Poser of the Day: ‘Is a good voice or a pretty face a sine qua non for a radio or television career?’
Introduction: This is ASK THE BOSS. It always is special to have you join us. ASK THE BOSS addresses social dilemmas faced by people like you and me.
Today, I focus on this first-ever entry from Yobe State and indeed the first-ever entry from up North. It’s a matter that resonates beyond borders.
2.0 Before that though, let’s remind us that we can email into ASK THE BOSS, at any time. Whatever life challenge you face, let’s know. Plead anonymity if it’s too private. Socioemotional help resides right here.
3.0 Let’s listen to our guest Writer. ‘The Boss, I write to you from Damaturu; bringing you greetings and love from your teeming fans in Yobe. I can bet, Sir, you don’t know the impact and belief that BUSH HOUSE NIGERIA Network, especially CUP OF COFFEE, generates among the populace out here. I don’t know how you came up with it, but your persistent mention of the Yobe State Capital during CUP OF COFFEE is something that we, the good people of Yobe, celebrate and appreciate; especially against the background of our peculiar circumstance.
4.0 We thank you. Can you please make that apartment regular on Network, when the flagship programme returns as I know it would soon? And, please, please, please upload past editions of CUP OF COFFEE on BUSHHOUSENIGERIAdotcom. Thank you again for your excellent work.
5.0 ‘To the business of the day, Sir: my twin sister, Maya, and I plan to be broadcasters. She prefers TV; I, Radio. Now, may I ASK THE BOSS: is it true that the fundamental prerequisite to be a TV presenter is a pretty face just as a beautiful voice opens Radio doors? Two, do other equally or more important requirements exist?
6.0 Many thanks, The Boss, as I look forward to playing host to you here in Damaturu someday soon. Please say me well to your team, and by the way, I am sorry for not attaching my photograph. It’s because I am sending this mail by hand as I couldn’t access info@bushhousenigeria.com. ASK THE BOSS needs a new email address, Sir’!
7.0 MY TAKE: Mallam Suleiman, many thanks, brother. It’s refreshing to hear firsthand about Damaturu. We hope this means that henceforth our North Pole fans would start to write in, and regularly. We are thankful to God that neither the State nor you were singed by all the combustibilities that threatened your very existence.
8.0 As for your allied requests, rest assured that something is cooking. CUP OF COFFEE shall not only bounce back and bigger, it shall be regular on air and also online, old and new. And yes, many thanks for that Network-Comeback-Optimism. We can do with more of such emotion.
9.0 ASK THE BOSS has two alternate email addresses but, for now, please stick only with bhnboss@gmail. You may as well avail yourself of the inbox of facebook.com/michaelbushnigeria. Meanwhile, this serves to wish Maya and you well. I commend both of you for wanting broadcasting, which remains the last bastion of the professions.
10.0 It is the best job on earth. Broadcasting is the only job which makes your boss or subordinate; friend or enemy; the rich or the famous to listen with rapt attention when you talk. Broadcasting is the father of ’em all. Clearly!
11.0 My TAKE: Now, let’s get serious. I have heard broadcaster mentors telling their audiences that a pretty face is basic for TV while a good voice is a Radio constant. I am afraid, I do not agree. It may be correct but it is not right.
12.0 A pretty face could be added advantage for TV the same way a good voice could be for Radio, but both are not that fundamental. Or, well, to be on the safer side; perhaps they used to be basic in the Old Testament of the trade. However, getting on TV or Radio is no more that easy; except through the backdoor of ‘man know man’, which remains opened only in Nigeria. Things had since changed everywhere else.
13.0 If you look around now or listen a little more, you’d find a legion of very good, successful broadcasters on local and global TV and Radio who have neither the looks nor the voice. So, what’s the new Unique Selling Point in the broadcast sub sector? Brains! More brains and some heart!
14.0 That’s all you need, really: brains; more brains. If you have the head to learn fast. If you have the head to store a little knowledge of everything. If you have the head to remember easily.
15.0 If you have the head to manufacture and appreciate clean jokes. If you have the head to swim with the sharks and survive. If you have the head to create something out of nothing. If you have the head to laugh when you should cry.
16.0 If you have the head to walk tall no matter how short you are. If you have the head to manipulate your face or voice to look or sound a hundred percent better. If you have the head to outsmart ‘a strange object’ (eg. a word unknown to you) on air. If you have the head and the heart to dare.
17.0 Above all, if you have the head and the heart not to show any feeling whatsoever. Then, surely, no matter how star-studded the microphone or screen firmament might be, there’s space for you among the galaxy. Welcome to the Club of Gentlemen. I have said all of the foregoing to say that you do not need only a good voice or a pretty face to be a radio or television personality!
18.0 Quarter-finally, I dare to repeat that the aforementioned twelve brain powers qualify you above any pretty face or good voice credential for broadcasting. My point is that if you have a pretty face or a good voice; without brains and the heart, you may succeed in getting in but you’d run out as fast as you got in when you find yourself stagnated without fame and money, or both. How then do you possess this all-in-one head? Please, listen!
19.0 Semi-finally, the head and the heart you need come naturally, but you can uncommonly transform even a coconut head and even a myotonic goat’s heart by accentuating them. Study to show thyself approved. No, this is not necessarily only about school. You must also study by using your senses wherever you find yourself.
20.0 I am sure you know: greater education is achieved out of the four walls of the classroom. Go on: teach yourself; use your head; apply your senses. Learn more, learn confidence. And now, welcome to the microphone!Conclusion: Mallam Hassan Suleiman, we hope this helps you. You may email or call us up anytime you face a challenge over which you know we could be useful. And, not to miss the point, we shall be watching out for any Hassan and Maya Suleiman on Radio or TV, in the next three, four, five years. Congratulations in advance.
God bless Nigeria!
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