It’s Saturday and gamblers are jamming the Muckleshoot Casino.
On the gaming floor electronic slot machines chirp, beep and ring out siren calls, luring patrons with flashing lights, gaudy graphics and promises of riches in exchange for a few dollars.
In the Auburn casino’s Club Galaxy a different breed of gambler gathers. Gamblers like 21-year-old Jonathan Shines from Roy, who came to audition for a shot at stardom on the reality show “Big Brother.”
“I’ve been watching reality shows since I was in third or fourth grade,” Shines said. “And when I get older, after I’m done with college, I want to act. So I believe this is the best opportunity for me to get to that next level, kind of rub shoulders and get some experience. As well as a chance to win $500,000. That’s something I can use to get to college and support my mom and my little sisters.”
“Big Brother” has offered contestants a shot at fame and fortune since 2000. Based on a Danish television show that debuted in 1997, the American version of “Big Brother” features an assembled cast of ordinary people, living with and competing against one another in a house where they are isolated from the outside world and filmed 24 hours a day for three months. The residents vie to be the last standing, dodging eviction from the house by winning contests of endurance and athletic skill and forging alliances with other house members. Contestants are eliminated by the votes of their housemates. The final resident wins a $500,000 cash prize.
Shines – who hopes to attend college at either Central Washington or Washington State – said the popularity contest aspect of the show plays to his strengths.
“Everybody else on the show is just one person. I’m the athlete, I’m the honors kid, the ASB president, the theater guy who was the lead in the school play,” Shines said. “I’m kind of the melting pot of different personalities and cliques. I’m able to get along with anybody. I can communicate with everybody because I blend in with everybody. I don’t discriminate against nobody.”
The competitive aspect also appeals to Shines.
“I hate losing,” Shines said. “I don’t lose anything, whether it’s a basketball game or a football game with my best friend. For $500,000, I’m going to win everything I can. That’s why I want to be on the show, because competition drives me.”
Seattle’s Devin Williams, a Green River Community College graduate, also turned out for the auditions.
Like Shines, Williams admitted that the competitive nature of the show appeals to him.
“I’m smart, I’m pretty savvy,” Williams said. “I’m pretty easy to get along with. I’m a team player. But if it came down to it, surviving as an individual, I know it’s every man for himself. We can be nice to each other now, but we’re not going home together, and that check is coming home to me.”
At Saturday’s audition, Williams, Shines and other potential reality stars got the chance to show their stuff in front of a camera, making their one-minute appeals in a curtained-off area on the club’s dance floor.
“I’m not going to just tell them what I’m about, I’m going to do my best to show them,” Shines said as he prepared to pass through the curtains. “I’m a funny person. I’m outgoing. So I don’t just want to stand still in front of the mic. That’s what everybody is going to do. I’m going to pop. I’m going to show them why I stand out, and I truly believe that I stand out against everybody else.”
“Big Brother” Season 14 premieres July 14 on CBS.
