Cape Flats entertainer Emo Adams says his new reality TV show will have viewers in tears.
Filming on Maak my Famous starts on 19 February and will air from 18 April on KykNet, with the 48 finalists who will compete in various rounds.
The show will be co-hosted by songbird Tarryn Lamb and features Alistair Izobell and Nur Abrahams as vocal and performance coaches. Charlton Daniels is the musical director.
The 12-episode series will be filmed at the Roxy Revue Bar with a live finale at the Grand Arena.
Last October, Emo invited mense to enter his talent competition by sending in audition videos via WhatsApp.
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A post shared by emo adams(@emo_adams) on Feb 13, 2019 at 10:12am PST
When entries closed in January, 6128 submissions had been received.
“This competition will identify raw, untrained talent within communities that would historically not enter or be scouted for mainstream formats such as Idols and The Voice.
"Throughout this process, everything has been so overwhelming, we have felt more joy and cried more than we should have, but it’s because we are dealing with real raw talent and that’s what makes it beautiful and true,” says Emo.
“The incorporation of mentors at first served its purpose to give talent reality competitions a friendlier image and to make the public believe that the contest’s raw talent was receiving the best possible training.
“Behind the scenes, this, however, is not the case. Talent spend limited time with their mentors as the mentors are often busy (and expensive) entertainers that do not have the capacity to dedicate meaningful time to each of the contestants they are meant to mentor.”
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A post shared by emo adams(@emo_adams) on Feb 11, 2019 at 6:41am PST
Emo says his competition isn’t a fancy show with prepared outfits and entourage.
“They don’t have a special wardrobe, make-up or any fluff that prepares them for TV. The contestants come just as they are and this is all filmed for the show.”
He says most of the chosen talent is untrained and includes the gamut of the performing spectrum.