Big Brother Croatia Update: Special Christmas Mystery

Contestants are spending their last full day in the House. They are completely disinterested about the outcome of the game and all they think about is the departure.

Their lack of interest in Big Brother is apparently shared by Croatians. Many of them took Christmas as an opportunity to take a rest from Big Brother. Even the most ardent fans became tired of seeing their favourite reality show, especially when the contestants are boring.

This explains why hardly anyone paid attention to the last night events that, only few weeks or days ago, could have created flood of Internet traffic.

Ever since Alen and Marina appeared together in the House, they were subject of the same recurring rumour – two of them have consummated their "relationship" and RTL Televizija constantly refused to air the tapes or inform the public about that event. Few people took those rumours seriously, despite Alen and Marina being caught on camera in very intimate moments. In each of those situations exact nature of their activities was always in the realm of plausible deniability.

Another such intimate moment happened last night after Jacuzzi session. Alen and Marina spent at relatively large amount of time in the same bed, covered with sheets, kissing and whispering to each other. With microphones too far away those who followed those events on livestream have only their imagination to guide them when they try to determine what has actually happened last night. Only a small piece of conversation that somehow reached microphones (Marina: "What are you doing?" Alen: "What am I doing? I'm lying in bed and talking.") might be a clue. Another clue is today's sensual massage given by Alen to Marina and Marina's refusal to show her breasts to him.

However, rumours and speculations, even those based on Web cameras, are just rumours and speculations. More resolute answer to this titillating question is going to be provided by RTL Televizija in its handling of last night's events. Those events are supposed to be covered by tonight's daily summary. However, today is Christmas and if some explicit action indeed occurred it is unlikely to be part of prime time television on this day.

Alen and Marina's statements in Confessions Room might clear the confusion, but there is very little room for RTL Televizija to air those statements due to compressed schedule of two final days. For example, there is another Big Brother Special tonight called "The Last Night". It is scheduled for 22:40. Whether this special is only a live show or whether it would have some extra footage remains to be seen.

However, more telling answer is complete lack of interest in Croatian Internet. Forums, Usenet groups and websites are empty or don't mention the last night events. This might be product of Big Brother fatigue. Or perhaps Croatian Big Brother fans realised that this even the most voyeuristic "tell all" show should have at least one unsolved mystery.

If the mystery remains unsolved, one of the reasons could be in Alen and Marina being parties to well-prepared contracts. Unlike Nova TV, which had Marin Tironi, the winner of their own reality show, abandon ship and switch to HRT few months after his victory, RTL Televizija has covered more ground and there are strict limits for contestants in their handling of post-House life.

For example, at least one year after the end of the show contestants aren't allowed to become employed by any TV house other than RTL Televizija. If any of them dreams of becoming entertainment celebrity, their fame is going to be short-lived, including job and financial opportunities that come with it. RTL Televizija holds the key of those dreams, because without its media machine is only thing that would keep them in public spotlight in the most critical period of their post-House life.

This, of course, explains why the contestants were so well-behaved, disciplined, unwilling to rock the boat and prone to all kinds of friendly persuasion in Confessions Room.