Guest Blog: MZGEE Scores 10 for United Showbiz Again!

Gloria Akpene Nyarku-Acquah popularly known as MZGEE has been subjected to series of unfair criticisms after she was confirmed as the new hostess for United Television’s ( UTV ) weekly entertainment analysis programme; ‘United Showbiz’. Following the exit of Ghanaian A-list actress Felicity Ama Agyemang, professionally known as Nana Ama McBrown from the Abeka-based station after her 3-year stint with the show, there have been mixed feelings over the choice of MzGee as the hostess of the show, especially with her struggle to communicate meritoriously in the Twi language.

Truth be told; Nana Ama McBrown is exceptionally multi-talented and her strong command over the Twi language is outstanding but in the same breath, you can’t take anything away from the professionalism of MzGee. There is a massive difference having a show built around your set skills and that is precisely what United Showbiz was with Nana Ama McBrown, as United Television is purely an Akan television station and has a well-defined target audience.

However, ever since McBrown joined Onua TV/FM, owned by Media General, she has been making certain pronouncements and cunningly jabbing/shading the Despite Group and as the African proverb goes: ‘when two elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.’ Whenever there is conflict between two powerful parties, the innocent and the helpless suffer the most and unluckily for MzGee, she’s is the grass being trampled on.

MzGee has acknowledged her struggle in the Twi language but one must also admit that there has been a massive improvement in recent weeks in contrast to her presentation on her maiden edition of the show. Aficionados of McBrown and the cyber bullies however have continued to debase the efforts the ace broadcaster put into her craft with their constant verbal and emotional abuse tactic that makes you wonder what their motives are, even though McBrown has two shows airing every week on Onua TV. Could it be that, McBrown is not making the headlines as many thought she will, after that razzmatazz revelry on her outdooring as a presenter of the Media General family?

McBrown is an actress who dwells on her acting skills and semantics in her presentations whilst MzGee is a journalist and a straight to the point broadcaster. There is never a ‘stupid’ question in an interview but there are always bad answers in interviews. In that broad sense, interviewing is the process whereby individuals exchange information and that is exactly what MzGee does with her guests on her show.  When the objective of the interview is well known in advance, it is usually a good practice to allow the individual concerned ample time to prepare for the talk before the actual involvement.

And that was exactly what MzGee revealed on the 5th August edition of her show following an altercation with Ola Michael, Mr Logic (Emmanuel Barnes) and Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey Santana; in response to a question she asked Ghanaian actress Beverly Afaglo Baah; who was the celebrity guest on the show. MzGee continuously prompted Beverly Afaglo Baah of their initial conversations prior to the show, suggesting that she was going to give her the opportunity to dispel the notion that she is a narcissistic actress.

It all started when PR manager, Alexander Fiifi Abeka, popularly called Xerda, in a recent social media post, had suggested that he felt Beverly was one of the bitterest actresses in Ghana. MzGee posed the question to the actress and gave her the source/reference in a bid to let the actress know that these were comments coming from industry players in the Showbiz circle and not from her as the hostess.

Most often than not, the expectations of an interviewee may be far different from those of the interviewer and this misunderstanding, if not corrected, can be disastrous. Unfortunately, Beverly Afaglo lost the plot and went in hard on Xerda on the show but strangely, the actress who studied journalism and public relations later took to social media to address the very question that she was given the opportunity to address on the TV show. Shocking right? Your guess is as good as mine!

The Ghanaian actress who once had to come out to defend an old video of her bragging about her wealth had the perfect opportunity in that very moment to address the issue in person and in return, sell her ‘Traffic Shawarma’ enterprise across the platform but she missed out big time. Contrariwise in her social post after the show, she wrote:

‘My name is Beverly Afaglo. I am a pure hearted and sincere personality.I am real, I don’t pretend,I don’t fake.I’m just being me.I’m a Gemini so most times I’m too blunt and sincere and some people can’t stand that about me and they call me names.I don’t want popularity or trends, I have had enough in my life time.U have no idea how many interviews my management and I turn down on a daily and weekly. I don’t grant interviews, I hate them cos I’m sincere and some people get offended when I speak the truth so I avoid them.If u get me on ur show, u hv persisted and pushed for so long and I respect u so much I couldn’t keep saying no. Now,if I’m not relevant I won’t be invited to shows/events, if I’m not relevant, people won’t write about me. They know when they do I drive traffic for them.

Dear writers and commentators, u don’t know me personally so when writing about me use some decorum because this is a brand that has been built over 16yrs of hardwork and consistency.Thank God I’m still called for jobs and appearances and that’s all my business is, not for trends.Don’t use my name to get a name and still call me a nobody. I am Beverly Afaglo, don’t compare me to ur favorite, stay with ur favorites and allow my favorites to love me just as I am.Hating someone u don’t even know is evil.Enough please. Thank you’

It’s obvious that, after self-retrospection following the fall out on the show, she became aware that MzGee actually meant well for her.  Celebrities need to be trained to give good media interviews because media plays an outsize role in the trajectory of a celebrity or public figure’s career. Honestly, media training for celebrities equips them to manage the intricacies and inherent scrutiny of media interviews. Do you remember the famous Black Sherrif’s ‘Subtract my 4-year-old career from Sarkodie’s career’ response to critics who said without him, Sarkodie’s Jamz album would not have been a success.?

MzGee may not be your preferred pick to anchor United Showbiz but one thing is definitely certain, she is not dumb but rather, an intelligent seasoned journalist who is doing a great job in an unfamiliar territory. To those who continue to troll her over her command over the Twi language in appraisal to that of Nana Ama Mcbrown, i will ask them to flip the coin and have both personalities host their shows in English too. The fact that MzGee has taken such a challenge to work for the Akan speaking station is even a win for her. Soar on MzGee as the skies are yours to conquer.

Edmund Agbeko ( [email protected] )