Victor Vlam didn’t really miss Wilfred Genee last week as presenter of Today Inside. You didn’t actually notice that there was a substitute at the table, according to the TV critic. “I liked it.”
It will not increase his chances of ever joining Today Inside: TV critic Victor Vlam gives a pinprick to Wilfred Genee by delicately noting that he did not miss him last week as host of Today Inside. The presenter was already in Curaçao last week for the recording of a new interview show.
‘I liked it’
Wilfred is known that he does not want Victor in the show, while Johan Derksen is a big supporter of that. Victor himself also likes to sit at the table at VI, so it could be beneficial for him if Wilfred is given a smaller role there. That has certainly been the case for the past four broadcasts; then he was replaced.
Thomas van Groningen took over the show for four evenings and Victor really liked it. “I think the unambiguous conclusion is that it went very well. When I look at it – I watched all four days carefully – I actually, to be very honest, did not notice that there was a substitute,” he sneers in the podcast Victor Indicates TV.
Wilfred unnecessary?
So VI doesn’t really need Wilfred that much, Victor wants to say. “It just feels like Thomas is in the right place there, that he can capture exactly the atmosphere and dynamics of VI and has managed to make it his own. That is really incredibly good. VI is a very difficult program to present, it has no fixed format or script.”
Most presenters work with a script. “Many presenters have memorized such a script and if you follow it a bit without it seeming too strict and rigid, then you are already doing quite well as a presenter. VI, on the other hand, is made based on feeling, so you don’t have a script.”
Extremely difficult
That is precisely what makes the presentation of VI difficult, says VIctor. “You just have to sense what the viewer finds interesting at that moment and that is extremely difficult. Very few people can do that. Sometimes it means that you have to let someone speak, but also that you have to cut someone off.”
He continues: “Sometimes it means that you have to throw in a nice joke or announce a nice fragment and at other times you have to be provocative so that another guest is stimulated to be more sharp. You really have to sense on the spot what the program needs.”
Second person
It is good for John de Mol not to be extremely dependent on Wilfred, according to Victor. “I think it is very good for Talpa that they now have a second person who can do that very well in addition to Wilfred Genee. That is of course something that is very much in their favor.”
Finally: what does Victor expect from the Curaçao edition of VI? This will take place before the Football World Cup. “The challenge now is to convey the atmosphere of Curaçao to a country that is not yet in a summer mood at all.”
Stormy weather
That will be quite difficult, he thinks. “For most people, the football tournament is not yet in sight and these are days when we have to work or go to school.”
Normally these types of editions take place during special sporting events. “Politics is not on recess now and the weather is still rough, so no one is really in the festive, summer mood that they would otherwise be.”
