Inside Presenter Search: no sleep for busy host Pabi
Pabi Moloi gives us the scoop from the queues at this year’s Presenter Search On 3 competition.
Presenter Search On 3 Season 4 Thursdays (from 10 May) SABC3 (*193) 19:30
Pabi Moloi has spent 30 years in the spotlight – from modelling for her first billboard for a KFC literacy campaign at the age of four, to being fabulous on reality chatshow Trending SA (2016- current). And as the shiny new host of Presenter Search On 3 (2010- current), the 34-year- old gets to talk to thousands of people whose dream it is to live her life. “It is so exciting to have your passion take you around the world, which is what it has done for me,” says Pabi. “There are people auditioning who are engineering students and architecture students… I kind of feel like maybe people think this is an easier, cushier lifestyle? But it may not necessarily be,” she points out with amusement.
NON-STOP
A glimpse at Pabi’s non-stop life at the moment highlights what she means – she chatted to us on her phone while bouncing between airports and jobs. “The days kind of merge into one,” she admits. “The first day [of filming for Presenter Search], I had just won best Talk Show Host at the SAFTA Awards in Sun City, so I was coming off that high. I hadn’t slept and I was picked up at 02:00 from Sun City and I managed to take a short nap in the car, driving to OR Tambo and from there I flew to PE and drove straight to the Presenter Search auditions. At some point I went to my friend’s house and I took a nap. Then I returned to the auditions, completed my day and flew straight back home. I’ve just finished two days in Durban and now I’m flying back home to Joburg. As soon as I land, I will be doing a voiceover, then I go straight to Trending SA, which is live tonight. I am actually quite excited about being back on my own show! [Laughs]”
MEETING & GREETING
First impressions counted when Pabi picked colourful characters out of the queues. “It you look interesting, we’re going to want to put our cameras on you,” she explains. “There were people in traditional outfits who stood out, people who stood out because of their hair. My gosh, there has been such great hair on this show – bouncy, big, beautiful hair.” Pabi’s job as host was to create a perfect TV moment in each of those encounters. “You need to connect with the humanity in another person. I always try to have a quick chat to summarise what we’d like to talk about on camera and to give you a sense of how a person is, like maybe this person needs a little bit more of a gentle approach, whereas that person has a more acerbic sense of humour so you can be a bit more pointed with them. It’s like dance – you just feel the rhythm and try to bring out the best in them,” she says.
ONE IN A MILLION
Pabi is sadly aware that only a tiny handful of the hopefuls she spoke to will make it through in the show. “One of the most powerful things is when people tell you their story. There was one girl in particular in PE who came from a disadvantaged background and her sister talked to me. They looked like models, they are statuesque and beautiful. She was talking to me about how she has qualified and has varsity degree, but there isn’t work in Port Elizabeth, so I can really see how an opportunity like Presenter Search would enable her sister to make a break. I wish that everybody could have the opportunity,” Pabi sighs. But she advises anyone with big dreams who didn’t make the cut, to make their own a career online. “Social media is almost as powerful – if not more powerful – than traditional media,” she insists. “Create your own YouTube channels. You can learn how to present pieces to camera and how to be yourself in front of a camera. What better place than your own bedroom to learn that?”