Open letter to Delay from a concerned fan

Some of us are afraid to write letters today because, for a long time we know for a fact that letter writing is taught in class but now has been taken into our music studios and has been popularized by one musician in Ghana lately as if he has the patent right. Mine of course is a friendly one which will inure to the benefit of media in Ghana and beyond (if you're wondering, flex is global courtesy our website; www.flexghana.com).

Deloris Frimpong Manso is her official name but her fans love to call her “Delay” perhaps deduced from her first name. If you know her, that's good and if you don't, then you are a tourist because she is one of the brands that have been worked on whether from a positive route or not, it has been worked on the Ghanaian media.

I know she has been on radio for a long time but in Accra, she has been on Meridian FM, Top Radio through to her current base, Oman FM. Trust me, she didn't get there on a silver platter because she toiled to get where she is I must confess.

Today's letter to Delay is in relation to only her TV works; The Delay Show and Afia Schwarzenegger. First let me deal with the Delay show. This show has grown to be the Delay show, an interview show where she interview personalities from the entertainment circles and to be frank, I have followed her show for a long time and the reason is simple; she does not ask obvious questions.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the entertainment industry in Ghana is relatively small and filled with very few people who are also ready to be interviewed but wished no question at all are asked (come, sit on TV and smile to the viewer is their preference).

Delay has been one of the very few who venture into “virgin zones” of these personalities and she does that with tact and style to an extent, you will finish answering before you realize you have let not just the cat, but the hidden cat out of the bag.

Aside her questioning prowess, she has a weirdly annoying yet sweet to watch and to listen to. An attitude I will call 'In your face' and it seems working with her or getting interviewed on her show is the best thing one could ever get. Matter of fact, her strong personality will make you feel her presence on her show is 'heaven' and that's a plus for my dear sister.

However, one thing I hate about her show is her favorite phrase “ye ko gye commercial” which means “we are going for a commercial break”.

Aside me hating that, it is not professional at all to announce your break and this I know that, she will find very difficult to change but I didn't say impossible and I really hope she stops that for her benefit and those who look up to her.

Now to her series, the Afia Schwarzenegger, I was stunned when I first watched and realized it was written and directed by Delay. I didn't know she had that in her and not that the series was excellent but it was nice and we enjoyed the celebrities she intermittently brought to the screens though some disgraced themselves, some gave beautiful account of themselves.

In my estimation, the series started suffering when the lead act abruptly left the show and for me, that is nothing new. It happens even in the developed entertainment industries and the panacea to such act is to move on and not look back, but yes the show has moved on and it's still on air but I thought the rave and ranting that went on were uncalled for because whether the two of you like it or not, you all benefited from each other.

My sweet sister, I advice that you move on and concentrate on how to move the show a higher pedestal which I know you can and stop the unnecessary indirect litigation (I know your name is 'manso' which literary means litigation).

The series has seen the lead acts come and go and it's now on a third girl as the “Afia Schwarzenegger” but I don't know what you saw in her but you picked her just as you picked the first and the second that I thought was okay. My only advice is to let the new girl be herself.

She looks too choreographed for my liking and always looks like she is copying the ones before her, especially the first.

If you have allowed her to be just that and she is still this stiff, it`s better you let her go and don't be afraid to do that because somebody might say because she left, the show hasn't been the same. You are now an entrepreneur and risks are one thing such people keep in their pockets, but in your case, your purse.

My last but not the least advice is for you to work on the themes for the various episodes and make them stronger and tighter because the show looked too unguarded for me. I know you will work on all the concerns I have raised so we continue to enjoy your works on TV. These are concerns from afar and a word to a wise, is enough dear.