It's happened. The show I know many people have been wondering about. Pay Channel Mnet and satellite service DSTV have announced that there will be an African version of the British show Fame Academy this year.
The format didn't actually start in the UK but rather in Spain under the name Operación Triunfo, and since then it's been launched in nine other countries including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Greece, Italy and Russia.
The African version of the show seems to have taken it's name from the original Spanish and will be called Project Fame. It looks like the show's gonna follow Fame Academy quite closely ... whoa ... I just got major deja vu ... then, once I got it, I got deja vu of the deja vu and felt like I'd told you about this deja vu before. Maybe it happened because I've written about singing competitions so much? Um ... not sure ... I don't know ... I suppose the thing with deja vu is that you never do. Know, I mean.
So, where was I? Oh yes - the format is similar to Fame Academy in that a core group of contestants will be chosen who will join a musical academy and battle it out for a final prize which includes a recording contract, other prize bits and pieces and fame. The search for contestants will take place across 11 countries: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria.
26 contestants will be chosen and these will be narrowed down to 16. These 16 will move into a house together, will spend 10 weeks here and receive training for a musical career. Their progress will be followed 24/7, like Big Brother.
Whether or not the broadcast will be streamed out 24/7 isn't clear yet and I'm assuming there will be specific shows instead, with additional footage being shown on an extra channel - the way it worked with Idols. The final details wit regards show times and structure will be released soon, and the call for entries will begin next week.
The audience will decide who leaves the academy each week, and the contestants themselves also cast a vote the way they do in the UK version.
It's interesting, because the truth is when I got the news I felt slightly iffy and wanted to say to you ..."Pleeeease don't make me write about this because I am really tired of watching people sing." We have had so many shows and so many versions of singing contests that the idea of more people singing cover versions doesn't inspire me.
What are we gonna say? "I like so and so. They are so good." Then someone's gonna disagree and everyone starts taking the whole singing thing so personally and it's no longer fun TV. Choices are seen as being a reflection of the self and signs of ones musical prowess, and one minute we'll be looking for the X-factor and the next it will be the voice. Votes will happen, people will be upset, and then what?
Will they be as famous as Anke currently is? Dunno about you, but I haven't heard a peep about her in months. What about Heinz, who's now playing in a restaurant in Gauteng? This despite doing well in World Idols. It doesn't kinda hang together. Is this what all the effort will have been for?
This latest show embraces a lot of Africa so one could work on the assumption that their fame will be 'bigger' maybe - almost like Cherise or Gaetano, even. Heh-heh. Have you heard anything about them? I haven't. I have persistently tried to get an interview with Cherise without any luck, and it's as if she never existed.
So, does one not put oneself through the process of watching and supporting if one's sceptical about the final outcome, or does one watch and hope, or does one simply watch and not bother about the after?
One quite positive aspect of the whole thing is that they seem intent on finding more multi-talented people. Not people who simply stand up and sing, but rather people who either sing and dance or people who sing and play an instrument. Also, they've lifted the age from Idols and contestants need to be 18 and over to enter. This means the very young contestants will not be entering, which could make the show seem less for five-year-olds than the last Idols was.
I suppose it could go either way and it would superb if the artist sold millions of albums through Africa and became a millionaire. Is this possible? Will this show perhaps be a better vehicle for those who really want to share their talents instead of getting pulp overnight fame? I dunno. I mean - the show says the prize is fame. This is what it's offering, and during that time this is what it will give. But afterwards?
Personally - I am more interested in seeing the characters than I am the music. Also the emotional stuff they go through as they train. I like that sort of thing. Will there be love? Hatred? Competition? Or will they be a rainbow nation? I sooo hope not.
I don't buy the fame bit because it's not yet happened for anyone else.
So, this show will be a test. Can a TV show make someone genuinely famous in 13 weeks? Will it make a difference if the contestants start from the point of view of their music instead of the fame? Is this what they will do? To have true, lasting fame comes when you do something because you believe in it completely as opposed to only doing it because of the way it makes you look.
Will the somewhat more mature contestants understand this? And will contestants from other countries perhaps have a fresh outlook and different energy? Will this show be interesting, or has this genre just become too much?
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