From 950 initial entrants from more than 70 schools across the UAE, covering curricula including British, American, Arabic and Indian, the elimination rounds have whittled down the entrants to the final three teams: Our Own High School, Dubai; Gems Modern Academy, Dubai; and Asian International School, Ruwais – who will do battle in front of a capacity crowd at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium on Sunday night’s show for the coveted Star Quiz Challenge Rolling Trophy.
We sat down with Sumantra Dutta, Star’s country head for the Middle East, Pakistan and Africa, to get the lowdown.
With so much programming aimed at the Indian/subcontinent audience currently imported, it's quite rare to see such a large-scale production taking place here in the Gulf. Are locally made shows something Star sees as important for its Gulf audiences?
Locally produced content makes the channel more relevant to the environment and at Star we look to continually raise the bar in this area. As one of the region’s leading TV networks, we have always wanted to contribute to the region. The Star TV network conceptualised and created the UAE’s only interschool quiz contest on TV. Putting together the region’s only interschool annual quiz contest on TV was one way of giving back to the community here. This has gone a long way in furthering the local connect and enriching the lives of our viewers. Star Quiz Challenge has promoted the concept of quizzing across schools in the UAE. Today schools are actively promoting quizzing internally, making preparations so that they equip their students better. Quizzing is here to stay in the UAE and Star Quiz Challenge has a great part to play in it.
How has the show developed over the years?
The participant count has grown over 60 per cent from 600 students in 2011 to more than 950 students in 2014 from the best schools in the UAE, across the Emirates and across curricula. The show is a regular fixture on the UAE’s annual school calendar and has been such a success that schools have now started preparing students for SQC well in advance.
There’s a well-known showbiz maxim about not working with animals – and children. Was it tough working with so many kids on the show?
School-going children have proved to be exhilarating to work with. The key insight has been their high energy since the format of the show demands energy and spontaneity. Since SQC attracts participation from all over the country and across nationalities, the Star team has been trained to be sensitive to local customs, traditions and over all, be sensitive to their age.
Children, being extremely curious and inquisitive about things, are constantly keeping the Star team on the ground on its toes with their constant barrage of intelligent questions about the show, production techniques, etc.
How do you engage them – and ease the tension of the competition?
The children are keen to learn how rounds are shot, how cameras work, etc. On more than one occasion, participants have come up to us and mentioned that they would like to make a career in media and production and asked questions regarding the same.
Prior to an episode being shot, usually most of the students are a little tense. However, that quickly dissipates once the shooting starts and they swiftly get in the groove and suddenly the energy changes from being tense to one that is highly competitive.
The Star Quiz Challenge grand final will be broadcast on Star Plus on Sunday at 8pm
