First of all, let me do the formalities of introducing myself. My name is Prudence Mathebula, otherwise known as Pruluv. I'm a Radio Presenter and Radio Producer on MetroFM; I'm a club dj otherwise known at DJ Pruluv and most importantly, I'm a writer and have been a feature blogger for TVSA since 2010 and in the last 3 years I needed to take a hiatus due to demanding work pressure.
Now that the formalities are out of the way...
I've attended a number of award ceremonies and have also watched them live on TV, but over the years I have seen a huge gap between the two worlds. In retroscept, what we see on TV is not always a true reflection of what the audience at the ceremony experience.
Have you noticed how people in the entertainment industry appear to be "lying" about certain award ceremonies, when they blab on about how awesome they were and there you are thinking "Child... which awards ceremony were you watching because what I saw on tv was trash?"
Well... we know that some get paid to say certain things, but for those that are not paid, if they say the awards were awesome, then they probably mean it. So, since I'm not getting paid for my opinion, I guess I'm free to give you the real scoop of what goes down at these award ceremonies, particulary #SAFTAs12. Eish... I hope I won't get into trouble for TMI.
FIRSTLY...
Before any awards ceremony, there's a real struggle of getting an invite. Shu... you'd be shocked at how stressful this is for some people. The reality is that, being in the TV or Film industry doesn't guarantee you an automatic invite. You may even be a famous actor and still not crack an invite. Space is limited so they try to get people that are relevant to that particular ceremony for that year. That's just the reality and it's no different from Hollywood.
However, award ceremonies are a big deal as they only take place once a year, so one can be forgiven for hustling to try to get an invite, be it from organizers, connected friends or whomever. Sometimes you win, but most times you lose. It's rough outchea.
Then there's the worst scenario of a friend promising to hook you up and you end up at the venue waiting and calling, only to find their phone is off. Then dololo access to the awards ceremonies. As embarassing as it sounds - I've been there.
SECONDLY...
It's the added stress of getting an outfit. Wuuu... Add to that hoe everything is so expensive lately and we can't just splash out money. There are benefits to being part of this industry because you can get into an agreement with a designer or someone who sources dresses from a designer.
The issue about these agreements is that you may end up wearing something you don't like and that doesn't flatter you or you may still have to pay a certain fee because hey, designers have to "eat" too, you know.
So, that means some of us then opt to go buy what we want at a fee we afford, because I am not about to look like a hot mess because of some agreement.
Ooops... maybe this is gonna get me into trouble.
Anywhoo... Moving right along.
All was set and the date was Thursday, 22nd of March. I left Joburg just after 3pm to head to Sun City. Omaigot. The rain was an absolute NIGHTMARE!!! It normally take us 2 hours from Joburg to Sun City, but thanks to the floodgates, we got to Sun City 4 hours later, because we had to drive between 80 and 100 kms as caution. Yes, as you figured, it's normally tradition to drive yourself from Joburg to Sun City for award ceremonies.
The red carpet was meant to start at 6pm and there I was checking in at the hotel at 7pm... but it's not like I was gonna fight nature and fortunately there were a number of people that arrived after me. BTW... the most ideal invite is one that comes with accommodation. You don't want to be stranded in another province so far away from home... or worse, having to beg people to accommodate you.
I say the simple rule is "invite with no accommodation" = stay at home Roger.
I was amongst the media that got the best invites since we were invited by the National Film And Video Foundation (NFVF) itself so it meant we would be well taken off. The 20 hosted media stayed at the Sun SOHO Hotel and hey, hey, hey did I mention that my room was on some slaying levels? It was the perfect antidote to the 4 hour torturous drive.
Unfortunately there was no time to freshen up, since I was already over an hour late, so it meant minimal makeup, jump into dress and bounce... okay a young selfie was needed before I could dash.
When it comes to makeup, it's now becoming popular to get a professional makeup artist to do your makeup for such functions. I'm not big on makeup, so it's only when the spotlight will be on me that I consider a pro makeup artist, otherwise, self made makeup is the way to go.
