After a tumultuous and exciting week on BigBrother StarGame, South Africa’s Barbz was evicted from Upville during Sunday’s live eviction show (24 June, live on DStv Channel 197 & 198 at 20:00 CAT) after receiving fewer country votes than Ghana’s Keitta.

Head of House Goldie’s decision to save her man, Prezzo, rather than her BFF Barbz, proved pivotal and the Nigerian singer’s distress was palpable as she crumpled to the couch when IK read out the South African’s name.

Zimbabwe’s Maneta had been the third nominated housemate this week, but she was disqualified, along with Roki, after the pair contravened Big Brother’s provocation and violence rules.

Power 101FM DJ Malick from Malawi had the studio audience hopping as IK gave viewers a chance to hear from last week’s evictees Lee and Jesica. The latter had felt very welcomed and accepted by people outside the house and said the Big Brother experience had made her a stronger person. She revealed that her attraction to Luke had started one soapy day in the Jacuzzi and wished her friend Junia all the best in Upville.

Lee said he had realised during his time on Big Brother StarGame that he wouldn’t change himself to win the USD 300 000 prize. His highlight had been watching people’s reaction to Keagan ‘flipping out’ and he’d particularly enjoyed the art-focused tasks, which had allowed him to express himself.

This week’s task was all about inner beauty – and both sets of housemates won their wagers, working their inner diva. In Upville, Maneta wouldn’t leave Keitta alone for a second while in Downville, sisters Talia and Tamara had a monumental sibling blowout.

Before IK took viewers into the Upville house for Goldie to reveal her ‘save and replace’ decision, Ghanaian rapper and songwriter M.Anifest rocked the stage with Makaa Maka.

An emotional Goldie explained to her housemates that she never thought she’d have to choose between Barbz and Prezzo. “I was caught up in the moment and confused – I had to replace Prezzo with Keitta. I’m so sorry Barbz,” she said as she sank to her knees in front of the South African. Barbz comforted her friend, telling her it was all ok, as Keitta headed upstairs to hurriedly pack his bags.

Once the Ghanaian had his luggage ready, IK returned to the house to reveal the result of Africa’s votes. “Keitta, you’re not leaving Upville – Barbz I’m sorry you’ve been evicted from the Big Brother house,” said IK, as the despairing Goldie broke down again.

Barbz strutted her way to the front of the stage and joined IK, saying she was excited to see so many beautiful faces in the studio audience. She told himthat she was looking forward to heading home to the people who love her and who will take care of her. She fielded two questions from the Big Brother StarGame Facebook page, one about forming true relationships in the house and another about whether she would continue to look after her mother. She told IK that she had developed a ‘beautiful relationship’ with Keitta – “I have a thing for people from Ghana,” she said with a grin – and that she would definitely keep looking after her mom, whom she called her “pillar of strength”.

M.Anifest performed again – banging out Suffer – before it was time to kick-start the random nomination process with Buhle and the Sizwe Ntsaluba-Gobodo auditor. The 11^th ball to drop from the random nomination box this season bore the name ‘Zambia’, meaning that siblings Talia and Tamara are up for eviction this week. Buhle spun the box again and this time round, Malawi’s ball was the one randomly chosen, meaning that Nafe and Wati are the second pair up for eviction. Voting opened immediately after the show and continues until 06:00 CAT next Sunday.

There are three ways to vote to keep your favourite housemate in Big Brother StarGame – via web, SMS or WAP – and you can win amazing prizes in the process. In this week’s viewer vote competition, Edith Mushabati (Zambia) won a Big Boy Scooter, Annah Moche (South Africa) picked up a DStv Walka, and Solange Maasobong (Ghana) will be watching Big Brother StarGame on a brand new DStv HD PVR Decoder.

To vote via web or WAP, go to www.africamagic.tv/bigbrother, log in, click ‘Vote’ and then click the appropriate button for the housemate you’d like to keep in the house. You may vote once per hour.

To vote via SMS, send the word VOTE followed by the housemate’s name to the number for your country below. SMS’s are charged per specified network tariffs in the various countries. VAS rates apply. Free minutes do not apply. Please note that you can vote 100 times by SMS per telephone number during each voting period.

South Africa

Vodacom                 33729              R 1,50

MTN                            33729              R 1,50

CellC                          33729              R 1,50

With 14 housemates left in the game, and 42 days to play, anything goes in the hunt for the USD 300 000 prize.