SINGAPORE: MediaCorp says it is mindful of sensitivities when producing a show for a broad audience.
Responding to recent letters and comments on the Celebrate TV50 Countdown show, MediaCorp TV’s Senior Vice President of English Entertainment Productions Remesh Kumar said, “The programme was primarily in English though Mandarin commentary was interspersed for Channel 8 audiences.”
“We featured performances in our four official languages, making sure the 180 local artistes represented Singapore’s multi-ethnic make-up. They included iconic names such as Margaret Chan, Brian Richmond, Dick Lee, Duncan Watt, Asnida Daud, Jayaram, Taufik Batisah, Sylvia Ratonel and Shabir,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr Kumar added, “Celebrate TV50 was special because it was the grand finale to a year-long celebration of 50 years of television in Singapore. More than the usual countdown show, it was conceived as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual showcase of television’s history, personalities and memorable moments. Hence, a five-hour show instead of the usual one-and-a-half hour programme.”
“A show of this scale allowed us to bring together our most popular artistes from all TV channels and also two international acts, The Wanted and Wang Leehom, to lend an international appeal. MediaCorp decided to simulcast on Channels 8 and 5 to broaden the reach of the show, instead of having separate countdowns as in previous years,” he elaborated.
Mr Kumar explained that the early part of the show celebrated the history of television, and more airtime was given to Mandarin productions because MediaCorp has a 30-year history of producing Mandarin dramas, longer than for any other language.
He noted that the larger pool of Channel 8 artistes, who are the station’s most popular, reflect the TV audience profile.
Some parts of the show had blocks of Mandarin dialogue as some Channel 8 artistes had chosen to speak Mandarin.
He said to insist that they speak in English, would have meant they might not have been able to express themselves clearly.
He acknowledged that while many viewers enjoyed the show, there may be some who thought the use of Mandarin excessive.
“We could have done more to engage Channel 5 audiences, and will continue striving to get the right balance of language content for such future shows. We will also consider the use of subtitling, although this could mean losing a fair bit of spontaneity as dialogue would largely be scripted,” Mr Kumar said.
Countdown show featured performances in Singapore"s four official languages ...
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