'Big Brother' Has Its All-Star Team

By Brill Bundy, Zap2It.com | July 6, 2006

Alison Irwin, 'Big Brother 4'

Fourteen previous HouseGuests return, but the first eviction is just around the corner

LOS ANGELES -- If viewers are unhappy with what transpires on "Big Brother 7: All-Stars" this summer, they have nobody to blame but themselves.

Over a week of online voting, CBS allowed the public to choose among 20 previous HouseGuests to repopulate the humble abode that's equipped with 76 microphones and more than 50 cameras trained on their every move.

Thursday (July 6) night, on the seventh season's premiere, the 15 million votes cast were tallied and the "winners" announced.

First, the four highest vote-getting women -- Jennifer "Nakomis" Dedmon, Diane Henry, Erika Landin and Janelle Pierzina -- swarmed in with Nakomis worried that the pretty girls won't like her and Diane griping that Erika didn't do anything during her time on the show the first time around.

They were followed by the four most-popular men: Howie Gordon, James Rhine, Kaysar Ridha and Jase Wirey.

Keeping the proceedings from being a repeat of Seasons Five and Six (with a token Season Four -- Erika -- added in for good measure), the producers took the reins and rounded out the group with Alison Irwin (Season Four), Danielle Reyes and Marcellas Reynolds (Season Three), Will Kirby and Mike "Boogie" Malin (Season Two) and "Chicken" George Boswell (Season One).

Will is the only person to have won his original season who is back for more, although Alison was runner-up to the $500,000 grand prize and did manage to last a couple of weeks on "Amazing Race."

Always looking to add a twist, the show cuts short any potential bonding between the new roommates. Before sending them outside for the first competition the contestants are told that this season there will be not one, but two Heads of Household who must live together and agree on the nominees for eviction. If they can't (or don't) agree, they will automatically become the nominees themselves.

Jase and Janelle are the last ones standing and Danielle immediately starts "suggesting" that they turn on one another, with Alison backing her up.

The joint Heads decide that this level of gameplay is too hard too soon and slap the ladies down with an eviction nomination apiece.