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Reviewing The Entertainment Commentators On Radio | Starting With Peace Fm‘s Entertainment Review

Socrate Sarfo
Socrate Sarfo

I will start this article by quoting myself ‘It is difficult to be a real critic but more difficult to be really criticized…’

Interestingly, Entertainment in Ghana has gained remarkable grounds with many radio stations holding several discourses each week aimed at strengthening the fast developing industry.

Though prominence is mostly given to Music and Movies, occasionally, several sectors of the Art industry is considered—-and those who sit on the ‘talking benches’ seem not to be accountable to anyone.

Today, I’ve decided to hold some of them accountable, the same way they hold others accountable with their sharp and sometimes, rough teeth.

I will look at the popular Entertainment Radio Shows in a sequence, starting with Peace Fm’s Entertainment Review hosted by Kwasi Aboagye…

Now the Host-Kwasi Aboagye 

With many years of radio experience, you cannot really find fault with the presenting structures he throws unto the table each week. When he has a to host interview segments, he pushes the boundaries to ask the hard question, which has in the past abruptly ended some of his interviews—-simply because, it gets tough for the persons at the other side.

On Entertainment Review, Kwasi Aboagye’s primary responsibility centres around being able to hold his panel within reasonable moderation, thereby ensuring they do not stray off the pathway and probably not throw punches at each other—when dissenting.

With a robust approach and strange sense of firmness, Kwasi is able to bring on path when there is an attempted escape. Occasionally, he is forced by his own underlying principles to join the discussions in length, especially when he feels his panel members are losing focus on the substantive issue.

For the above and the sort of stories he oversees in discussions, I will say, he stands exponentially tall among the various Entertainment Radio Hosts and therefore, giving him 8/10 for his professionalism and zeal makes a lot of sense.

Now the Panel-Whitney Boakye Mensah  

Mostly as the only female sitting on the panel, one would expect her to have conflicting views and occasionally take a loud stand guided by the principles of fairness and truth. But from where I sit, she has joined those many spokespersons of Charter House, rebutting everything that comes against Charter House even if it is obvious the company got it wrong.

It would therefore not be contemptuous to say, anytime an issue of Charter House comes up and Whitney has to speak, don’t bother listening because she is more like a stooge.

Despite the above, Whitney has a good understanding of Showbiz but to me, she seems uncomfortable to take the hard stand when controversial issues come up.  By saying she has a good understanding of Showbiz, she is the type who will certainly know that Jay-Z is married to Beyonce but will probably not know that Mos Def and Lyndell Locke tried it with Beyonce before Jay-Z.

She tries her best and on that note, an average mark of 5/10 won’t be bad.

Socrate Sarfo

Wearing the disagreeing mask, Socrate Sarfo takes the opposite views on most issues, adding a different sort of flavour to the conversation. However, he sometimes deludes himself into an inescapable matrix which does not make any sort of sense to the discussion. Even if such times are intentional, they make him sound as if he has lost touch.

With many years of experience in the Movie Industry, Socrate understands film-making and its absurd politics crippling the Ghana Movie Industry, so he has a lot to give away when topics relating to the above are on the table.

He has a good sense of humour and occasionally takes up the Host on out of the studio incidents which are capable of pulling in the attention of listeners—especially those with heightened curiosity. But with the axe in the hands of the Host, Socrate’s microphone is usually taken off air—which mostly ends his off topic rants.

Taking into consideration his tough nature and good analysis when it comes to the Movie Industry, he well deserves 6/10…

He brings that sort of needed ‘nuisance’ to the Show.

Mark Okraku Mantey

Mark has extensive knowledge on how music is made in Ghana and the inconsistent history of the music business in Ghana is well engrained in his head—in fact, he sometimes comes in as being part of the not so old history. So he only does not just know the history, he has been part of the making.

What I find quite unsatisfactory about Mark is his reluctance to take up new challenges by equipping himself with if not equal, enough understanding of other areas of Showbiz.

If it is Ghanaian Music, he is a home bred champion but try throwing the Movie ball to him and he will not know what do with it.

