Media Personality Evelyn Obahor set a search for a UK based TV
presenter of African Descent.
In an interview she granted recently, she gave an insight about this new
reality TV show called; The Big Search. Evelyn is a young woman from Croydon in the UK, who has passion
for the entertainment industry. She has done this all her life and she enjoys
inspiring people throughout the work that she does.
How long have you been
in the entertainment industry and what companies have you worked for
Over 27 years, if we are
to exclude my secondary school days.
You have a number of
shows with your company; FloodLight Broadcasting Network Ltd, can
you briefly tell us a little about them
There is the Justeve
Show, where I Interview celebrities and inspirational people, then there is
Hey Lets Talk which is a talk show where we talk about relationship
issues such as why men cheat, and why men can't handle successful women, you
know, those highly controversial relationship issues. Then, of course there is The
Big Search (The next African TV Face), where I’m in search of a
TV presenter of African Descent here in the UK.
Tell us more about THE
BIG SEARCH reality show, and how you
came up with the idea
Like I said, the Big Search is a reality show, where I'm in search
of a TV presenter of African Descent here in the UK. We hold auditions where
the judges pick 12 finalists and send them into a house for a month to drill
them in different areas of tv presenting. We task them in different areas of TV
presenting such as News reading, Reporting and Talk-show hosting
among others.
The winner gets to have
his or her own show, a weekend away to an exotic resort as well as £1000 in
cash. The idea came to me while watching one of the mainstream breakfast show
some time ago. Without mentioning names, all the presenter did was sit and
laugh her way through the whole show, which was annoying. Being a presenter
myself, I thought she did a poor job and I thought to my self, our people have
the talent and the flair to do these and ever better, but they are not give the
chance, so I decided there and then to come up with a show where the mainstream
media can use us as a reference. And I want to prove a point that we do have the
presenters and we are just as good.
Having introduced this
show in Nigeria, how successful was it
The show hasn't been to Nigeria yet. It was first done here in the
UK in 2000. We intend to make it a brand of its own and have plans to do the Canadian,
America, Irish and Scottish Version as well as the Nigerian and African
Version.
Introducing the big
search in London, what do you hope to achieve
We are looking for a TV presenter that stands out, one we can show
to the mainstream to prove that we have got what it takes because I know it is
very difficult for Africans to break into the mainstream media and the media as
a whole for that matter.
Every
production has its up and down, what challenges are you expecting while
shooting the big search
The first
challenge is always funding, with money, you can do a lot of things, apart from
that there are the regular filming challenges and we are able to overcome
them.
How will you be rating
contestants here in the UK and what is it for the winner
First and foremost,
they must be themselves; they must have the passion and the flair for the job
and of course the potential. We will then groom them from there. The winner gets
to present his or her own show, have a weekend away at a resort and £1000 prize
money.
What are you aiming to
achieve with the big search reality show this year
Let young people
have a platform to showcase their talent. From the last show, we discovered
radio presenters, actors, directors and build the confidence of those who were
lacking in confidence. One of our finalists is a presenter on Kakaki, the
Breakfast show on AIT (African Independent Television), another one is now a
film director, while the other contestant now works on a radio station.
What advice would you
like to give all future applicants out there
There is nothing
impossible, if you want to do it, just go out there and do it, you will get
turned down, but that doesn't mean you are not good enough. THE BIG SEARCH
is like a school. Contestants will get to learn so much more.
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