On 9 th October 2006, Banja La Mtsogolo’s (BLM) support office car park was packed to capacity as over 200 jittery hopefuls anticipated the start of the BLM TV presenter auditions. As the young men and women from all walks of life waited outside the support office, they anxiously gave each other sideways glances, trying to inconspicuously size up the competition.

Some came smartly dressed whilst others chose a more casual look. But one thing that was prevalent was the amount of hope and anxiety among the youngsters.

“I am shocked to see the number of young people that have turned up today. It’s very encouraging to see how many young people we’ve managed to attract in such a short amount of time,” were the Director of Operations (DoO) remarks before the auditions.

The panel of judges comprised of the DoO, members of the Marketing and Corporate Relations (M&CR) team and a renowned TVM presenter Jolly Ntaba.

The auditions were split into two rounds. The first round acted as a screening session by which members of the judges’ panel could shortlist the ones who presented themselves best.

“What we are hoping to do is to shortlist the best of the lot in this first round. The first round will consist of the auditioners giving a brief introduction about themselves and in a few words why they feel they are the best for the job. Those who display the qualities we are looking for will go into the next round, in which they will watch a 6 minute clip and will be required to present it in both Chichewa and English,” Darlingtone Ndasauka, Sales and Advertising Manager remarked. He went on to say that the judges were scoring contestants in areas such as poise, delivery, photogeniality, creativity, and confidence. “We need presenters who are comfortable in their own skin because this will in turn give them credibility on television.”

“It was interesting to note what an array of personalities came forward. Some were just screaming ‘Pick me! I’m what you’re looking for’ from the door. Whereas others were a bit more reserved,” Felistas Sibweza, Advocacy and Corporate Relations Officer said after the first round of selection.

After the first round, the hopefuls were cut down to 25 people who were shown the video clip, in which a former sex worker made some life changing decisions after her friend was diagnosed with HIV.

“The aim of the TV show is to highlight real life issues so as to be more compelling to the audience. These will not only be about family planning but about other issues that are pertinent in society,” Felistas remarked.

“Since the talk show has been designed to be bilingual it was important to assess their strengths in both English and Chichewa. They were asked to introduce the clip in English, then close in Chichewa and vice versa. Not only will we be targeting a wide variety of people, but we will be tackling real life issues that have to be conveyed with the utmost sensitivity with this TV programme so it is important that the presenters are proficient in both languages,” The DoO said.

The auditions finally came to an end at 4.30 in the afternoon. The following week, the selection committee announced that BLM had selected two finalists: Zyagu Nyirenda and Mphatso Chaluluka with Rodgers Siula and Elizabeth Kambuwa on standby. Congratulations and Best Wishes to them both.