From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The maiden edition of the “Catholics Are Talented Reality TV Show 2021” has been scheduled to commence on August 15.
According to the organisers, 20 contestants were selected to compete as “Cat House” housemates from over a thousand online entries across the 36 states of the country.
Commenting on the programme, Rev Fr John Sixtus, Chaplain, Wowcatholic Ltd and Catholic Youth Organisation of Nigeria (CYON), Abuja Archdiocese, said the selection process followed a thorough screening and assessment by the CAT Board of Judges made up of various professionals in the entertainment industry.
He added that the competition was expected to project some of Nigeria’s most talented Catholics in areas such as gospel music, instrumentals, dancing, comedy, creative arts, poetry, etc to harness their potential and create opportunities to sell their talents.
‘The winner of the show goes home with N1,000,000; while the first and second runner-up gets 500,000 and N300,000 respectively, plus other consolation prizes.
The grand finale will be on the 22nd of August.
‘Fans are expected to vote for their favourite housemates. The show will be aired on AIT, DSTV channel 231 and GOTV channel 93
‘”Catholics Are Talented Reality TV Show” was born out of the need to provide Catholics primarily, as well as other faithful the opportunity to launch and expand their creative careers in a space that is devoid of sexual immorality and indecency that prevails other reality shows in Nigeria,’ he explained.
The priest disclosed that there would be strict rules, surveillance and a standby team to monitor activities in the house and ensure that decency is maintained and violence prevented. He added that males and females would be put in separate hostels with restrictions on visitations, adding that contacts between housemates would be solely during tasks and authorised activities.
‘There has been a concern about the spiritual and physical well being of Catholic youths in Nigeria and against the backdrop that most TV reality shows are immorally dominated with nudes and acts that do not glorify the name of God
‘We hope that with this show we can bring together talented Catholics from across the country and in the diaspora in a contest that would produce winners, who would join the league of Nigeria’s biggest stars and have the opportunity to represent Nigeria and Africa in the International stage.’
He called on organisations and individuals who may want to partner to promote the show to reach out to the organisers via its website and social media platforms.