Big Brother Croatia Update: Pessimism Apparently Unfounded

Many eviction votes promised to be close only to deliver hefty margin for the clear loser in the end. This one, however, appears to be really exciting and the margin is going to be very small.

Few dare to make clear predictions, although on-line polls suggest Antonija being evicted with 5-10 % margin over Ana. T-Com's news site, which used to give hints about final results before, is silent. This could be explained with clear commercial considerations – T-Com wants to keep this race close and can hope to have plenty of phone votes until the last minute. Some may actually cast their phone vote based on what they see in the first hour of show.

Uncertainty and awareness of being manipulated apparently took their toll on some of housemates' friends and family. When Jutarnji List tried to gather their traditional panel and determine who would get evicted and who would get nominated, they could count on only four people. Saša's (Sasa's) and Ana's family were apparently "unavailable for comment", while Bajlo family "abstained", apparently unhappy with the Zagreb daily incorrectly publishing Alen as Paola Bajlo's nomination choice.

Some of the predictions were brave, to say the least. Denis Tasić (Denis Tasic), Valentina's father, expects Alen to be evicted and his nomination choices are Zdravko and Saša. He prefers all-female final four.

And Alen's eviction, by the way things are going, seems to be the only way for this scenario to come true. Or at least absence of males is the only guarantee for Valentina to stay until final. In past few days Valentina has managed to insult and upset almost anyone in the House, except traditionally cool and stubborn Marina. Saša (Sasa) is increasingly complaining about her pompous intellectualism combined with inability to do anything "practical". Even her former ally Antonija has joined chorus of criticism.

Valentina scored negative points among Saša and Zdravko for criticising their performance during weekly task practice. However, it seems that such criticism, unfounded or not, worked. Despite all of their pessimisstic assesments, the housemates have passed the assault course within designated time limits. It still remains to be seen whether some improperly exercised push-ups would warrant disqualification and task failure.

While Ana slightly improved her mood, she is still slightly depressed. Antonija is, on the other hand, utterly convinced that she would stay. This doesn't prevent her from starting her own pre-nomination campaign and trying to emulate Marina in winning male section's favour. She is especially aggressive towards Zdravko whom she tries to hug at any convenient occasion. Antonija also went on record by saying that her nomination was "a fluke that won't be repeated".

Alen, on the other hand, seems to be depressed. It appears that he became afraid that he could get evicted. On the other hand, it is also likely that the next round of nominations, which could, at least theoretically, result in some unpleasant choices between him and Marina, also influenced his mood. Another reason for Alen's bad mood is, of course, increasing occurrence of Zdravko and Marina expressing fondness for each other.

However, it seems unlikely that Saša and Zdravko would nominate Alen and Marina tonight for one very practical reason. They are correct if they think that Marina's nomination and eviction could lead to Alen's voluntary departure and thus reduce their competition. But they don't have to put that plan in motion, at least not at this stage. If Alen and Marina are sole nominees tonight, Saša and Zdravko risk spending the last two weeks of the show in the company of Ana and Valentina. And this is the company two of them don't appear to appreciate much, especially when there are more pleasant alternatives around.