8am at the UCE Pavillions Suite in Moor Lane, and the queue of people included those dressed as aliens, giant insects, Bo Selecta characters and someone with a lampshade on their head (?!). The Big Brother recruitment team had clearly arrived in Birmingham.
I arrived at the auditions just after 8am, with my friend, who I had agreed to keep company in the queue, as I wasn't intending to audition myself. There were already a good 500 people there. Shortly before 9am, a member of the production crew came down the queue, and with the aid of a megaphone, informed everyone of the plan for the day. We were told that, unlike at some of the previous auditions, everyone would be seen at the first stage, and they would not simply be picking people from the queue.
Things started moving soon after, with more people arriving all the time. Through chatting to one crew member, I was informed that the first potential housemate arrived at 2am that morning - he didn't make it past the first round though. At the time I spoke to them (10.20am), there were approximately 3000 waiting to be seen, and they had expected a turn out of around 3500.
The crowds out in force in Birmingham this morning
Once at the front of the queue, groups of between 6 and 10 people were formed, who were then assigned to one of 3 crew members (so up to 30 people were being seen at one time.)
Groups spent about 5 minutes talking to the crew member, and were each asked to explain why they thought they should be in the Big Brother house, and what they would bring to the show. One crew member also insisted on a group rendition of YMCA or a similarly cheesy song. After this, each of the participants were asked to choose a fellow group member that they WOULDN'T like to see in the show! My friend Pete failed to make it past this stage, but one member of his group did. From some groups, no-one was chosen, and from others, up to 6 were.
Two groups being chatted to by crew members.
Those that made it through this stage, were then sent inside the building, where they filled in a short form. From here, they individually had to go into a "Diary Room" where they had exactly a minute to explain why they thought they should be on Big Brother.
Out of the groups of 20, it seems only 1 or 2 people were chosen to progress to the afternoon auditions.
11.20am, and the end of the queue could no longer be seen, and there were approximately 4000 people there. The vast majority of people auditioning appeared to be between 20 and 30, but there were quite a few older auditionees as well. People were obviously out to make an impression - many women (and men, come to think of it!) had braved wearing next to nothing, despite the chilly conditions!
Bo Selecta!
A lot of people also felt they needed a gimmick to attract the attention of the producers, yet it appeared this was not as important as it has been at previous auditions, as everyone got their chance to be heard.
