Big Brother 17 is getting down to the end. Tonight we see the Final 5 Power of Veto competition and eviction, and tomorrow another HG gets evicted as the Final 3 will be revealed. It’s truly anyone’s game and despite the presence of the loathsome Austin and Liz, it’s actually a surprisingly interesting endgame.

BUT FIRST…this is my Big Brother 17 live blog!

Julie Chen promises a surprise eviction. Ooh, so the HGs don’t know it’s happening? That’s interesting.

The HGs are sleeping and hanging out when Julie calls them to the living room to reveal that there’s a surprise eviction. Austin ruins the fun by saying that it’s Monday.

After the Nominations

Steve is upset with Vanessa choosing Liztin. John is going to do whatever it takes to stay. Vanessa cries some more about how this doesn’t feel good on a personal level. She promises Steve he won’t go home.

Meanwhile, John talks to Austin and Liz about being out of the club. He offers to throw the PoV if they agree to vote to keep him. He’s trying to build trust. Austin is confused. Liztin fills in Vanessa on the offer because, in this game, everyone tells Vanessa everything. They’re all so perplexed.

The Power of Veto Competition

The competition is just an excuse to promote the new CBS comedy Life in Pieces. The HGs must go back and forth on a balance beam, building a puzzle of the TV show on a magnetic board. However, they only have 20 seconds at a time to push a button or the magnet stops working and the pieces fall. If they fall of the balance beam, the pieces fall and if they don’t push the button within 10 seconds, they’re out.

John might throw it, but not if it looks like Steve will win it. Vanessa forgets about the clock and gets eliminated almost right away. HA! John’s strategy is to build the whole puzzle off the board first without worrying about the magnets. That’s smart since the others keep dropping their pieces since they miss the button.

Liz is doing well, so John considers throwing it, but then he sees that Steve is doing well too, so he goes for the win. John’s strategy works beautifully and he puts all of his pieces up right away.

John wins the Power of Veto!

He’s happy to talk to his old buddy Mr. Veto again while Vanessa is confused. Austin is angry that John didn’t throw it.

The Replacement Nominee

Vanessa’s target is safe and she has a tough decision. Does she evict Steve or does she backdoor Austin or Liz and break them up? She has a total panic attack about her plan blowing up in her face.

Of course her decision might not matter since Johnny Mac tells Liztin that he’s voting with them to evict Steve. But Steve is unaware of this fact, gloating about how he’s completely safe.

John saves himself. Austin is the replacement nominee.

Now it’s an epic battle of small vs. tall. Vanessa claimed she was just being fair since Liz was on the block last week.

John isn’t sure if he wants to vote Steve out or let Vanessa decide. John talks to Vanessa about his vote. He tells her he might evict Steve, but Vanessa talks him into the brilliance of breaking up Liztin. Vanessa makes a deal with John to guarantee Final 3 with her. But he’s not sure if he should do what Vanessa wants or go crazy and make the illogical choice just to upset Vanessa, Judas loves that Johnny Mac is a mad men because he says he wants to take a showmance to Final 3.

The Eviction

Steve has no speech prepared, but playing the game was a dream come true. Austin promotes Life in Pieces and calls himself Judas while Steve is a “boy.” But he wants to be best friends with Steve, who he has seen become a man.

Liz votes to evict…Steve
John votes to evict…Austin (saying “It’s time for some blood!”)

It’s a tie! As HoH, Vanessa must evict someone she has a Final 2 deal with.

Vanessa votes to evict…Austin

Austin is evicted 2-1!

AWESOME! Vanessa says it was a game decision because he’s such a good strategist. Austin says she won’t win the game because she lost the jury votes. Liz cries. This is an amazing and true blindside!!!

He says this helps Vanessa get to the finals, but she will NEVER win. He’s upset that she Judas’ed Judas. He seems to genuinely think he was going to win the game.

The HoH Competition

After that epic and brutal blindside, it’s time for Steve, John and Liz to compete for the Final 4 HoH. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the finale.

It’s a question game where they watch video clips with a bleeped word and must figure out if a  statement is true or false.

Question 1: Everyone is right
Question 2: Everyone is right
Question 3: Steve is right
Question 4: Everyone is right
Question 5: John is right
Question 6: Everyone is wrong
Question 7: John and Steve are right

John and Steve are tied in the lead and move onto a tie-breaker. Liz is out. The answer is a number and the closest without going over wins.

How long was Under the Rainbow HoH comp in seconds?

John: 3,600
Steve: 601

Answer: 2,825

Steve is the new HoH!

Afterwards, Steve says that he messed up and forgot a zero. He meant to write 6,001 and he would’ve lost. But it doesn’t matter because the mommy-loving trombonist is officially in the Final 3.

Ugh, Brenchel is back tomorrow night with a “big announcement.” Dear God, have they procreated?

Now it all comes down to the Power of Veto. The competition was probably held today and when the feeds come back, I’ll try to figure out who won it. Tomorrow night we’ll see that competition and the next eviction as we get down to the Final 3.

(Image courtesy of CBS)

John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire DiariesSupernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.