilling they deserved. As with Jade, Jo was subjected to a barrage of news clips showing all of the media ruckus surrounding the accusations of racism / bullying, which clearly came as a surprise to her. She told Davina "it's making it out to be worse than it is" but once the show of clips had finished she didn't have much else to say, seemingly shocked into silence, which was rather telling. Davina didn't spare her blushes though. She asked Jo about the Jade-Shilpa row and why she didn't intervene, to which Jo replied that it was between Jade and Shilpa only. Davina responded: "But you were complicit in what happened though, weren't you?" True enough.

In Jo's defense she said she wasn't a racist (apparently some of her relatives are Indian) and that she and some of the other housemates even mimicked Shilpa in her presence, which Ms Shetty herself found funny. I guess it's a case of not what you say, but the intent behind what's said and exactly how far one is prepared to go with things. To refer to an example of my own, some of my close friends occasionally make gay jokes. I don't mind this atall because I know it's all done in the spirit of jest and some of the jokes are hilarious anyway (including certain George Michael gags which I must post up here some time). I even take the p*ss out of my own sexuality when appropriate. If you can't laugh at yourself, who can? The point is, comments about minorities can be okay within certain boundaries and when not made in a deliberately harmful fashion. I stress "can be"; it's still a bit of a grey area! Going back to Jo and co, even if they didn't intend racism, it's easy to see why some of their remarks might have been interpreted that way. Well, if Ms O' Meara has an ounce of nous, she'll reflect on what's happened, make some mental adjustments and move on.

And what of Ms Rocos? She was a funny one. Once out of the house and in the hotseat with Davina, she seemed oddly subdued and rather sad. Was she upset about being evicted? Perhaps. As I said, I didn't think she deserved to go and I was surprised by the public's ultimate decision. Perhaps it was her baiting of Dirk that influenced the people's vote. And she did show some drama queen tendencies whilst in the house. As Ian noted perceptively, Cleo exhibited a habit of adopting other personas (dressing up as an array of "new" characters in wigs etc) in order to hide her own insecurities. I reckon Kenny Everett's influence clearly rubbed off on her all those years ago (or - was it her influencing Kenny??). She does like to hide behind a mask, or masks, to a certain degree. But I wouldn't say that any of this made her a profoundly difficult or horrible person. Cleo's strengths were her calmness, negotiation skills and ability to see things from both sides (particularly in relation to some of the conflicts that went on between the housemates). Of course by not siding with any one particular person / group in the house, she could have been regarded as "hedging her bets" or playing a game. Difficult to say for certain. But she had a wisdom and maturity about her which I liked, which set her far above the petty and childish behaviour exhibited by Jade and her bitchy posse.

And I loved Cleo's style. Whilst unfortunately lacking in ability as a comedienne (surprising for someone as flamboyant, theatrical and camp as she could be) she always dressed well and more than twenty years after the Kenny Everett Show, she still looks beautiful. Her hairstyle became increasingly outlandish as the days went by, but she's definitely a stunner. Much more so than sullen sourpuss Jo.

I was also surprised that Dirk wasn't the one to go in Cleo's place. But that just shows how perverse and unpredictable the viewing public can be. As mentioned I rather suspect that Cleo's "bothering" of Dirk brought her down in people's estimation. Dirk on the other hand is no angel and on many an occasion has been moody, uncommunicative and a law onto himself. In one of her more enlightened moments, Jo noted that he likes to laugh at his own jokes and only joined in/participated when it suited him. A bit rich coming from her, but a fair point. I reckon it's the "cheesy" connection (A Team, Battlestar Galactica) that has helped to keep Dirk in the house. Plus the fact that the housemates were given an A Team-themed task to do which he seemed to enjoy. And I will concede he has a certain dryness / wryness about him which might appeal to some. But overall I think he's too much hard work.

So...who do YOU want to win Celebrity Big Brother 2007? YOU decide.