Ghanaian blogger, Kobby Kyei has questioned if reality shows which is aimed at unearthing talents of young individuals are really helping its winners apart from the prizes.
In a long post on social media, the writer without mincing words stated categorically that organizers of reality shows are not doing anything different to help push participants of talent shows.
According to Kyei, most of these winners or participants of reality shows fail because there are no good structures to help build their career to the next level.
Read the full post below.
Do talent shows put pragmatic measures in place to see their respective winners climb up so well aside the prizes?
Can’t they have a partnership with record labels that will take the winners and manage them for some years ???
Growing up, one of the talent shows that took away our time on Sunday evening was inevitably, TV3 Mentor.
Who didn’t love Mentor? Who didn’t enjoy seeing their region been represented and chanting their team songs? It sent a great sense of belonging and pride on national television to point of some fans doing everything to see their favourite contestants win. It has been a great platform over the years of people winning. But the question is “has the contestant really benefited from it after taking part in it?”
There has been many foreign reality shows of such calibre such as X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent and many successful shows that have unearthed stars such as Westlife, JLS, One Direction and supported our very own “Reggie and Bollie” to break into the music scene in the UK.
Such platforms also gave British comedian of Ghanaian descent, Kojo Anim, the opportunity to share with the world his successful comedy career in the past. So it isn’t bad to be part of a reality show because it makes dream so come true. The deals, the exposure, the fame, the luxury are all inclusive in these reality shows.
Also, have we forgotten one of the biggest reality shows that always take the breathe of Africans away? Yes, you guessed right Big Brother Africa and Big Brother Naija. It created spotlight for Ghanaians such as Sammy B, Lydia Forson, Mildred Ashong known in showbiz as Eazzy (First lady of Lynxx Entertainment). This show is still buzzing on the continent and people are still diving into it.
Talented Kids by TV3 has unearthed talents over the years of their showcase among young people. We have had the likes of DJ Switch, who has been shot to global fame due to her dexterity in controlling her jockey system to bring light to the party. We have Nakeyat, whose eloquence in public speaking and poetry is mouth-watering.
Awal and Tutulapato can’t be forgotten when they are on the microphone to showcase their talent in rap as locally known “Kasahare”.
Do you remember “Stars of The Future”? The reality show that was aired on Ghana’s very own national television, GTV. We saw the likes of Irene and Jane (now Efya), Jemima (now JAYANA) Bertha (now YaaYaa) and Christian (Royal Chris) always share with us their talent in music.
Their existence in the music industry can still be felt and manifested as we saw on our screens recently on UTV, how Efya and YaaYaa showed their musical mastery over the live band sessions in the live broadcast of the entertainment platform, United Showbiz. So, as far as this is concerned, reality shows are really doing a lot of Ghanaians a great justice with their career.
Not even leaving out MTN Hitzmaker, from Kuami Eugene to Kidi to Fameye to Yaw Berk to OV. These are young stars that have emerged out of these shows and found their paths to the scene.
So what happened to some of our forgotten stars who paved their way into reality shows and excited us with some bangers after their time? Yes, I mean TV3 Mentor stars. There were promising stars like Prince, Odaki Andy, Okuraseni Samuel, Ruth, Hakeem just to name a few.
They vanished into thin air, without traces of them in the industry. Were they failed by the lack of good structure or were they not prepared to take music as their full profession? What spite them to take music as their path? Was it simply an access or a way to try their luck?
These are questions I always wish to ask them and organisers of the show to see where the loophole was that bottled them up even before the could blossom. Now I believe whatever the reason was, up and coming stars from these reality shows are gaining the weight in the industry as Kwaku Darlington has received the warm welcome on the Kumerica scene to continue what he started on the show.
One of my suggestions, being an entertainment blogger and someone who has studied Music at University, is that why don’t these reality shows partner with record labels in Ghana. Independent label do not work for everyone, especially someone who has the talent but doesn’t have a team or knowledge about the business side of it. Such people are bound to be left in the middle of the music ocean for their talent to drown.
Some record labels and people such as Highly Spiritual, Lynx Entertainment, Sarkodie and Stonebwoy have used their platform to support talents from these reality shows. So it means that it works as musicians such as “Reggie and Bollie” will testify to this as a way that nurtured them to set up their label F.R.O.D. Music after parting ways with Syco Music owned by the British mogul and owner of X Factor and other reality shows in the UK, Simon Cowell.
We have come to realise that, becoming a winner from a reality show is one hurdle but sustaining your crown into the industry as winner is another. Only a few have managed to prove it with their talent, skills and relevance over the years.
Long live our talents!
Long live Ghana Music!!
