Talent reality show goes paperless

MOBILE

By Carole Kimutai, Nairobi, Kenya

Beverage manufacturer, East African Breweries Limited (EABL) and consumer electronics firm Samsung Electronics East Africa (SEEA) has sealed a sponsorship deal that will  see EABL sponsored talent reality show Tusker Project Fame 5 (TPF5) going paperless. 

As part of the two organisations’ efforts to celebrate this year’s World Environment Day (WED), Samsung Electronics will provide digital electronics devices for use by the contestants, faculty and judges.

World Environment Day is an annual event marked on 5 June to highlight positive environmental action.

In the strategic partnership, Samsung Electronics will transform TPF 5 to a paperless reality TV production complete with a custom made software application for both the production teams and the viewers.

TPF is a locally produced reality show and has been described as a hybrid of voyeuristic Big Brother and musical phenomenon Idols, with a thrilling dose of survivor-style voting.

In the show, 15 selected contestants compete by performing on stage to live audiences through an 8 week period. The regional show is broadcast across East Africa with against a talent tapping objective to find young adults with musical aptitude to sing as well as further develop their musical performance skills.

As part of the show’s interactivity feature, TPF 5 faculty, students and judges will all receive Galaxy Tabs and Galaxy Pocket phones, allowing them to communicate, receive instructions and share responses in real time, effectively minimizing the use of paper scripts. All the contestants will also receive Samsung Digital Still and Video Camcorders to record developments in the TPF house.

The faculty team will share and deliver their class assignments and related instructions via Galaxy Tablets. while judges will deliver their verdicts through Galaxy tablets providing an easy to audit framework. Production wise, Digital Still Cameras, Production TV will also interactively communicate and update the presenter scripts real time through the presenters Galaxy Tabs and an Interactive, Touch Screen Smart LED TV on stage. Aircon solutions will also be installed for live shows.

Samsung East Africa Business Leader Robert Ngeru says the firm’s sponsorship has been designed to ensure full digital interaction using solutions such as Samsung Galaxy Tablets and Smart TV’s with touch screen capabilities to showcase Samsung’s commitment to the ideals of a Green Economy.

“We are constantly on the look-out for ways to bring much more than just world class entertainment to the millions of viewers tuning into Tusker Project Fame,” said Seni Adetu, EABL Group Managing Director and CEO.