WATCHING THE DREAM
Somizi’s world and your week on TV
OMIZI Mhlongo provided the only watchable element of Idols for its most recent season. For a long time, however, I couldn’t figure out what he actually did for a living. Surely he couldn’t be a professional Idols judge? One minute Somizi was relatively unknown, and in the next he seemed to be everywhere. What was his secret?
The official explanation — that Somizi is a choreographer — struck me as frankly implausible. I mean, how many choreographers can you name? I once saw an article refer to him as an “all-round entertainer”, which doesn’t help me, and also makes him sound like pretty exhausting company.
Thanks to Mzansi Magic, I now have the opportunity to have all my Somizi-related queries answered at once. Living the Dream With Somizi, a reality show based on his life, is currently lighting up DStv.
The promo to the show, however, left me with more questions than answers. “Who do you know me as?” Somizi purred. “To my friends, I’m a star. To the industry, a perfectionist. To my team, I’m the vision. All together, I am living the dream.”
After watching a few episodes of Living the Dream With Somizi ,I can say that I now know Somizi as a star, a perfectionist, a vision, but also someone you’d need quite a lot of energy to hang around with for long periods. His idea of a good time on a road trip to Swaziland was to “prank” people on the roadside by asking for nonsensical directions. If I had been one of his passengers, I would definitely have packed Panado.
What did make me chuckle was witnessing Somizi shoot his upcoming fitness DVD. After completing an exercise routine and collapsing in a chair from fatigue, he was horrified to find just how short his material was.
“Only 11 minutes?” he repeated in disbelief. I’m pretty sure a shortage of footage isn’t something that the producers of Somizi’s own show suffer from. This all-round entertainer appears to be constantly in zesty performance mode.
Speaking of Idols, another recent episode saw Somizi lunching with his fellow judges — with one notable exception. Gareth Cliff, who went to court to demand his reinstatement as a judge, was apparently nowhere to be seen. Is it wrong to be licking my lips in anticipation of the talent show’s next season, which starts airing in July?
One more question. Is Living the Dream With Somizi the kind of content that SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng has in mind when he calls for 90% local material on domestic TV stations? Personally, I have no objection. If I’m going to watch a self-obsessed celebrity showing off their fabulous life, I’d prefer it to be a South African one.