Last week on Tuesday, I was alerted to an article that appeared on Zimbo Jam by a Facebook post from Munya Chidzonga. He was complaining about an article that had appeared on the site and said the article was heavily critical of the first episode of Our Perfect Wedding Zimbabwe which is hosted by his wife Adiona.
Hastily, I visited the site and read the article. Yes, I agree, it is very critical of the pilot episode of Our Perfect Wedding. Given the fact that I know both Munya and Adiona personally, it would have been very easy for me, as the owner of the website, to log in and take the article down. But I had to ask, “Did the journalist who wrote this justify his criticism,” and the answer at every turn was “Yes.” He made statements and then gave good reasons to back them up.
Then I saw a part near the end of the article; one line that insinuated that there were rumours circulating about how the role of host for the show had been awarded. It did not say where these rumours were circulating or why they had surfaced so I did log in and take that bit out before asking the team to justify themselves for putting it out there.
They apologised for not having put their justification into the article and then sent me the background to the story. And here it is:
Zambezi magic called for people interested in hosting the show to apply and gave a deadline of March 31. The rumours came about when the shooting for the first episode took place on March 2nd at the wedding of popular gospel singer, Tembalami. The discussion in arts journalist circles was how had they started working with a host when there was still an open call to find one? So that line about the rumours was in reference to this. It was a questioning of the process which was used to select a host.
Our team did ask MultiChoice about this but have been referred to Zambezi Magic as they were the ones who organised the selection.
So, yes, I was taken aback by the fact that someone I knew personally was being criticised like this. At the same time, I thought it was courageous of the journalist to boldly state his opinions about the show in the way he did. None of this is meant to discourage Adiona or the producers of the show. We love writing stories of victory and overcoming, above all else, but it is our duty to say when we think productions are below par. Rather do that here, at home, amongst ourselves as Zimbabweans – out in the open, than to whisper behind Adiona’s back and pretend to be surprised when we get criticism internationally. As long as that criticism comes from a place of ‘we can do better than this,’ and is presented in that way, I think we need to keep it going. I believe that’s how we grow.
Having said that, it is always possible that journalists may be slanted in their opinions of things. To double check, I looked at other reviews of the show. It seems Zimbo Jam is not alone in believing that Our Perfect Wedding Zimbabwe can be much better than the first episode and that Adiona and the team behind her have more to offer.
I wish the Ngoda TV team all the best in their upcoming episodes.
