DAVIDO didn’t only disappoint fans, Here’s the shameful thing he did at NTV.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015-Last weekend, Davido’s much hyped concert at Carnivore turned out to be a total flop after he performed for less than thirty minutes.

But it has now emerged that the Skelewu hit maker is proud, arrogant and difficult to handle.

Below is an article by Larry Madowo narrating how behaved at NTV during an interview.

“Davido only has 20 minutes here,” one of the Nigerian musician’s handlers announced when he arrived at Nation Centre last Friday. 

Only half an hour had passed, and we still had at least 40 minutes before #theTrend could start, but he was already antsy. 

I greeted him and introduced myself as he walked to the green room. He didn’t make eye contact.

I was not surprised. I first met Davido in Mauritius last year, when he and half a dozen other stars launched the song, "Africa Rising". 

To say he is pleasant to those he does not deem important to him would be an understatement. 

For his grumpiness, his compatriot, Tiwa Savage, was patient and gracious with the many fans who came up to her asking to take selfies and declare their undying love.

During the interview, he was disinterested and rude, almost as if the whole thing deeply irritated him and he would rather have been elsewhere. 

Granted, he had just landed from Lagos, but he flew on a private jet, not cattle class! Besides, the interview was part of NTV’s sponsorship deal with the event organiser. 

The Internet erupted. Many of the people he was supposed to convince to attend his concert considered him arrogant and proud, and said they would skip his performance.

A television chat show is a performance that involves deftly balancing guests’ egos, managing time, and trying to get something meaningful out of an interviewee, a bit like walking a tightrope.

Most times you manage to pull off that delicate dance and the production team, presenter and guest are all pleased with the outcome. Sometimes it all falls apart, like it did during the Davido interview, which was equally hated by everyone involved – guest, host, producers and audience. It takes extra effort to produce something that monumentally disastrous.

Good television relies greatly on camaraderie, even if false, that lulls viewers into thinking the people they are watching are cordial with each other, are on a first-name terms, nod when the other person speaks, thank each other, that sort of thing. 

Most artistes, performers, politicians and those whose career depends on a degree of self-promotion quickly learn how to make the most of these situations. Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua is a master of the dark art of winning at being interviewed on TV.

International artistes like Akon, Alaine, Anthony Hamilton and the great Papa Wemba were all refreshingly pleasant to interview. 

The first time I interviewed President Paul Kagame, he stayed behind to chat after the cameras stopped rolling, providing me with a great window into how his mind works and his drive. 

Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey (a favourite of President Kagame’s by the way) was particularly gracious, listening attentively and answering with extensive insight and joie de vivre. #theTrend has played host to a long list of Davido’s compatriots like Rita Dominic, Basket Mouth, Omawumi, Yemi Alade, Flavour and IK and none left a bad taste in the mouth like the 22-year-old did.

There are also Kenyan personalities that are just as hard to interview.

One current senator demanded that he be interviewed immediately after he arrived because he had no time to waste. A bureaucrat insisted that a senior editor or manager receive him outside Nation Centre. 

One popular rapper is always rude to the show’s production staff but exceptionally sweet to me. The deceptive nature of television allows them to be those same two-faced people who look pleasant and well put together when it’s showtime.

“Don’t come here and become a superstar,” cameraman Dominic Muendo warned me when I started out on TV. “Superstar” or “diva” was the newsroom code for a prima donna in an industry where there are many. 

Show business, because that’s what TV at the scale we do it really is, depends on lots of people. It reflects poorly on you if you don’t get along with the producers, technical assistants, directors and the rest of the crew or treat them right.

Entertainers who rely on the media to promote their art such as music, films, plays or shows must learn to thrive in the interview set-up even when they’re introverted. 

It is a necessary evil that need not be unnecessarily painful for either party. “I’m kind of a big deal. People know me,” fake anchorman Ron Burgundy tells a woman who didn’t recognise him in Anchorman. 

That attitude stinks and stars should get over themselves, their ego and their inflated sense of self-importance. As for Davido, he’s banned from our show for life. 

LARRY MADOWO

E!News Kenya