Evert Santegoeds thinks it’s very mean that everyone is raving about John de Mol and his latest TV flop Avastars. “Yes, I agree with Talpa that you should try something out now and then!”
Together with his colleagues from Shownieuws, Evert Santegoeds announced the new TV show Avastars as if the viewer was in for some kind of wonder of the world. On Friday it was finally time: the first episode was broadcast, prime time on SBS 6. And it was indeed historic. Historically bad.
Evert on soapbox
John de Mol’s dancing and singing digital puppets make no impression at all on the viewer. It all comes across as very outdated; it reminds many people of the twenty year old computer game The Sims. And Evert? He keeps shouting from his soap box how great the program is.
The fact that Evert does that is still a stretch, but that even Hart van Nederland is used for Talpa propaganda is really a bridge too far, according to AD media journalist Marcus den Blanken: “Then you still think: oh, it’s Evert. But Hart van Nederland used to be journalism, right?”
“Agree with Talpa!”
Now that Avastars has flopped hard, you suddenly don’t hear about it anymore in Shownieuws. And that while the minute analysis of the program, according to Evert, clearly showed that the whole of the Netherlands was waiting for all that Avastar promotion. “What did you think of Avastars? That is the big question,” explains colleague Jordi Versteegden in the podcast Strictly Private.
Evert: “Yes, I agree with Talpa that you should try something out now and then. And I know how much blood, sweat and tears it took to get to this result and the random TV viewer won’t know what a huge amount of technology is behind it and what a cost too. If you are going to calculate it, then it is a few euros per viewer what was played through on Friday evening.
Chop on John
John’s bashing must be over, says Evert. “I think everyone who is already hacking into De Mol is like (put on a Gargamel-like voice, ed.): ‘He can’t do it anymore and he doesn’t do it anymore’…”
Jordi: “You don’t agree with that?”
Evert: “No, of course not. Isn’t it great that you conquer the world twice with a program and want to do it a third time? And maybe a fourth time. That it doesn’t work out with this, yes, that’s a shame, but that’s no reason to refrain from it, I think.
Bizarre program
Jordi is less impressed than his older colleague. “It is a strange program. You see Nick and Simon…”
Evert interrupts him indignantly: “Yes, but how enthusiastic were you about the opening!”
Jordi: “Yes, I think it’s beautifully made, but that’s the problem. Look, we as makers look at it differently than the average viewer. We think it’s fantastic that something like this is invented, but we don’t make it for ourselves. We make it for the viewer.”
Setback
Then Evert admits that Avastars is not good. “No, I was still disappointed with the result. Maybe we have to wait another ten years, but I don’t think anyone is going to burn their fingers. I am sorry, because I know how much love and how much time he has put into making it a success.”
“And the viewer is always right. If 2 million people watch Utopia, they’re right. And if a million people watch that talent show where Elvis came out as the winner, then they are right. And if there are only 300,000 of them watching Avastars, then it is apparently not something the Netherlands is waiting for.”
