Changing The Face of Emceeing in Malawi

 

                                                        Director of Ceremonies: George Adams

In the past, the art of emceeing an event was not necessarily hard work to the core. Those with a knack to crack jokes stood a chance to engage in the art of mastering a ceremony. The majority of those with a radio background had a growing appetite for the job. Even those with a verbal diarrhea took their chances and marketed themselves as master of ceremonies, to them being talkative was a parameter that they can stand before an audience during an event and engineer the unfolding proceedings. Dressing poorly during events, lack of fluency in multiple languages and lack of discipline were the price that most emcees of old had to pay for embracing a gift that was never truly theirs.

These emcees would just dress without any sort of intention to thrill or decorate the event. The emceeing scene appeared to be taking on board anyone that had flirted with the idea of being an emcee one day without any thorough soul-searching process. Consequently, the industry was concentrated with countless peripherals to the dismay of clients. Only a countable few showed real earnestness that stand out to be reckoned.

In the recent past, the new crop of Emcees has showed glimpses of something that we are not all accustomed to as Malawians. In every way possible, the new-school bandwagon of master of ceremonies have made a statement that they are a complete departure from what people are used to. They have dressed with a good sense of fashion, kept vigil of their choice of words and exercised humor in their line of duty. They have demonstrated exquisite capability in the business and drawn boundaries away from the predominantly lot of wannabes. One such gem is emcee George Adams.

Having played the role of host during gospel music shows and showing signs of real skill in the process. Audiences could not help it but call for his introduction on the business side of mastering occasions.

“I used to host events like gospel music shows before I decided to venture into the industry professionally. What got me into the industry was the urge from people who believed I could do well in the game. A lot of people used to contact me to host their weddings, but I kept turning down the offers because I never thought emceeing weddings was exciting. I always looked at the trade as low,” Adams says.

Just like most new-school master of ceremonies, the Lilongwe-based emcee has an obligation to dress presentably, keep conscious of time, and exercise fluency in language, as these are the factors that makes one marketable in the modern era.

“When I decided to join the profession of emceeing events, I made it a point to be different by giving the industry the value it deserves. The first thing I noticed was lacking in many MCs was the sense of fashion. You see, weddings are all about glitz and glam. It is a must to dress up nicely, more especially the emcee because you are the one always on the microphone. This means people will be looking at you for over three hours”

You would agree with me that back in the days, people would become wedding MC’s because they were good jokers, public dancers, or church conveners, but it takes more than cracking jokes, wearing a big-weaved hat or being confident of speaking to the masses. By the books, an MC needs to be a well-trained public speaker, disciplined on the microphone as to what he/she can let out of the mouth or not, diversity in language, understanding of different cultures, and the maturity to address people of different ages from different backgrounds, among others,” Adams said.

Although he is just four years old in the business, the gifted emcee has already cemented his reputation as of the very best. His record of hosting over 80 events in 2021 is proof that he is the ingredient of a beautiful event. He also emerged as an award winner in the category of best emcee in the year 2020 and 2021 respectively

Fellow emcee and media practitioner, Chris Loka, says Adam’s undoubted ability coupled with a sense of fashion and hard work has helped him scale the heights and change the face of the trade on the local scene.

Loka says: “He came to change the way people view the emceeing industry by giving it value, class and standards and I can veto with no fear of contradiction that three years down the line, the industry is no longer the same. Almost every emcee tries to good when hosting events and that him a pioneer of this rebranding process.”

Meanwhile, Adams is gearing for the opening of a training institution that will offer lessons on the business of mastering ceremonies.