KTV prepares to open fifth season
It seems like only yesterday that Corozal’s Angelo Fabro captured the nation’s collective heart as he sang his way to stardom as the 2005 king of Karaoke Television. Well Guess what? In less than a week KTV is back.
William Neal, KTV Host
?There are no rules. So it makes it definitely, besides being spontaneous and fun, just a challenge to keep up with people because you don?t know what will happen next.?
Janelle Chanona
What has happened is that since KTV debuted on Channel Five in February 2000, the show has become a national phenomenon, propelling performers and host William Neal to instant celebrity status.
William Neal
?They are always warm, they are very friendly. It?s almost as if though I got the opportunity to touch Angelo, you know that kind of thing. And they want to have simple conversations and just I guess talk to you about things that might not stand out for you, but they remember play by play everything that you did. And I think that?s pretty amazing because we don?t have very many people from a Belizean sensibility that they can relate to because of all the outside influences.?
Despite plenty of similar reality shows from outside Belize, producer Mary Rhaburn says KTV fans know what time it is.
Mary Rhaburn, KTV Producer
?Believe me when its nine o?clock on Tuesday nights and they know KTV is going to be on, everybody is sitting in front of the T.V. And I can?just the next day, after on Wednesday go out on the street and walk hear this person talking about this one that performed and who they thought would win and even approach me like ,?I no think this person supposed to me win,? and that kind of thing. Everybody is totally into it.?
Rhaburn promises everybody an unforgettable premier night at the Palm Court of the Bliss.
Mary Rhaburn
?Well, I don?t know what you?d call early because the last year I can remember as early as five-thirty there?re people there like holding onto chairs, just so they can have a seat when it begins at nine o?clock in the night. The premier night is going to be fun. We have a group of kids from the Keep Your Head Up Project with Mr. Don White, they are going to be opening up the show with a new KTV song for us.?
William Neal
?Even though karoke in itself is not Belizean, Karoake TV in itself has become something very Belizean to do with your families, to do with your friends, to talk at your workplace the following morning. It?s a celebration of life in Belize because when you have people from the Mennonite community coming to perform, when you have people from little villages that you?ve never heard about coming to Belize City and they perform and they do so with such command and grace, you realise that sometimes it awakens something within an individual that is innate that could only come out in a setting like KTV.?
The first show for KTV 2006 starts at nine on Tuesday night March twenty-eighth. Venue is the Palm Court of the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts with a live broadcast right here on Channel Five. The previous KTV champions are Rina Villanueva, Rhojani Perriott, Louis Maskall, and Angelo Fabro.It’s still not too late to sign up for this season’s fun as another audition session will be held on Saturday afternoon at one here at the Channel five studios on Regent Street. And for fans who just can’t wait until the twenty-eighth, there will be a special showing of last year’s KTV final tonight at nine, right after Oprah.
