PICTORIAL. Vibrant, colourful and done quickly despite rain during Covid: Take a look inside the season 5 Big Brother Naija camera-house with art director Olajumoke Ogunnaike.

by Thinus Ferreira

It was raining. The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic was growing worldwide including Nigeria. But that didn't stop the Nigerian wall artist Olajumoke Ogunnaike from creating a vibrant, colourful splash inside the 5th season's Big Brother Naija house.

Olajumoke Ogunnaike, the CEO of Lefteye's Signatures in Lagos, Nigeria, is once again the art director for the latest season of M-Net West Africa's Big Brother Nigeria.

She is responsible for the look and design aesthetic of the camera-house reality show produced by Red Pepper Productions and broadcast on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa.

Olajumoke Ogunnaike is once again sitting at the creative helm of the 5th season's look after Lefteye's Signatures came onboard for the 4th season of Big Brother Naija "Pepper Dem" season that was the first season since the first that was produced from and inside Nigeria again after the show used to be done from Johannesburg, South Africa.

For this season she says "the most challenging design I worked on in the house is still the garden area - the time it took to complete the beautiful mural, being at mother nature's mercy and praying several times that the rain stops."

"Also at this period, coordinating about 20 of my team members on a particular wall, with me not having control over the weather and with a slim timeline counting down. But I'm glad we pulled through".

As to this season's art design in the Big Brother Nigeria house, she says the colours and design bring ambience and warmth to the production. "This time we decided to keep it simple and soft." 

About the impact of Covid-19 on her business she says that "Just as it has its downsides, it also had its positive effect".

"When we sensed that the drop in demand for our services was solely because clients were scared of the pandemic and high on safety, we had to up our standards. We went and got appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to keep both the team and our clients safe".

Season 5 of Big Brother Naija kicks off on DStv in Africa with 20 housemates - here they are.

The just-married bed is first and then the first date as VIA picks up format rights for Date in Reverse and a South African Afrikaans version of the dating show that will be called Date Agteruit.

by Thinus Ferreira

Two strangers meet for the first time in the just-married bridal bed, then the wedding reception, then a family get-together all the way back to a possible first date ... if both decide to still show up.

That's the premise of a new TV dating reality show with Media24's Afrikaans lifestyle reality TV channel VIA (DStv 147) that is producing a South African version of the Date in Reverse format show, entitled Date Agteruit.

In it viewers will see the participants start the dating process at the end - in the just-married bed - followed by a wedding reception, after which the courtship process unspools all the way to the beginning with the big question: Will two people in the end both show up to their first date?

In Date in Reverse, with the Afrikaans version produced by Red Pepper, the first time two strangers meet will be in the bridal bed, followed by the wedding reception, the first family get-together to the first weekend getaway.

Will they sense a spark from the start? Will their potential in-laws put out their fire? And at the end of  this reverse day, will both feel like they want to show up to their first date?

Date in Reverse is a format show from Armoza Formats that signed a deal for a South African version as VIA tries to capture the same audience that tuned in for kykNET's (DStv 144) recent new can't-see-the-suitors dating format show adaptation Hoor My, Sien My, Soen My that was produced by Afrokaans.

Created by Volley Formats, Shenhar Productions Ltd. and Daniella Slavik, the show that is currently looking for date-testants, will follow two singles each week who are looking for love.

In one day, the couple will move backwards through major life events under the premise that they get a chance to "peek into their future" to avoid wasting time with the wrong person.

Izelle Venter, VIA channel boss, says "The whole world has gone mad for dating-as-social-experiment formats and so have we" in a statement.

"We’ve been playing around with the idea of sinking our teeth into a big, new dating format and when we stumbled upon Date in Reverse, we fell in love almost instantly."

"Relationships and dating are part of our DNA and Date in Reverse ticked several boxes for us. Not only does it speak to global viewers’ current fascination with 'dating experiments' but it is also conducive to lean TV production - which is something we aim for with all of our shows."

Louise Melzack, senior sales director of APAC, Nordics, GSA, GB and Africa at Armoza Formats, says "We are thrilled to be working on a South African adaptation of Date in Reverse with our fantastic partners at VIA."

"Following the success of three seasons of Marry Me Now, VIA is a great fit for this unique dating format and we look forward to seeing many more versions around the world."

e.tv dumps its local youth programming content block, Craz-e, after a decade; replaced with international and animation shows.

e.tv has dumped its long-running local youth programming content block Craz-e, after a decade that it used to broadcast on weekdays afternoons at 15:55, doing away with the entire group of local youth presenters and the local content the channel offered for years produced by Red Pepper.

e.tv launched Craz-e in 1998 2008 and after 10 years it's over.

e.tv decided to now fill afternoons with international youth shows and animation.

As rumoured, e.tv dropped Craz-e at the end of March but didn't make any announcement beforehand.

e.tv was asked Tuesday why it didn't announce the end of Craz-e but the eMedia Investments channel didn't answer the question. There's also no explanation as for why e.tv decided to do away with Craz-e's various local content strands.

In response to a media enquiry from TVwithThinus on Tuesday, e.tv confirmed that the channel has ended its Craz-e local youth programming block at the end of March 2019.

On 2 April e.tv said that from 1 April its programming line-up "will feature a mix of local and international shows, including Supa Strikas, Zafari, Turbo FAST, Zak Storm and Trollhunter: Tales of Arcadia".

"Television is always evolving, and we are constantly reviewing and refreshing our lineup to make sure that we are catering to the needs of our viewers," says Marlon Davids, head of e.tv channels.

"It has been a fantastic journey, and we are ending this era of youth programming on a high note."

"We would like to thank the presenters and our producing partners at Red Pepper for all their creativity and hard work over the years. They have produced thousands of hours of great entertainment, and we are incredibly proud of the positive contribution they have made to e.tv and South Africa's youth."

It's not clear how e.tv plans to adhere to its annual content quotas for local youth programming mandated by the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

e.tv was asked how e.tv foresee to do and include local youth programming going forward but didn't specifically answer that question either.

e.tv in a statement says that "Over the years, Craz-e's high energy youth programming, which has included standalone shows like Sistahood, Shiz Niz, and Craz-e World Live, has been a source of information, inspiration and entertainment for millions of young South Africans."