The judges for the TLC (DStv 172) channel's Next Great Presenter search are Lee Hobbs, Carol Tshabalala, Aletta Alberts and Cosmo South Africa's editor, Cathy Lund.
The winner will become the presenter of TLC Top 10 – a new programming
strand on TLC Entertainment which will start on Thursday 3 December at 20:55 and
rebroadcast some the most popular programming on the channel since 2011.
The top 12 finalists from across Africa will
be narrowed down to a top 3 after a bootcamp of two days next week where they
will get mentoring from various industry experts to help them prepare for the
next round and to possibly avoid elimination.
The TLC's Next
Great Presenter search follows roughly the same pattern as Top Billing and SABC3's successful Presenter Search on 3 and Disney Africa's
recent I Love Violetta Presenter
Search which bypass the traditional agent, casting and auditioning system and
which allow surprising new on-air TV talent to emerge with new telegenic stars that
otherwise would not have been discovered.
Viewers will get to choose the presenter out
of the three shortlisted finalists.
The judges for TLC's Next Great Presenter search are Lee Hobbs (the vice president of
channels for emerging business for Discovery Networks' Central and Eastern
Europe, Middle East and Africa region), Carol Tshabalala (SuperSport presenter),
Aletta Alberts (general manager of content at MultiChoice) and Cathy Lund
(editor of Cosmopolitan South Africa).
"We're extremely excited to
get going with the next phase of this competition especially because we have
some absolutely fantastic minds with proven track records helping us decide who
Africa's new face of TLC Entertainment will be," says Lee Hobbs.
"I will be looking for someone who's confident, vibrant, enthusiastic and engaging with a real passion for the channel. TLC is known for its diverse array of entertaining presenting talent – from Oprah and Iyanla, to Buddy and Randy – so in order to stand alongside these famous faces and become TLC's Next Great Presenter, my advice for our 12 semi-finalists is to be yourself, be bold and most importantly be TLC!"
Carol Tshabalala says "the TLC Next Great Presenter has to be someone
who is unique, engaging but not forced; someone natural with an oozing zest for
life."
Aletta
Alberts says she will be looking for someone who represents the future of the media
and television industry, who is well-spoken, who can think on their feet and
someone that the camera loves.
Cathy
Lund says she's looking "for a presenter who's charismatic, positive,
emotive, articulate and polished. But most of all they need to reflect their
authentic selves. Gone are the days of fake smiles, fake laughs and fake
accents."
"I will be looking for someone who's confident, vibrant, enthusiastic and engaging with a real passion for the channel. TLC is known for its diverse array of entertaining presenting talent – from Oprah and Iyanla, to Buddy and Randy – so in order to stand alongside these famous faces and become TLC's Next Great Presenter, my advice for our 12 semi-finalists is to be yourself, be bold and most importantly be TLC!"
"I
think the TLC Next Great Presenter needs to represent a continent of
talented and genuine young people whose feet are firmly planted in African soil
but whose sights are looking to the stars".
