Big Brother 10 Finale Interviews at CBS Part 2

By Dennis Luciani

Just wanted to take you guys down memory lane again through my overloaded giddy memory of Big Brother finale night! Let's see the perfect start of this memory trip would have to be with the classy lady, Renny.
 
When this lovely lady stepped forward to my humble area, she was wearing a simple black dress that I knew was missing a little something. A Feather Boa! I just happened to have an extra one in my bag of tricks. What? Doesn't everyone carry around an extra feather boa? Oh ok, don't answer that, but let's get back to the interview. I started off asking Renny about the safety of her family and friends back in New Orleans regarding the recent storm scare they just had and she told me they were all fine. Thank God! I told her that when she had won HOH and got to see all the pictures of her family, I distinctly remembered a picture of her on stage and it reminded of me of my own childhood of seeing my favorite aunt on stage and just knowing that somehow, someway I would be in the entertainment industry. I asked her in her brutally honest opinion, if the Renny we saw, was the 100% Renny that is in every day life. I already knew the answer, which was yes. I then asked her if she was going to have any sad memories being away from the BB house and she started laughing. She wanted OUT OUT OUT of that house. The image that she says that stands out in her mind is seeing the Colonel brushing his dentures. A little later after I finished chatting with her on camera she was laughing at me about how I was with the microphone almost shoving it up her nose! OY! So, I had to get her back and say that her Charleston needs a little work and then ideas were being thrown around about another show for her. I suggested that she should get onto Dancing with the Stars. She was tickled at the idea and is probably right now trying to get in touch with anyone that would be able to keep her shining star soaring. Also, it would get her further away from my next interview, Jerry.
 
In person, Jerry is the kindly grandfather type that I am sure everyone of us has had in their lives in some way or another. I complimented him on being able to hang with all the young folk for the whole summer and he said to me what he had said a few times during the season, that this is his last hurrah. I responded with a "what???" What do you mean Jerry? You have plenty of years ahead of you? He said he just wants to get back to his family and his grandkids and just be a part of their growing up. It actually made me sad a little when he said that, but with everything life has thrown at him, it's his choice and he's earned it. I hope he weathers the storm of critics good and bad out there. After all he was the runner up for favorite Jury member, but that prize went to Ms Keesha.
 
Keesha, who I was warned was going to be gun shy after having only having been in the house with a few people and suddenly back into the fast lane with 100's of people wanting to meet her and talk to her. I went on a gentle tack and eased my way into her thought process of it all. I asked her what was the funniest thing or happiest thing she can remember from the whole summer.  Only giving it a second, she replied simply, Renny. Renny was able to make her laugh and she will treasure the friendship that was born almost exactly when they first met inside the house. When I was hanging with Keesha and her friend later, I threw a funny question at her about now chasing her 15 minutes of reality fame with more Hollywood style fame. She said, and I quote  "GOD NO!  NO WAY" She is happy with her life and very content with her somewhat simple life that doesn't involve the glitz and glammer of 100's of people. Which is the exact opposite of what a mixologist might say. What a coincidence! A mixologist is among us this very second! The ever charismatic Memphis has now sauntered over.
 
Memphis brought over his big huge poster board $50,000 check and I started the introduction with a congratulations. I asked him if he was going to be having some sort of shindig at one of his bars and he said oh yes (I hope we are all invited).  We chatted a little about having a partner in crime (Dan) for funny stuff, like their pet spider out in the backyard. After having been in the backyard and seeing just how small it really was, I really now understand that any of that unusual behavior that we did see was coaxed along slowly and surely simply by the constraints of no space and no privacy that they all had to go through. I had asked Memphis how he dealt with it. He said he had that easy going attitude that just meshed with just about everyone and his ability to pretty much avoid conflict was key too. It was surprising to him a lot of things that came out of the mouth of Jerry. With the whole Judas thing towards Dan, comments on the looks of Keesha and even comments that set him off characterizing him as a "womanizer". I had to tell him that he now needs to burn that gray v-neck t-shirt that he wore almost every single day and also tell Dan to burn his shorts. He laughed but said that when you're in the house and your life consists of waking up, rolling out of bed and doing absolutely nothing a lot of the time, you're not really worried about what the hell you're wearing. When asked if there were any regrets about the game itself he honestly said no and that given a chance to do it all again, you just never know what could happen inside and just have to be open, and relaxed as you can but still on guard. You have to be able to maneuver and plan ahead and have good strategic moves in place to get you ahead. Much like a football coach would have to do to keep his team in fighting shape. So let's ask the winner of Big Brother 10 how he did it. 
 
Dan finally steps over to me and you can tell he's exhausted. I am at least getting him before Jen Johnson and Evil Dick get him for their respective website interviews. I make him laugh by telling him that he was the epitome of dodging and weaving his way throughout the season of bullets that could have had nailed him a few times throughout the whole season. From the start having aligned himself with Brian to then being America's Choice and responsible for the eviction of Jessie, life seemed very short for Mr. Dan in that house. He was then tripped up by me when I asked him how he survived and what his strategy was. He had replied with a "well I was not cut out for some of those challenges, WRONG! Dan, you said to all of America that you were throwing a lot of the challenges! So nice try! There is no way you are weak, I asked to see a bicep and yes he's got them. So he laughed and said yes, that he was caught in a fib but I am sure that after talking non stop for 4 hours he didn't even know 1/2 the things that were coming out of his mouth. I then noticed just looking at him, he wasn't wearing his cross. I asked him why not? It seems silly that he would take it off even after the bologna of Jerry's Judas treatment that was given to him. But as he said, he was playing the game and made that conscious decision to just put his cross away, which was the same as when he told Ollie that he swore on his girlfriend's name during a pivotal HOH, all game play. Does a religious person have any right to enjoy the fruits of this game? His answer was yes. He is the same person before during and after, he played a game. He played it without getting petty against others, knew when to be involved, and when not to and when to make moves and put some blind faith in those moves and alliances that had throughout. To his credit, I told him that quite of few of the others that I had chatted with had nothing but honest fondness for him.  
 
So cheers to the winner Dan and cheers to the end of a great season of Big Brother. A toast to Julie "Don't call me Mrs. Chen" Chen for presiding over each season with always effortless grace.  And cheers to CBS for giving us this season that seemed to reinvigorate the whole Big Brother series as a whole without tossing in any twists and turns and just making the show what we have come to know and love. A show that is about a house with walls with no escape and hungry for the big personalities that come to be trapped in there for a little over 2 months.  
 
That's it for now from your favorite Average Joe, hope you guys had a great summer, I know I sure did! But don't despair dear reality TV addicts, Big Brother 11 will be coming! Ciao for now!
 
Dennis

(Photo courtesy of CBS)