My rating: 8/10.
I'm 100% hooked on Dragons' Den SA. I've been watching since it first started (nine episodes ago) and I've been dying to review it but haven't had a mo. until now.
I think it's excellent-excellent. The Dragons are purrrfectly cast - they're a success-bomb of cash and knowledge and it's clear that each of them has the credibility to be on the show.
They're also doing a sterling job of interacting with each other -
unlike the judges on X Factor SA who come across as strangers - as if they met each other for the first time yesterday. The Dragons are properly engaged with each other and are much more entertaining as a result. I'd even go so far as to say they've been the best reality judging panel on South African TV this year.
Host Xolani Gwala's also super - the deepness of his voice adds to the gravitas of the situation with a hint of humour that runs through the panel of Dragons too. Everyone on the show's very serious about business but they have a strong sense of humour too and make noteworthy observations.
When the series first started the Dragons criticised one of the hopeful entrepreneurs for being too corporate and Vinny Lingham said that entrepreneurs mustn't be corporate but must "scrappy" instead - it blew my hair back bigtime and established the mind-set of the show from the start.
The series also looks so good - the lighting's cool and the setting's suitably Dragonesque. Overall it needs more on-screen graphics and flashes of information though e.g. The name of the entrepreneur's business and the deal they're asking for should come up as a caption when they're introducing themselves. I keep wanting to see the names of their businesses so I can google them.
Similar captions should happen when Dragons counter offers - their deals should flash onto screen so it's all very clear what's happening with who.
That's my one criticism ... the other is the shoddiness of some of the entrepreneurs! Some of them have been so unbelievably badly prepared I've almost died from cringe. I reckon a second season should deliver entrants who are more prepared - entrepreneurs can prepare for it properly now that they've seen the show. I'm hoping it gets a second season - it must!
The show's definitely doing what it set out to do - it's most excellent for South African business and it's doing it with a feeling of sincerity. Even the sponsorship is well done. When I first heard Telkom was sponsoring the show I was worried it would become all about them and that the show would lose integrity as a result.
It hasn't happened though because the Telkom placement's done with sophistication. It isn't intrusive and makes Telkom look generous - gives the sense that the show is about entrepreneurs and viewers instead of being all about sponsor. It's the perfect relationship between show and sponsor.
There haven't been a lot of deals but there have some very cool ones. In case you haven't been watching ... the biggest deal signed so far was made by Ismael Hassen who signed a deal for R5 million with Lebo Gunguluza. It was exciting to see for everyone involved, particularly because Lebo's my favourite Dragon.
Not because of the deal he made but rather because he
is Doakes from Dexter: