He Really Should Win America's Favorite Houseguest

It's been real this summer, guys. The Season 16 finale of Big Brother is quickly approaching, and Cody, Derrick, or Victoria will be crowned the winner come Wednesday, Sept. 24. Though the big draw of the finale is to find out who's going to take the $500,000 prize and also catch up with all 16 houseguests, there's possibly even a more prestigious honor on the line: the title of America's Favorite Houseguest.

This is a title that the Big Brother fans bestow on one of the houseguests. Where would any of us be without our supporters, after all? For some time now, viewers have been voting on CBS.com for the houseguest they want to win $25,000. It could be any of the 16 houseguests from this season, from Joey, the first to be evicted, to Frankie, who has already won some money as part of Team America, to Victoria, who could (but probably won't) win the whole game.

The very concept of a "favorite" is obviously a subjective term. Maybe a houseguest is your favorite because he or she was the most entertaining to watch this season, was the most attractive, or made the best moves in the game. But let me break it down for you. In my mind, there's only one houseguest who truly deserves the title of America's Favorite Houseguest, and that is without a doubt Donny.

With his unique look, sweet southern drawl, and good-natured attitude, Donny emerged as a favorite early on in the game. His skills weren't quite up to par to help him make it to the end, but that didn't matter, because he was constantly winning over America.

First and foremost, Donny will always be remembered as the kindest houseguest of the season. While generosity doesn't generally help you win Big Brother, the fact that it's a rarity in the game makes anyone who shows it stand out. Donny was always willing to sacrifice his own game to help or comfort another houseguest, such as the time he won the Power of Veto and used it to take Jocasta off the block when she was too sick to compete for herself. You can't help but admire someone who would risk losing $500,000 because he seemed to care deeply about the others on the show.

Not only did Donny seem genuinely kind, he just seemed genuine all around. Unlike many regular people who end up on reality TV, Donny didn't let Big Brother change him. He wouldn't go through with the Team America mission when viewers chose to have the alliance vote against the house, saying that would go against the honorable way he wanted to play the game. How could you not root for someone like that?

In terms of actual gameplay, Donny was always criticized for having a poor social game while he was on the show. While it definitely could have used some improvement, Donny did know how to strategize when it really counted. I personally think his attempt to use that Team America mission where they had to impress viewers as a way to keep himself in the house was pretty genius. He capitalized on his status as a fan favorite in the game, and it would have worked, too, if it weren't for that meddling Frankie, who instead decided that America would prefer the houseguests put on a play. Sure, Donny's last-ditch strategy ultimately didn't work, but the logic behind the move was still impressive.

One could argue that because Donny has already won money from completing some Team America missions this season, he doesn't need to win the $25,000 prize as America's Favorite Houseguest. However, Donny never really got a fair chance at playing for Big Brother's top prize, so he really deserves way more than just $25,000 anyway. Since Devin poisoned the waters with his speculation that Donny was not who he really said he was, everyone was gunning for Donny for most of the season. We all know Donny deserves better than that, so let's give him the America's Favorite Houseguest title and call it a day, huh?

Image: Sonja Flemming/CBS; sawagrance, nedskalantar, donnythompsontho/Tumblr