Big Brother Canada season three premieres tonight on Global, and no one is as excited about this as the BBCAN host Arisa Cox. “It is so huge, we are so thrilled!...because it’s on Global in prime time, I excited for the people who have never seen the show or have watched maybe one episode of Big Brother US and they don’t know what all the fuss is about – when they see tonight’s episode, they will be believers,” said Arisa when I talked to her this morning.

I think all of the regular Big Brother fans were excited last year when the announcement came out that the reality show would be moving from the specialty channel Slice over to the main Shaw channel Global. With the audience reach widening, there are all sorts of opportunities to make believers out of all Canadians instead of just the die hards.

If I were Arisa, all I would be thinking about would be the jump in audience. With so many more people potentially watching the show, would that put Arisa off her game? In her words, no. “…if one person is watching or if 3 million people are watching, I always want it to be the best.”

I tried to get Arisa to give me some spoilers (if I were her I would have given them to me and no one else – obviously), but she would not budge. What she did tell me, “We’ve got a ton of superfans in the house…everybody knows the game, everybody knows the show. They are well versed...As a production team we are going to make them throw all that stuff out the window.” So basically – get ready for a season of twists.

“What we have planned for the season is so next level – you won’t be able to look away,” said Arisa. I am counting on it.

Big Brother Canada premieres tonight on Global TV at 9 PM MST/8 PM EST…Arisa will be wearing a navy and black dress as all the superfans walk into the house.

XOXO
Jes…

Meet Canada's newest country duo - Twin Kennedy.

Well, that actually isn't true. They've been around, touring and writing songs as Carli and Julie for years. Since they were children they have been playing instruments and singing for any audience that would have them. They have always been Carli and Julie, or the twins, or the Kennedys - but I guess it was time to make a name that sounded a little more...like a country duo. Before they made their next album they decided it was time to find something that would stick.

"We knew for a year that we wanted to make a change, something that was easy...we thought of Dear Kennedy, Miss Kennedy..." said Julie. "...we really wanted to keep Kennedy, but then everyone always came back to the twin thing," said Carli.

They became Twin Kennedy...if there was ever a more country sounding duo name I don't know what that would be. Maybe Cowgirls on Hay-Bales...but I think I like Twin Kennedy more.

This week on Big Brother Canada the twist was - Canada was HoH. Which means, they get to pick the nominees. In the end it was Andrew Gordon from Calgary that felt the wrath of first Canada and then the other houseguests and was sent out the door.

I'm not a huge proponent of fans having so much say in the game, but this season has proven to be quite boring and I understand that the producers need to shake things up. Canada picked Andrew and Sabrina to go on the block. Not surprising. They were running the house for too long.

This week on Big Brother Canada the girls tried once again to get out Heather and ended up back-dooring one of their own. Every year they say it and it's true. All girls alliances never work.

Rachelle won HoH and nominated her nemesis Heather and the new girl Allison. Allison wins the veto because Heather doesn't know how to play and takes herself off of the block. Sabrina was able to convince Rachelle to back-door Ika if the chance presented itself - it did and Ika went up.

Ika knew she was going home, so when she won a competition that allowed her to either give houseguests letters from home or take $5,000 for herself, she choose the latter.

Ika started talking out loud about all of the houseguests and if any of them would vote to keep her if she did give them the letters. It was not pleasant. Of course the houseguests were in the house watching her on the TVs say all of these things about them. It was Topaz from season one all over again.

Ika shredded all of their letters from home as the HGs stood in rage. When the door to the backdoor opened, angry houseguests awaited. Ha. It was awesome.

Of course, after that there was no way she was staying and Ika was sent packing. After Ika left the house we chatted about game power, her decision to shred the cheques and who will be the most surprised to find out Kenny is gay.

Jes: Choosing the $5,000 instead of giving out the letters sealed your fate of eviction. What do you think your chances would have been if you gave the letters to the houseguests?

Ika: I was backdoored! There wasn't even a chance. Even if I thought there was a 20 percent chance that they would keep me, I would have shredded the cheque. But since I knew I was going home, I thought I'm going to go home with my cheque!

