Donovan Goliath takes on the news

Thanks to the constant need to stay updated on all the info needed to make it through each day, life under lockdown has felt like one unending news cycle.

Taking this into consideration, comedian Donovan Goliath and his team decided to do something about it.

Cue The Lite Show; a show focused on wrapping up the weekly headlines in a witty way, giving South Africans the opportunity to stay abreast of the latest news while enjoying a good laugh.

Over 12 episodes, Goliath will be joined on the show by his partner Davina, rapper Rouge and comedians Lihle Msimang and Mojak Lehoko will host segments titled Surviving the New Normal and Retweet or Like respectively.

Davina – in her capacity as a classical violinist will be providing the weekly melody for Rouge to rap over. Together, the pair will be putting a “classical spin” on the biggest trap hits for a segment called the Rap-Up.

“When you think about traditional news shows or late night shows, there’s always a band or a musical element so that’s why we brought Davina in.”

Over and above the Rap-Up, the show will feature musical performances from the country’s most talented artists, building on the relationships Castle has developed over the years as one of the biggest hip hop brands in the country.

“When all of this happened, Davina and I knew that we were not going to be on stage for a very long time so we gave ourselves a year and a half. Because were both stage performers, I do comedy and she’s a classical violinist, we knew that we’re not going to be on stage for a long time. Not only until this is over but even after it’s over, are people going to trust going out and being together in closed spaces and sit close together in large groups,” said Goliath in a chat with The Citizen.

Despite accepting this fact, the couple didn’t just want to sit around and wait it out so they got proactive and took their creative talents online.

This not only allowed them to keep sane and flex their creative muscle but also reminded brands and other potential employers that they’ve still got it.

“It was really just to entertain audiences and after some time, brands started calling us and jumping on and saying ‘you know, we’d really like to collaborate with you, We love what you guys have done. Do it however you feel is best’ which was really great. It’s always nice when someone buys into what you’re selling.”

All of this snowballed into a collaboration with Castle Lite for The Lite News show.

“They came on board and they got us on board because they’re known for putting on big, spectacular concerts and all of these things that require big groups of people to attend them. So they had to come up with something different, a little bit creative and somewhat entertaining so the two worlds collided and they hit us up and asked if we’d like to be a part of it.”

This as part of Castle Lite’s continued desire to “unlock” new ways of keeping consumers entertained by giving them experiences that they can easily enjoy at home.

“The new normal has created massive shifts in digital content consumption. As a brand known for creating the most fun and unconventional experiences for our consumers, we were definitely not going to allow the lockdown to stop us. This also presents the brand with the opportunity to further position itself as a thought leader in creating great content,” said Castle Lite Brand Director Silke Bucker in a statement.

“The Lite Show is about the light side of the lockdown. You know, things are really serious, there’s a lot of anxiety, things are so tense at the moment. How can we take what is being spoken about and what the themes are in the world right now and kind of give it a different spin?” added Goliath.

Why news?

Goliath is a man of many talents and hates “boxing himself in for that reason.” This also makes him more inclined to take on projects that would be deemed as a challenge to show people just how many sides there are to him.

“I take it on, and see what has been done before and what people’s expectations are and then put my spin on it to make it interesting. I don’t like to look at it like ‘oh, he’s just doing the news’, it’s ‘how is he doing the news. What is his way of doing it.’ That’s how I like to position myself; you never really know what you’re going to get but best believe it is going to be as fun as possible and it is going to be interesting,” he added.

His favourite headlines to have worked on thus far include Elon Musk’s revelation that his pet-pig, Gertrude, has a microchip implanted in her head and the now notorious Rakgadi moment.

How did the team manage working during lockdown?

Goliath admitted that it has been challenging but explained that every act on the show is scheduled to film their segment at different times to ensure that there is no overcrowding on set.

He is also thankful for the fact that they film in a large studio space that allows for social distancing among their small team.

Kaunda is analogue girl navigating a digital world using the perspective provided by news. She has always had a desire to amass a wealth of knowledge on a range of varied topics and this is reflected in the content she produces. As a digitally adept social media user, you can always trust Kaunda to bring you up to speed on what’s going on in the world at any given moment.

Kaunda Selisho.

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