PROJECT SHAME… WHAT A CRINGING!!!

Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.  ~ Albert Einstein

Nowadays, verifying the authenticity of the origin of quotes on the internet it is akin to passing a donkey through the eye of a needle, but the above quotation looks like a statement Einstein might say, just like all those gbagauns sound like something Dame might utter, so let us agree for the purpose of this discourse that the great Physicist actually said those “words on the marble”. Suffice to say I absolutely agree with Einstein (of course we all always agree with Einstein), but Einstein totally ignored a scenario where the fish actually sees itself as having the ability to climb a tree, didn’t he? And that was the exact scenario that became a recurring decimal at the auditions for the reality-tv-show “Project Fame”. There are only two explanations for the flotsam and jetsam that swarm up on the auditions:

1. They have auditory impairments so they heard the word “shame” instead of “fame”, and that impairment also explains their being absolutely tone-deaf too.
2. They have visual impairments thus they read “shame” instead of “fame”, and that impairment also account for missing out the phrase “singing talents” while reading the basic requirements.

What I saw repeatedly during the one month audition was an array of clowns who came onto the stages at different venues to entertain us with their glaring lack of singing talents. Many were so terrible they could not even recall the lyrics of songs they had come to perform, and some had voices that would any day rival a mating frog. In synopsis, the Project Fame Auditions needs to be entered for the next Academy Awards, and it will scoop all the awards in the category of Comedy.

In retrospect, I do not simply think most of the buffoonery we witnessed was the fault of the buffoons; rather it was really a candid reflection of what is considered the acceptable standard nowadays -mediocrity. Look at the so-called artistes we are tortured with on daily basis by the television and radio stations, how many of them should actually lay claim to the name musician? The only studio the likes of K-Switch and D’Prince should have been allowed into is a photography studio for their pre-wedding pictures, and Orezi and Hakym The Dream should not sing in any other place other than their respective bathrooms, but all these guys have gone on to record songs and shoot videos; they are enjoying airplay and are gracing the different colours of carpets that celebrities walk on nowadays. If those guys can be on TV, why can anyone else not be on TV? Such realities must have motivated those clowns who should be in school studying or in a vocational institute learning a craft, or anywhere else apart from those stages, to go climb the podium to audition for Project Fame.

Deeply depressing also is the realisation that those auditions boldly highlight the ills in our society. Our ethos is hinged on cutting corners while pursuing the unending thirst for glitz and glamour. Necessarily, a society must have entertainers, but what does the future hold for a society which most of its people want to be entertainers? Youths nowadays do not consider it natural to go through the test of the fire to become golden, rather they are hoping to wake up in the morning and find a gigantic box full of gold beside their beds.  Most of the girls are fixated on being actresses, models, and dancers; while the guys all want to be musicians and comedians. They all want to be under the spotlight, smile for the flashlight, but are not ready to strive under the sunlight. The proliferation of Reality TV Shows further fuels this belief that anyone can hit the jackpot and become an overnight celebrity. I am for Reality TV Shows if people actually go there to exhibit some forms of talent e.g Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Project Fame, Nigerian Idol, Naija Sings, Box Office, Nigeria Has Got Talents, and some others; but the essence of Big Brother still eludes me till today, and I think it should have suffered the same fate as Koko Mansion and House 5, but such is its popularity magnitude that despite its inane pointlessness it is only available on DSTV Premium Bouquet. Isn’t that dishearteningly scary?

And the scare continues…

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

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