I would have done the same. Give me my money.

Jes: At this point in the game, which houseguest do you think has the most power in the house?

Ika: I think Adel does because Canada loves him and they're behind him. The move Canada makes this week will help Adel's game.

Seriously? I understand that Canada received the HoH powers this week, but that doesn't mean that Adel has power.

Jes: Kenny has strategically hidden the fact that he is gay from the other houseguests, who do you think would be the most surprised by this revelation?

Ika: Omg - all of them! He has everybody fooled. But let me think. In a situation like this though, it's the people you're closest to. So I think Andrew will be most shocked.

I think Andrew as well. And/or maybe Sabrina.

XOXO
Jes...

Last night on Big Brother Canada, Kyle Shore became the second houseguest evicted and the first backdoor evictee of the season.

After King Paul's reign as HoH, the crown was passed off to Andrew. Paul didn't do himself any favours during his week on top and became public enemy number one when he bad mouthed Andrew and called him a racist (which is part of Paul's 'plan' to become the villan and making it to the end of the game. Uh huh. Don't ask.)

Andrew had a personal vendetta against Paul and put him on the block next to Neda - the pawn.  Kenny then came up with the brilliant plan to use this opportunity to get rid of another one of the guys, one that may be able to beat them in compeitions (ie. not Paul). 

After the house turned against Paul, Kyle and Adel stupidly aligned themselves with him. And because those two were now on the outs with the rest of the house, it made it easy for Kenny and Andrew to then turn around and target Kyle.

Anick Gervais was the first houseguest evicted from Big Brother Canada season 2. Poor girl, she went in with so much positivity and energy and ended up only lasting a week. ‘Tis the Big Brother game.

In the first HoH competition Anick was the first houseguest to step off the ice. When current HoH, Paul, decided to make his nominations, one could only think that that was one of the reasons she was put on the block.

She was placed next to Andrew and things were not looking good for her. The PoV competition was more of a muscle than energy game and Andrew ended up being the victor – meaning Andrew would inevitably take himself off the block and someone would go up in his place. That person was Ika.

In true Big Brother Canada fashion, the houseguests united against a single person and voted out Anick unanimously 11-0.

When Mallory Hagan, the current Miss America, came to Calgary this past week I arranged a sit down with her.

Why? Well, first of all I had a spot open up in my schedule after hearing Tim McGraw's concert was cancelled at the Calgary Stampede. I had allocated 7 hours of stalking time that were no longer necessary.

Second, I knew she was formerly Miss New York and had lived in Brooklyn for a number of years. Brooklyn, home to Hannah, Jessa, Shoshanna and Marnie. The setting of the popular TV show that supposedly is the voice of our generation, Girls.

I was curious as to her take on the show. Is this an accurate representation of Brooklynites? I mean, it's TV so the exaggeration factor needs to be accounted for, but is it somewhat accurate and should we all be bracing for the impending doom of civilization if it is?

Trevor Risk, Gillian Damborg, Sean Tyson (aka the Beave), Ian Urbanski, Jes, Tyler Quarels

I walked into the Fairmont Palliser carrying a grocery bag containing a beaver costume and and a camera looking for a group of 5 people that made up the band Sunshine. The Vancouver based alt. band was in town for Sled Island, the indie music festival that annually takes over Calgary, starting with greatness and ending in drunken debauchery. Basically my heaven.*

Generally, locating musicians in a ritzy hotel is not hard, but it was the first day of the Sled and the hipsters had taken over the lobby. I finally found the band hanging out in a corner and presented them the beaver costume. It had been agreed upon prior to the interview that the band's drummer, Sean, would wear said beaver costume the whole time the interview was taking place.

(...when I say agreed upon, I mean it was agreed upon between me and the band's lead singer Trevor - I am not sure Sean even knew his task until he was forced into the suit.)

Sean went off to transition into the Beave and I chatted with the other members.  They seemed like a pretty legit group. Not pretentious in a way that would derail my interview plans - starting with the beaver costume and working towards a glorious drinking game.

The cop drama, Rookie Blue, will be premiering its fourth season tonight...proving once again that Thursday night is the drama machine, even in the summer.

