Voyeur Web site to feature house in U. Florida town
From: University Wire | Author: Kristen Moczynski
11-03-2000
(Independent Florida Alligator) (U-WIRE) GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Voyeurism is coming to Gainesville, Fla., and with the help of the Internet, the entire world.
Following the trend of popular reality-based programming, E & C Ventures Inc., a Tampa-based company, is hosting a new Web site -- www.girlsofgainesville.com -- that will feature four Gainesville women on the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The site, hoping to gain fans of shows like "The Real World," "Survivor" and "Big Brother," will follow the women's lives at home and around town.
"People are looking for reality-based entertainment," said Chad DeRigo, president of the site and vice president of E & C Ventures. "They want to get involved in other people's real lives."
DeRigo said the site will host a contest Nov. 15 at the Florida Theatre for the hundreds of women he expects to show up for the chance to earn a weekly salary and college tuition.
"Everybody's got a dream of being a star," he said. "It is a good deal for the girls."
Fifty women will compete on stage by answering questions and showing off their sexiness. The group will be narrowed to 20, who will solicit votes online to win one of the four spots.
DeRigo said he hopes to have fraternity presidents judge the contest.
Interfraternity Council President Tor Jensen-Friedman laughed when he heard the news and said he thinks DeRigo is trying to use fraternity men to sell his site.
"Just because they wear letters on their chest doesn't mean they're a better judge of anything," he said.
DeRigo said he expects to have a sexy cast because, Gainesville is known for having some of the most beautiful women in the country.
But what kind of women will show up and compete for the opportunity to have their lives filmed all day long and lose their privacy?
Dr. Ernest Bordini, a private Gainesville psychologist, said while there are not any studies on the issue, some people choose to participate because they are exhibitionists and are looking for recognition from other people. He said others might do it for commercial reasons.
"People do awfully strange things for money," he said.
DeRigo said participants must be comfortable with themselves and uninhibited.
The unedited show, which will begin on Jan. 1, will feature clips from cameras all around the house, even in the bedrooms and bathrooms. But residents will not be allowed to have sex in the house.
"It's not a porn site of any nature," DeRigo said. "That takes us to a whole new level we don't want to be a part of."
But that does not mean there will not be any nudity.
"There will be nudity," DeRigo said. "They have to conduct their lives on camera. If they shower, they do it on camera. If they change, they will be on camera."
That also means customers - who pay monthly fees to view the site and chat with the residents - will also be seeing the women watching television and sleeping.
The women will be followed around town, but cameras will not enter private homes without the owner's permission.
"It becomes a soap opera on the Internet," DeRigo said of the real-life issues the residents will deal with.
But, why would anyone want to watch the show?
Bordini said curiosity is one reason why people watch. Others watch for psychological reasons.
"Sometimes people feel very isolated and see a way of getting into someone else's personal life as a way of fulfilling needs in an artificial and quick way," he said.
DeRigo said he thinks people will enjoy watching the women in their house - equipped with a pool, Jacuzzi, an 8-foot privacy fence and other amenities.
"The girls that become a part of this will literally be, in a matter of weeks, the talk of the nation," he said.
