The Star Guyana show, dubbed Guyana's first reality show, has entered into its penultimate stage with the final 16 being chosen. The elimination process is set to commence on December 7 with the final billed for the National Cultural Centre on December 30.

The winner is set to walk away with US$1,500 while some other lucky participants are expected to also receive cash prizes. Those are some of the realities of the show. Where the unreality steps in is when the show is likened to American Idol, America's got Talent and Dancing with the Stars. Granted, some of the participants have talent, but it is unrealistic to compare the show to any of those mentioned before as it lacks any real creativity, has a host who appears to be acting and judges who can barely articulate their critique of the artists.

We are not out to bash Star Guyana, but a spade must be called a spade and unfortunately Star Guyana is a spade. It appears as if someone just sat down one day and came up with the idea and that is where it stopped; no real work was put into developing something creative and original. And maybe that is what is lacking in other television shows in Guyana. Persons fail to come up with their original ideas and they make poor attempts at replicating what is shown on big networks.

It is generally believed that the idea was good one, after all Guyanese are craving for local programmes, but it is not enough that the show is local, it must be good too.

Let's begin with some of the basics. It is certainly too much to ask one individual to be talented in dramatic poetry, singing and dancing. There are some persons who are multi-talented but few are skilled in all three areas. Persons are therefore at a disadvantage, if they are good singers, but lousy dancers who cannot even talk through a poem, much less dramatise it.

We at The Scene have seen some of the performances and we cringe for some of artists as they attempted to do things they were obviously doing for the first time. Some rightly thought that they had to choose one of the areas and as a result after one act they left the stage leaving the judges and the audiences at a loss.

"There must have been some misunderstanding," host Olive Gopaul would chime in when the person explained their dilemma.

We have noted that there were some artists who performed very well in all three areas. Kudos to them, but we still sympathise with those who are very talented in just one discipline and feel that they should be given a fair chance. If the show makes it for a second round next year, this is something we recommend that serious note is taken of.

Secondly, we would like to know how the judges were chosen. Bonny Alves we can understand as he is a singer, but we are not sure what his expertise is in dancing and poetry. Paula Alexander is a physical therapist and the co-coordinator of a national pageant. She would have an eye for style and while the pageant she has co-piloted for years involves talent, she has not been involved in the judging. Neaz Subhan, we are not sure about this gentleman. He is a television personality and maybe that was his ticket to being a judge. Or maybe it was the play he wrote or the few acting roles he had? We are not sure but we would be bold enough to say that of the three judges, he is the least competent. We would also posit that the judges must be persons who are shining examples in the disciplines they are being asked to judge. There are such people in Guyana; people who are outstanding in theatre, in music and in dance, who if available would have added much to Star Guyana.

As much as some of the artists are making fools of themselves as they have absolutely no talent, to hear the judges' - except for Alexander - inability to properly articulate when critiquing the artists is embarrassing.

Subhan, in an effort to appear tough, is overly harsh with some artists. Wonder how he would react if someone was as harsh with him on his slip-ups on television? We recall him telling one wannabe that he sounded like a dog once; that was uncalled for and not funny. Though Subhan himself does provide comic relief with his grammar while making pronouncements on the show. Simon Cowell he is not.

Some of the people in the 'studio' audience look like they popped in on the way to the market. Come on people, you know that that show is being taped to be shown on television, make an attempt to be properly dressed! The slap-dash market wear makes the show look cheap. We would suggest that next year the organizers implement dress codes.

And last but not least, and we don't mean to be harsh on the beautiful and well poised Olive Gopaul, but she is a disaster as a host. It looks like every word she says and every move she makes has been rehearsed. She looks and sounds like she is acting; and that is unfortunate. Olive is a beautiful face but she just cannot host a show.