The end of season 3 left us with a bunch of questions unanswered as Andy and Nick head off together on an undercover mission. Tonight, season 4 starts 6 months later as Andy and Nick wrap up their mission and return to 15 Division. What will become of the rookies?

I had a chance to sit down with two of the Canadian stars of the show, Miss Peregrym (Andy McNally) and Gregory Smith (Dov Epstein)...and since they finished filming season 4 in January they would know if this season was on track to be as emotional as the last.

SonReal and Rich Kidd

They say opposites attract. Rich Kidd and SonReal, two Canadian rappers who released their album The Closers last October, are about as opposite as two people could be. And no, I am not talking about the obvious physical contrast - Rich Kidd being big and SonReal being small, of course.

From their artistic style to their actions during confrontation, they couldn't be any more different, but sometimes a yin needs its yang and vice versa. Maybe that's what makes The Closers such an interesting album and the pair as entertaining to be around as a Thursday night sitcom.

A couple weeks ago I was able to hang out with the guys to talk about their album. I started pick up on their differences right away. SonReal was early, I was on time and Rich Kidd was late.

As we waited for the big guy to arrive I got a feel for SonReal. What he lacks in the looks of a gangster he does not make up with attitude, surprisingly. I was met by a down to earth charming guy who explained to me that he and his other half lived on different standards of time. Some time later, Rich Kidd rolled in drinking a carton of chocolate milk smelling like Snoop Dogg Lion saying something like, "Yo, what's up? Let's do this."

The winner of Big Brother Canada has now arrived safely home in Halifax and I was able to catch her before she left Toronto. Jillian MacLaughlin, the 27 year old teacher originally from New Glasgow, NS, won the title on Thursday night in one of the most controversial Big Brother finales in all of franchise history. Of Friday morning I was able to chat with her after her single hour of sleep for the exciting night before.

"I really only slept for like an hour," said Jillian during our quickie phone interview. She spent the night with her family and best friend and the other cast mates. "We went back to the hotel with our friends and family. I met all of Emmett’s brothers and his family and he met my sisters and my parents. We mingled and had some drinks and went to bed."

Interesting...already meeting the family are we? Of course you know that I am referring to her hot and heavy showmance, Emmett Blois. During the beginning of the game Jillian seemed concerned with how much time she spent attached to Emmett's body and stated on occasion that she thought it may negatively impact her career as a teacher.  She doesn't seem to think it will based on what her family has told her so far about the show.

Big Brother Canada is over, but there are still questions to be answered and houseguests to drill.

As you are well aware, I was Team Peter from day one because of our people aversion (aka. general irritation caused by the general populous). As the game progressed Canada got a little sick of Peter and Alec thinking they were God's gift to the BB Canada house and then his seemingly poor loser speech during the finale tipped the scale. Due to my adoration of douchey men, I was unfazed by the situation.

Yesterday I posted part of my interview with Big Brother Canada's Peter Brown where he told me the jury house plan about "Anyone but Jillian" for the win and Jillian's reaction. I fully understand my part played in making Peter look like a total d*ck, but I will attempt to redeem myself.

Yes, Peter looked like a poor loser after the finale, but he also had some good things to say about his housemates and the tough challenges he faced while in the house. Obviously I started by asking him if he ended up hating everyone in the house as he assumed he would.

Kristina Maria. You may think you don’t know her, but you probably do. If you listen to the radio chances are you have heard one of her catchy pop tunes Our Song Comes On, CoPilot or Karma.

Hailing from Ottawa, the Canadian singer has had a pretty successful early stage in her career. Her first album, Tell the World, was released just over a year ago and picked up a Pop Album of the Year JUNO nomination.

She is in good hands working with manager Vito Luprano who has worked with the likes of Celine Dion…I’d say you can’t get much better than that. Having Luprano in your corner can open doors to all sorts of opportunities. Her first is writing with some of the best in the business. Which lead to writing a song featuring JC Chaze. I know he is no Justin Timberlake, but he was definitely the second best NSYNC-er of the group.