I didn't know what the protocol was of getting from the hotel to the red carpet at the convention centre but all I know is that a porter who had helped me put my bag in the room, hooked a sister up and yelled for me to get into some car that dropped me off on the adjacent side of the red carpet.
Hahaha... It then dawned on me that, this was not how other guests arrived, but as a late comer, I was greatful for the hookup. As I ran, one of my heavy earrings fell off and landed right in the middle of the road.
Trust you me, I pulled up my dress and went down on the tar road and looked for my earring back, whilst picking up my earring. I was not playing any games because I paid big bucks for those earrings and the last thing on my thoughts was being hit by a car, since I was kneeling right in the middle of the road.
Wardrobe disasters on the red carpet are a reality. I've seen some ladies even having to go back to their rooms because of it. In 2014, the tail of my dress tore in two after some guy stepped on my dress as we entered the red carpet. I almost died, but I kept it together as soon as I realised that it was just the tail and rest of the dress was still intact.
The things that we ladies go through. #Sigh
I had missed the red carpet but I managed to get a cup of coffee from the Mc Cafe stand in the Warrior Hall, where guests had welcome drinks and some finger foods. So, before an awards ceremony, guests normally eat and have drinks so that no one will be grumpy from hunger during the awards ceremony. The set up had many options but I was immediately whisked away to the superbowl before I could touch anything.
Can I just mention how the NFVF staff were super duper amazing hosts, particularly Xolelwa, Neo and Nompumelelo. They were always available on their phones and any issue that arose, they fixed them timeously. These ladies even fetched me from outside and walked the empty red carpet with me, lol and they waited for me to grab coffee and they escorted me to the auditorium.
They sure get a rating of 10/10 for being such incredible hosts, something we don't see often.
Just when I believed that I was in paradise, I separated from the hosts and joined the rest of the guests and my friends, as we waited and had to walk down the stairs leading to the superbowl. All I foresaw were the endless dangers of that exercise.
Ladies were in heels; with long, flowing dresses and others with tails and they were meant to walk down a flight of stairs. That's a BIG No! No!
After the delay, we finally made our way into the superbowl and because we were all invited guests, there was no reservation of seats, people sat where they wanted. That idea gets a BIG thumbs up.
The seating arrangement has always been a huge issue because it tends to class and grade people and 100% of the time, they get it wrong. Important people like nominees and judges don't get the best seats and friends of connected people, who are not even part of the industry get the best seats.
The host of Night 1 was Mr "1 Big Phat Lip" Phat Joe and I personally have a luv for him with his cockiness, but I wasn't convinced that he had rehearsed. Actually, after his introduction, the show just went downhill. The entire production seemed like a first time rehearsal.
The sound was not the best, even KB had to tell them that she can't hear anything and this happened whilst she was singing on stage. I heard from some media that the media room's sound was cut off mid show. Well, maybe that was a blessing in disguise becuase some of the guest presenters made things worse.
A number of them were not cracking it in reading the autocue. There was one presenter who presented about 5 awards and he mumbled everything and even pronounced the sponsors name Caivil, as "Sevel." My media friends asked me not to name and shame him because he was shamed enough with his embarrasing presentation, leading seated guests to laugh out loud at his mistakes and some started chatting loudly like he was not on stage.
Shu... I still feel embarrased on his behalf.
Anywhoo, it was only at the after party that "people in the know" said that the Night 1 show was infact a rehearsal. I was not sold by the idea because REAL awards were being handed out, so the standard should be the same as the live show. Especially since the nominees are people with extensive Production experience.
The big winner of Night 1 was Tjovitjo!
So, as we tried to let the glitches of Night 1 slide, we danced up a storm and had great conversations, with food and non-alcoholic drinks flowing, yep, guests had to pay for alcoholic drinks. I left the afterparty just before 1am, because I was super exhausted but everyone else partying till 4 and 5am. So, I guess I was the party pooper, a full club dj. Hehehe...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DjPruluv