Luclay Clayton Misoya robbed off Victory

As much as Big Brother has ended, the amplification continues! Sjoe, South African fans are so outraged that Zimbabwe’s Wendall won, and not Luclay, that they’ve now set up a petition on petitions24.com ‘Clayton ‘Luclay’ Misoya ROBBED OF VICTORY’.
When I last checked, the petition had 2 865 cyber signatures. The introduction reads: “We as fans of Luclay Misoya want Big Brother Amplified being [sic] investigated, we are not satisfied with the results that they announced on Sunday, we want Ernst and Young to Recount the votes, and we also want to burn Big Brother in South Africa.”
Aikona!
I feel for Luclay fans, believe me. I haven’t forgotten the deep disappointment when Namibia’s Eddie Moongo, presumed to be in a neck-and-neck race with Nigeria’s Kevin, lost out in BBA Revolution. Adding salt to the wound was that he only got Namibia’s vote. Like many Namibians, I struggled to assimilate it.
Do I believe the show was rigged. Not on your Luc-nelly. Though I did briefly toy with the possibility – please note, not toy(i)-toyi! – after The Revolution.
The bottomline is that it’s not in DStv-MultiChoice’s interest to predetermine a result. There are no benefits. Rather, they would risk alienating swathes of viewers across Africa. It’s as simple as that. It’s just not good business, or entertainment, sense. That’s the bottom line.
Still, it’s worth trying to understand the likely reasons Luclay did not win.
Yes, the South African was generally more entertaining than Wendall, but a lot of livewires fell out along the way – Confidence, Weza and Vimbai, to name a few.
Luclay fans need to step back, draw a deep breath and take a long, hard look at two key elements: voting, and the voting demographic.At the end of the day, no matter how entertaining you are, you have to get the votes. Never assume your ‘favourite’ will win on the back of ‘like’!

Amplified Voting
While Wendall may not have been amplified, his fan base was! Believe it.
Many a politician could learn a thing or two from Team Wendall: they organised their voting like a military operation. It was well planned and efficient.
They had day and night shifts; they had special days to target potentially ‘friendly’ countries; they had ‘vote Wendall days at work, e.g.: “it’s pay day today so ask all your colleagues to put in a vote, or two, for Wendall”; they borrowed friends’ MXit app, which allows for 10 free votes at a throw; they had daily vote targets, etc.
One fan boasted that they even crossed into Zambia to vote from there. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, but it underscores how serious they were.
The Zimbabwean’s fans, as well as his family, left nothing to chance! As one BBA fan wrote: “Never underestimate Zimbabweans when it comes to voting.”
If you understand how ultra organised Wendall’s fan base was, you’ll also understand why Zimbabweans were so upset last year when Munya lost. They doubtless thought no one could beat their voting offensive.
Still, there are always other factors, which can upset the apple cart, as happened with Munya last year.

Diversity And Alienation
As much as Luclay’s fans argue that he was entertaining and “deserved” to win, they need to realise that different things appeal to different viewers. The BBA viewership is not homogenous, it’s multi-dimensional.
People relate to housemates on a range of levels.
While it’s entertainment for some, others may see themselves reflected in someone; they may prefer the guy-next-door person to a loud, in-your-face character; it can be a case of arrogance vs humility; humour vs bad temper, etc, etc.
It’s the same in every sphere of life – from books, through music to actors and actresses. Also, being more entertaining doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily more popular.
Plus, there are always those fans who will vote along country and regional lines.
When it comes to Luclay, it’s a given that he more than likely alienated a few fan bases, the East African bloc for one. Without arguing the merits, his role in Lotus’ disqualification, and interchanges with the likes of Ernest and Bhoke would not have endeared him, to put it mildly, to fans in Tanzania, Uganda, etc.
Then there were his ‘I’m going to expose you’ rants. Some fans loved it, but others thought it verged on “terrorising”.

Munya And ‘Mona’
In my view, Luclay – like Munya – did himself a disservice by charging that he didn’t need Africa, and by cursing Biggie.
Throw in his “I’m the best entertainer in Africa” and “Johannesburg is Africa”and you’ve ticked off even more fans.
Then there was what was seen by many as Luclay’s disrespect towards Biggie. Factor in his failure to carry out some of his punishments – as well as a fuse or two – and that some felt that he was often let off the hook, and it starts adding up. Big time.
I also can’t help wondering whether ‘Mona’ was a factor. Eish, I loved Luclay’s ‘Mona’, gay-Capie impersonations. They were hilarious!
But again, did he underestimate the broad viewership? South Africa is more tolerant, by far, than the majority of African countries when it comes to people of different sexual persuasions. By contrast, there are those countries that are conservative, while a few are downright hostile towards gay people.
For this reason, it’s possible that his ‘Mona’ characterisations did not resonate well among some viewers. Just a thought.

Never A Given
In my view, it was never a given that Luclay would win. In addition to some of the reasons outlined above, with two prizes up for grabs and seven housemates in the running, the voting dynamics were always going to be volatile.
I don’t believe Luclay was robbed, or that the show was rigged. He simply failed to get enough votes.