Gary Levy was the most polarizing person in the Big Brother Canada house this season and he was also the runner up, taking home a $20,000 prize. He was also the unfortunate person who ended up coming in second even though, had the votes been cast properly, he would have went home the big winner.

I got to chat with Gary the day after his big night. I am not sure why, after watching this boy in action for the past two months, I was surprised at all the energy he had on the phone first thing in the morning. He was also in the best of spirits...like, amazing spirits considering the drama from the night before.

image credit: Rebecca Blissett

The Pack a.d., a rock duo from Vancouver, have been around since 2006, but it was not until this year that they were noticed by the people giving out Canada's top prizes in music, the Juno Awards.

I got to sit down with Becky Black and Maya Miller the day before the big awards where they were nominated in the Breakthrough Group category for their album Unpersons along with Yukon Blond, Hey Ocean!, Walk Off the Earth and the winners Monster Truck.

Breakthrough Artist/Group categories always intrigue me because half of time the bands have been around for five years or more. Most of the bands that were nominated along with The Pack a.d. fall into that category. That's a long road before your country validates you.

Last night on eviction night Peter Brown was evicted from the Big Brother Canada house. I had been on Team Peter from day one, but as time went on my fondness for Peter dropped. He went from a quirky gamer to a cocky boy with a chip on his shoulder. I will never understand people getting kicked out of the game and saying that it was because they were playing with stupid people. Isn't part of the game figuring out how people play and manipulating that? Not how they 'should' be playing.

Besides Alec, Peter was the biggest fan of the game coming into the house. All of the game knowledge helped those two, but it also hindered them because they were idolizing people who had played the game more than once with others who had done the same. I think they both needed to get their heads out of Big Brother US and into Big Brother Canada.

Who was the last VJ on MuchMusic who hailed from Alberta? If you said no one, you would be correct. In the past it might have been the demographics keeping the Albertan VJ hopefuls out of the running, but the current MuchMusic VJ Search online video submissions make even those in Nunavut eligible. Alberta threw some names into the mix and now there are currently two vying for the coveted VJ job, and one of them just might take it.

Madison Pinder is a 21 year old University of Calgary student and Kyle Whitehead is a 24 year old graphic designer from Red Deer. Both have traveled across the country with a bus of VJ hopefuls competing in various competitions along the way and have made it into the top ten in Toronto.

I got a chance to speak with Kyle and Madison away from the windows of 'Camp Much' where they are currently living while trying to become Much's next VJ.

Showmance doom on double eviction night strikes again! Yesterday on Big Brother Canada the ill fated showmance/fauxmance, Topaz and Alec, got sent to the jury house.

Alec was originally placed on the block with his Shield partner, Peter. He made yet another dumb move when he threw the PoV competition allowing Peter to win. Usually when smart people do weird things like that it is because they have some kind of master plan, so I guess Alec's was to go to the jury house.

After using the PoV on himself, Topaz was named the replacement nominee and Peter did his best to try and save his plotting friend, but in the end Alec was the first on out of the house in a 3-1 vote. Not surprising to anyone, well...maybe to Alec because he just didn't understand how he managed to not outsmart anyone still in the house.

(Read the read of the recap and Q and A after the jump!)

Big Brother Canada had it's first triple eviction. Yes, TRIPLE EVICTION: Gary Levy and his alter-egos Gerald and Zoe were all kicked to the curb in a 5-0 vote against Topaz. The Secret Wedding Alliance is dead as well. Man, it's just death all over the place - I really should have worn a black veil respect of the whole situation.

It wasn't always glitter sprinkles between Gary and I. Gary quickly made it onto my hate list when he entered the house wearing platforms and throwing around glitter like he was in a friggin' parade...but over time he grew on me to the point where I was devastated any time his name would come up as a nominee and I went into full on mourning when I found out he was going to get the boot from the house.

Suzette and AJ had a few things in common on the Big Brother Canada show, which may have lead to them both being evicted from the house on the same day.

They were both not physical players and, according to the diary room recordings of multiple houseguests, their quirks could sometimes be unbearable annoyances in the house. They were also two of the few houseguests that were not in a showmance.