Interview with Mawaan Rizwan and Amira Kai from the Asian Chart Show
- Let me just start by saying, this is a HUGE deal! Exposing Asian talent to a much wider audience onmainstream TV; why was this never done before? Not sure really, maybe mainstream music TV companies are exploring new audiences now in these recessionary times?
- What was Channel 4’s immediate response to the idea of the ‘Asian Beats Chart?
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Box TV (the country's leading music TV group of companies) is a joint venture between Channel 4 and Bauer Media. After initial dialogue with them for Asian programming it was their idea to come up with this Asian Beats Chart format to fit in with other chart shows they produce. - How long is the show expected to run on Kiss TV for? Is it a weekly programme? As with all "pilot" shows this is being aired to gauge audience figures. If the figures are healthy we hope it will become a regular show. It is also being repeated on Channel 4's 4Music channel on Friday 3rd February at 9.30pm to give it a real chance to be seen by larger, mainstream audiences too.
- These last few months have probably been quite hectic for you all; how have you been preparing forthe Launch of the ‘Asian Beats Chart’? Just focusing on getting the recording of the show right then telling the world when it will be on.
- What do you think the Asian Beats Chart will do for up and coming British Asian artist? Hopefully give them some direction and a realistic chance (if commissioned), at getting their material viewed by larger, mainstream audiences.
- Which artists will we expect to see appearing on the show? Is there a paricualr format your looking at, or is open to all Asian Genre from the UK? The researchers and production team behind this show are all industry experts. They include people who have been there and delivered Asian artists into the mainstream before and when you consider there have only been 2 major artists to have done this from the Asian scene over the past 10 years (Jay Sean and Raghav), you can see that experience like this within our scene is in short supply. Any artist that makes music that has a realistic chance at reaching a mainstream audience will get a chance of support from this show (if commissioned).
- Now of course, the name Jay Sean immediately springs to mind when we mention British Asiansuccess and he is seen as a role model for many upcoming British Asian artists out there. Have youspoken to Jay about the show? If so what has his reaction been so far? No as presenters we have not had the privilege of speaking to Jay but I believe the researchers did and he was very supportive.
- Part of Jay Sean’s success was bridging the gap between the UK audience and the huge Americanaudience. Do you think we will see the ‘Asian Beats Chart’ do the same thing to reinforce thisbridge? Jay did this by making good Pop music, as did Raghav before him. Our researchers have a simple philosophy from their days in the music industry and that is that "a hit has no colour". Black music has proved this over a 50 year period where it has been allowed to evolve within the media so hopefully the Asian music scene will be afforded some more time now by other media outlets such as Radio?
- Both of you,( Mawaan Rizwan and Amira Kai), are both young and ‘fresh’ looking and will ultimatelybecome the faces of the show; how did you go about getting selecting for the show? Purely and simply through auditions. Our researchers put us forward for the auditions and we were fortunate enough to be selected. And what do you think you can bring to the show that the likes of Bobby Friction, Nihal, Noreen Khan, Sonia Deol & other established names can’t? A new and fresh perspective? Bobby & Nihal, Noreen & Sonia are great ambassadors for broadcasting within the Asian community but we were told by our researchers that they were looking for fresh new faces to launch a fresh new show.
- How confident are you, on a scale of 1 to 10 that The ‘Asian Beats Chart’ will be received well by themainstream British audience? Wow good question! Its more about hope than confidence. We hope that mainstream audiences will embrace the artists and music we present and if commissioned, like all shows, if they are repeated or receive a regular run, they get a real shot at building an audience.