Dickson Aligbe is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Empire Entertainment and with his vast knowledge of the entertainment industry in the US, he decided to do a replica in Nigeria with his own Empire VIP House on Wheels Reality Show.
He speaks on what the show is all about, what makes his show different from other shows and advise to all the contestants.
Excerpts:
Today you guys are here to witness our show – Our Reality Show, called Empire House on Wheels. We started the show with 25 contestants but today we have 17 left because we did a couple of evictions. And the remaining contestants will battle for the grand prize.
What do you intend to achieve with this reality show?
There are various types of reality show in the country and outside the country. I live in United States of America (USA) and I have watched a lot of reality shows. The shows are about how you turn things around. Empire VIP House on Wheels Reality TV Show is not like we are doing something that had never been done before. Other shows have their own standard but in our own case, we brought a vehicle (caravan) and we changed our own way of doing a show. It is not just having the contestants in the house but we took our tour bus to take contestants out for various assignments. The show is all in one. Most of reality shows are about men and women, but ours is more of business orientation and fashion. We taught the contestants how they can invest their money. Most times, some people would win a show but they don’t know what to do with the money. Ours is to educate them on how to use the money wisely and not live an ostentatious life. We want the contestants to better their lives and take their career to the next level.
After this first episode, are you going to continue the reality tv show?
The Nigerian public and contestants are saying good things about the show and we are impressed with that. It is going to be a yearly tv show and each season will be better than the previous one.
What are the prizes for winners?
The winner will go home with N5m and a car worth N5m. The first runner up will go home with N3m while the second runner up goes home with N2m.
Considering challenges in our environment, what did it take you to put up this of show?
I have lived in the US for 23 years now and I know how things work there perfectly. I’m a Nigerian first before anything. I understand also how it works here too. There are a lot of challenges but that does not mean we will not bring things to our own country. I know there are highly disappointing things I have seen but I can’t be discouraged because this is my country. So if I cannot help my country and find ways of improving it then where else will I go to help? I know there are challenges but we will find a way to make it better for people in Nigeria.
What distinguishes Empire VIP House on Wheels Reality TV Show from other reality shows?
Other reality shows would put contestants in a house and lock them there. What we did is to change the game a little by using our tour bus to take the contestants to different assignments. So, we are not only putting them in the house, but we are giving them both indoor and outdoor tasks. So that changes our game better than others. We took them to different companies to learn things about entrepreneur.
You are based in the US, what is your impression about the Nigerian entertainment industry and that of US?
You can’t compare US entertainment show to Nigeria. The differences are just too clear. But the good thing is that we are trying. Nigerians are very tough and resilient people.
The Nigerian entertainment industry is trying and I commend them greatly. Each time I come to Nigeria, I’m proud to be a Nigerian because no matter what happens we don’t give up and I know by God’s grace things will work better some day.
What were the criteria used in selecting the contestants?
What we did was to ask them to register and thereafter we asked them to vote. And not only voting, we looked at the videos they sent, we checked their status, their charisma and their perception about things.
We also looked at how they will be able convince people to vote for them in order for them to get their fan base.
This is a platform for them to carve a niche for themselves. The show is aired on Wazobia TV, Max TV and, NTA 2.
What is your advise to the winners and losers?
They should not give up if you lose but life continues. When they win, they shouldn’t burn the little thing they have. They should work with they have been taught, take professional advice and move on. Sometimes it is easy when you get the money you forget how you got here. They should listen to people that will advice correctly. Some people have used one N1m to become billionaires, because you can’t build this far and bring yourself down because of bad advise or you don’t want to listen to professionals and do what is right and take it to the next level.
And if they don’t win let them know at least they gained something from this show. Nobody is a loser here, even if you don’t win cash, you gained something very important.
How long will they be in the house?
They will be in the house for four weeks. Next week Sunday is the grand finale. We will announce the three winners in one of the biggest entertainment centres in Lagos.
Truly they are all happy because we have created something different. We made sure they are treated like VIPs which they are because it is called, Empire VIP House on Wheels. For you to create a VIP you have to start somewhere, showing them what VIP is all about, and they were grateful about it.