RTL 4 is criticized for the choice to have the new major studio show The Floor presented by Edson da Graça. “Why not Martijn Krabbé? He is doing very little at the moment.”
Edson da Graça is experiencing a lightning career at RTL 4. The jury member of Holland’s Got Talent will make his debut in just over a week with his first major studio show: The Floor, a prestige project by John de Mol. In recent years, John broadcast his TV inventions exclusively on his own SBS 6, but apparently he is counting on approval for the ‘merger’ with RTL.
The Floor
What The Floor is about? “One hundred quiz enthusiasts, a gigantic LED floor divided into one hundred equal areas, each with its own knowledge category and a prize of no less than 100,000 euros: that is The Floor! In this brand new game show, a hundred candidates compete against each other in quiz duels,” explains RTL.
A large studio, LED lamps and a high cash prize: sounds like the umpteenth thirteen-in-a-dozen show by John de Mol. Nevertheless, RTL 4 has a lot of confidence in it, because the program has been given a nice broadcast spot: Sunday evening at 8 p.m. There are only doubts about the presenter: Edson da Graça.
“Why Edson?”
Format developer Kirsten Jan van Nieuwenhuijzen, who started his career as one of the first four creatives by John de Mol, does not think the choice for Edson is a smart one. “I find it very inconvenient. I think he’s quite a talent, but people really underestimate the qualities of a good quizmaster,” he says in his podcast Content Wars.
He thinks this is a typical job for Martijn Krabbé. “They really have a few good people walking around at RTL. Robert ten Brink could have done this too, but I think Martijn is a really good one. But you also have Beau walking around there for a while, so I don’t really understand that.”
‘Very dangerous’
RTL is taking a big risk with this, believes Kirsten Jan. “I think it’s a danger that you put someone on there who has very little experience with quizzes. Maybe they have so much faith and hope in the format that they think: it doesn’t need a very good presenter, but I wouldn’t have done it.”
He continues: “I had put an experienced presenter on it, also because it is an expensive show to make with a very large set. I also think it’s strange that John agreed to it. He probably wasn’t allowed to decide that, because I think John would have preferred to put Martijn on that.”
‘Martijn does little’
Martijn has done little since The Voice of Holland was abruptly taken off the screen. He even alludes to the end of his TV career. According to Kirsten Jan, it seems that he is not valued. “Martijn does very little. He presents very few shows and that is a shame, because he is one of the best presenters we have in the Netherlands.”
However, the case is already settled: the show belongs to Edson. According to Kirsten Jan, this is a huge risk. “You have to bring someone like that slowly. They have often brought people too quickly with wrong formats. Then it can also be completely over immediately, of course, if you completely flop with your first format. You always have to be careful.”
