By Joe Calamito

Enzo Palumbo A 32-year-old insurance adjuster from Bayonne, New Jersey just might have the Hudson County street smarts to stick around to the very end on CBS’s Big Brother and come back to Bayonne with the prize.

Never having watched CBS’s Big Brother in all the years it has been on the air, I became interested when my children told me that a guy they know well, and went to school with from Bayonne was a contestant on the show.  After watching several episodes I have become hooked. Maybe it’s this Palumbo guy he reminds me of all the guys I grew up with in downtown Jersey City and still know today. Jersey cool, laid back, popular, unruffled, low key, charismatic, astute, shrewd and street smart.  Charastertics I believe that can get him to the finish.

 
 Big Brother fanatics tell me Palumbo is the most outspoken member ever on any of the Big Brother seasons. Yet he has managed to make it to the final four. His ability to stay well liked while deception abounds throughout the house is a testament to his street smarts. On the streets, friends, are very important to your survival. Palumbo, early on formed an alliance – the Brigade Alliance with  three other house guests  who have remained loyal and strong to each other : Matt Hoffman,(who has now gone on to the Jury House) he tried to break the Alliance and was sent packing by the other members of the Alliance; Hayden Moss and Lane Elenburg who are now in the final four with Palumbo and the only woman left Britney Haynes.  And while maintaing a very low profile Palumbo has managed to employ some side alliances away from the Brigade. That’s a street smart move – keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. Palumbo has faced eviction on two occasions  but managed to  save himself by winning the Power of Veto and removing himself from the block in last weeks episode.

This week and next will determine just how smart Palumbo can play the game, and will he come back to Bayonne a winner. If Palumbo makes it to the final two he’s liked enough to have the recent evicted contestants vote him the winner. In the eyes of the other final four contestants: Hayden, Lane and Brittney that makes Palumbo dangerous to their game which should make for good television  as we watch the Brigade Alliance come apart. 

What do you think? Does Enzo Palumbo have a shot to win?

The two-hour finale will air Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m.

Enzo Palumbo and his wife Joella have one daughter Gia. They would love to have another child “right away” if Palumbo can win the $500,000 prize from the show.

Big Brother airs three times a week on CBS on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm.