Botswana’s local music show My Star has been in
everybody’s lips these past few weeks thanks to one of its judges, SID. First
of all Sid has always been the centre of attraction when it comes to My Star
shows. The talent has not been that...enticing. From the beginning, when the
show was still called “Pop Star” Sid was regarded as the “Simon” of the show.
He terrified contestants and shocked the audience with his comments and even
made others cry. He kept everybody on their toes. Yes, the show was not to
write home about, but it was a local show and we loved it. Gradually the show
became boring, Sid lost his touch, he started saying nice things, he started
smiling, and therefore people started losing interest. The show adopted its new
identity- “Botswana’s local comedy show”.
Now it seems they have found a new way of gaining
back that attention: Publicity Stunt! This is a planned event/situation
designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers
or their cause. A few weeks ago Sid came into the show with one long pinky nail
painted in bright red. When I first saw it I was taken aback a little. Started
thinking is Sid trying to make some kind of fashion statement that im not aware
of? The following week he had painted 3 of his nails different colours (Heedu! di
smarties). This time me and im sure everyone who was watching that show that
day could not dzeal! The only logical
thing to do then was to call other people to come watch the show with you. At that point I started thinking, is this
niggar trying to “come out” on the show? Is he having a midlife crisis?! What
the hell is going on?!! I went straight to tweeter only to find out that the
topic is SID SID SID #MyStar, #ComedyShow. The following day at the office the
topic is My Star. But what I did not know was this was only the beginning! The
Sundays after that one have been nothing but an adventure. Now those who dont
normally watch the show set their clocks to Sunday 6:30! Even the audience that we see on TV has
doubled!
A lot has been said about this sudden
change of appearance. This is what some people had to say about it on twitter,
Someone from Lapologa Mag- “Its official! Mascom has found a comedic way
4people to pay attention to its brand #mystar. And its working. Hope they paying Sid alotta
$$”
One of our local hip hop artists- “@SidFmStation just Gaga'd Botswana's
audience, provoking a response with what seems to be a social psychology
experiment *grabs popcorn*”
Asked to comment, this is what Sid had to say about his new look- “@ChawaShoe it was not inspired by anything in
particular, I just found myself doing it...”
But what does that say about the show? Most
people regard it as an outrage and should not be entertained. But some people
(like me) think its a great attempt to gain the much needed attention for the
show. However I also believe this is very bad for Sid’s own reputation (But
thata story for another day). We will never know if this was planned by the
producers of the show, or if the sponsors (Mascom) approved it, because those behind
these stunts never reveal the truth. It has become an international trend for
celebrities to create negative publicity stunts to attract attention. E.g.
Janet Jackson and her boob, Kim Kardashian, Miley Syrus, Paris Hilton sex tapes
e.t.c.
Yes more people will watch the show, but
how many will actually vote? That’s the question! Well let me tell you a story
about my experience. I have two friends. They both HATE My Star. With a
passion. But ever since these escapades have been happening they have been
watching the show religiously. Mind you, they only watched to see Sid. Now they
both have favourites among the singers in the show. And yesterday one of them
voted. Twice! Now isn’t that two more votes gained by the show? I rest my case.
Nice One Chawa.....this is how we start to really commercially build the entertainment scene in the country....nice blog, big up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sid. Wow u really commented on my blog. Thats realy something.
ReplyDeleteKeep doin your thing bra..but ease up on the manicures. Poleeease! lol!
well controversy does always sell. Gossip magazines and newspapers sell out faster. Now what other way to build a solid and loyal viewership for My Star? Will Sid keep pulling all these stunts to sell the show? For how long though? And as you said, what about his reputation? How many of us take him seriously now as an elder? I understand trying to get people to watch a show, but in Botswana it really doesn’t make any difference, especially since there aren’t records/statistics that show how many people watched the show and hence made money for it as it is the case in other countries. Shows in other countries depend on the number of viewers to stay running, else its canned if it cant pull sufficient viewership to keep it afloat. I stand to be corrected though. In terms of votes, it's a catch 22. Some will watch because of Sid. See what he has in store and change channels once they seen him. How many will stay to watch the contestants? How many find his antics funny and entertaining? How many have stopped watching for this reason? Maybe if more focus was on improving the show; all the way from the set-up, to the sound, to the vocal and physical appearance of the contestant, coaching and get judges to pass comments that actually make sense and help improve the contestants performance in the next show, we would have a good show in our hands. Until then, Sid is just digging a grave for his career and reputation.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phepafatso for that enlightened responce.I'm sure My Star crew will take your advice. They have to. Publicity Stunts are in my point "a once off thing". You can't depend on them to keep a show going.
ReplyDelete