He has a calm presenting proficiency and has a lot to impact when it comes to the Music Industry, but with such long history of associates and affiliates, you can easily see through his attempts not to hurt friends/associates—which make him ignore the truth sometimes.

Mark can be factual at all times but can he be truthful in ‘dishing’ out the blame? I can’t guarantee the latter…

I believe we can all agree on 6/10 for Mark.

Bandax

I am not sure how many stooges Charter House has around in Ghana as Bandax does not even attempt to hide his unending bias for Charter House. The money or connections must be good…LOL

Nevertheless, Bandax also has a good understanding of Ghanaian Music and can tell you where Dr. Paa Bobo even played his first concert, because he was probably the organizer. That is how connected he is with the old boys club…

It is therefore not shocking that Bandax has no understanding of the new global pop culture and what even amounts to news in today’s Showbiz world.

If I am not worried about misunderstanding, I would easily have said Bandax may not know the difference between a platform like MyjoyOnline.Com and GhanaCelebrities.Com. Similarly, he may think TMZ must fit in the same box with the BBC when it comes to reportage…

It is not only his lack of understanding of contemporary media like the Blogs that makes some of his submissions ‘outrageous’ but his long standing connections means that, he has to double as a publicist for most of his friends—which hurts the integrity of his submissions as he has to go against noticeable truths, most times.

Let’s be truthful and fetch Bandax 5/10…

Arnold Asamoah Baidoo

If there is that one person you have to pay attention to on Peace Fm’s Entertainment Review, it surely is Arnold—don’t mind the Host who you cannot escape anyway.

Arnold has a wide cutting edge understanding of Showbiz with overshadowing analytical skills which makes some of his fellow panel members sound like cavemen.

His interest in Global Showbiz is daily manifested in the convincing examples and debates he puts across. His attempts to let people understand that the new pop culture has its own rules and all over the world, social media and the Blogs control Entertainment/Gossip say much about how much he is well fed…

Unlike most of the panel members who seem to have good knowledge of home issues and no or little of the world, Arnold can take up a Nadia Buari story and dissect the issue with the same confidence he can cut apart a piece on Rihanna or Cheryl Cole.

His understanding of the new pop culture together with his strong attitude towards saying the truth, no matter how it hurts put him far above those he sits with…

The difference between listening to Arnold and the rest is just like, comparing the technological thrill of life in Tokyo to Accra—increasingly obvious.

His ability to stand for the truth and his excellent understanding of contemporary Showbiz hold the Show together in a colourful manner. He therefore deserves to be rated far above the other panel members—and I think 9/10 is not an exaggeration…

George Quaye (Aboagye)

With Geoge Quaye always being described as ‘from Charter House’, I will not be wrong to assume that he sits on the radio Show as an official Charter House person, which may explain his defensive posture when it comes to issues relating to his employer…

So if you want an unbiased view on any issue concerning Charter House, George Quaye’s submissions should not be your determining factor.

On a positive note, since he is from Charter House, he is able to answer in detail questions concerning most Charter House events, but always remember he can’t soil his place of sleep.

Looking at other issues, George Quaye never seems to have a thunderous opinion of his own, and mostly sits with the popular opinion of the day. If majority of the panel members are against, you will certainly find him towing that line.

I wouldn’t describe him as sycophant but he doesn’t seem to want to take a stand against or for anything—except when others have taking the lead.

For obvious reasons, he is very interested in music and events but I cannot understand why he seems to have little interest in movie related topics, considering his Taxi Driver background.

Aboagye sounds confident in his deductions but his deductions are not mostly convincing. I think he can boost his submissions by taking keen interest in the direction of Global Showbiz and what’s meant by ‘new pop culture’ in the west, a concept which is the current measuring rode of Showbiz at every corner of the world.

In my opinion, the fact that Aboagye does not bring any fresh perspective to the Show means he fits the average mark of 5/10…

***Peace Fm’s Entertainment Review airs on Thursdays, 3-4pm and on Saturdays, 1-4pm…



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