The Block Sky High opens for inspection at Park St, Sth Melbourne Kids on The Block: 'They can have parties and stuff!' Adults might be buying the properties, but when The Block opened for inspection on Saturday, the show's youngest fans were by far the most enthused. "I was so cold, I felt like crying," says 13-year-old Dennis. But the pain was worth it: having camped overnight in front of "The Block" - a one-time seedy motel that is now the setting for Channel Nine's reality smash The Block Sky High - he is near the front of the line. Behind him are several thousand screaming fans who have also turned up to today's "open for inspection" at Park Street, in the pricey suburb of South Melbourne. Block contestants Jarrod and Madi. Police and paramedics are stationed at every corner. Security guards herd the masses into steel barriers, which have been fashioned into a snaking queue. There is a sea of pink helium balloons, honouring the late Rosa Martino - mother of contestant Bec - who died from breast cancer during filming. "I actually feel pretty normal, even thought I haven't slept," Dennis says. "I don't," says Rachelle, the mother of his friend Ellie. It was Rachelle's thankless task to be the grown-up in change of last night's urban camp out. I got about two hours' sleep in the tent and that was it. The kids are really excited though. That's why we're here. At least they had a tent. In front of them, at the very top of the queue, are Rachael and her 16-year-old son Jamie. After driving hours from the small Gippsland town of Yarram, they arrived at 3pm and simply sat on the footpath, throughout the night, without any sleep. "I had a chair and he had the concrete," Rachael says. I was determined to get him here to see it. Julian gave me this! Jamie interrupts, reverently handing over a cap with a Block logo on it, the way a page boy might present the wedding rings. It is a gift from producer Julian Cress, who came down to greet them last night. "It's his hat; the same hat he's been wearing throughout the show," Jamie says, drawing admiring glances from those around him. Almost everyone in the queue nominates Bec and George's apartment as their favourite. When asked why, they're just as likely to compliment the couple's personalities as their interior design skills. The fact they're from Melbourne - it's a state versus state competition this year - seems to help. Bec and George's rivals are twin police officers Alisa and Lysandra from Adelaide and three other couples: Kim and Matt from Perth, Madi and Jarrod from Sydney, and Trixie and Johnno from Brisbane. Inside the apartments, nervous realtors are wearing fixed grins. For most visitors, this is renovation porn come to life. Every night, over the past few months, they've watched the gradual and generally painful transformation of each room. Many cant quite believe they're actually here, cooing and touching the soft furnishings and whispering to one another that they should buy this rug or that lamp, too. Thanks to the frank feedback from judges, most early mistakes have been erased. The controversial "Jackson Pollock room" - deemed to resemble a crime scene - is now a cool gray oasis (albeit with a Pollock-inspired mirror frame; a cheeky nod to the room's past). Also subject to a rushed "re-do" was the study that had, in lieu of actual books, wallpaper with pictures of books printed on it. Controversially, the twins have retained two Balinese-style wood carvings that the judges demanded they remove. For some reason, these artworks rile the judges to the point of apoplexy. You can almost see the brain fissures occurring whenever they lay eyes on them. The famously stubborn twins, however, are unlikely to acquiesce before auction day. An array of powerful aromas, originating from dozens of scented candles, compete for domination. Coconut and lime in the bedroom, citrus in the bathroom, mint and watermelon in the kitchen: all of them vanquish every natural odour, lest they displease potential buyers. Traffic seems to clog around one small room: a toilet with a mirrored wall behind it. Men peer at it cautiously, silently wondering whether they'd rather sit down to pee or watch themselves performing the act several times a day. Having spent hours in the queue at last year's inspections, despite arriving at 8am, Lisa was not taking any chances. Today, she came at 6am. "It's exciting, watching [the contestants] make something out of nothing," she says. Is she a DIY enthusiast herself? "Oh god, no," she says, laughing. Maybe one day. I just like watching them do it on TV. Last year, around 20,000 attended the event and a similar-sized crowd appears set to turn up this weekend. Around half will not get inside. Fortunately, there's just as much action outside. Host Scott Cam is revving up the crowd and signing t-shirts. Everyone screams when the contestants appear on stage. The Channel Nine helicopter flies overhead and another cheer erupts, along with a flurry of waving balloons, banners and hands. Of course, most serious potential buyers will have already made private enquiries. Today's inspection, apart from providing narrative continuity to the program, is the Channel Nine equivalent of a company Christmas party. It's a thank you to the kind of viewers TV executives dream about: those who watch local programs lives to air, night after night. In a world of pirating, time-shifting and catch-up viewing - all of which erode networks' profits - shows that attract big live audiences are invaluable. The Block manages to do that five nights a week, showcasing sponsors' products throughout the program to boot. Advertisers love it, the network loves it - but 13-year-old Charlotte insists she is its biggest fan. "I will literally die if I get to hug Scott," she says. He's the coolest guy on TV. I don't care if I have to run past a security guard. I'm going to do it.