WHO WANTS TO BE A CLOWN?

WATCHING Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, the most popular game show over ntv7, is quite fun. It's like getting a daily dose of comic relief, especially when seeing the contestants struggling to answer simple questions.

I get this funny feeling that whoever composed the questions for the RM100 to RM500 category are merely giving away the money. Any Year Six student would be able to answer some of them - that's how simple they are. It doesn't take much grey matter to answer "What don't you do if you have a headache?" or "What do you call a person who delivers a letter?" Surely, there must be other worthwhile and more reasonable questions to ask.

And yet, simple as the questions may be, you will not believe it that some contestants did not know the answer to these basic questions. It can get annoying when you hear their silly answers. Don't they read or prepare themselves before taking part in the game show? It would spare them those embarrassing moments, not to mention, discourage home viewers from swearing.

It would be unfair to question their IQ but frankly, most contestants are quite lost and clueless when it comes to answering general knowledge questions, like what a paediatrician or a cardiologist does.

You will be surprised to hear answers that can either put you in stitches or make you gape in amazement. Each time this happens, it brings to mind the saying "send in the clowns". This despite knowing how difficult it is to get through the 600 toll-line and answer some standard questions before being shortlisted.

The next hurdle is when several aspiring contestants try to challenge each other to arrange vowels or the name of countries in alphabetical order. Any child would be thrilled to do this for nothing.

There were many occasions when I felt that some contestants should be sent for refresher lessons in Geography. If you think that smart contestants will know where Kulim and Fraser's Hill are, think again. In fact, some even have the audacity to use the talian hayat (life line) to answer this "mind-boggling'' question. I almost choked on my peanuts when a contestant named Imran from Perak asked his friend to help him answer where Kulim was and when the friend said Kedah, Imran actually asked, "Are you sure?"

The following week, another contestant named Ronny also needed help as to where Fraser's Hill is. He was very sure the answer was Perak until host Jalaluddin Hassan prompted him to think carefully. What was more amazing was that he knew where Mt Krakatoa was. When Jalaluddin teased him about it, Ronny cheekily answered: "Gunung Karakatoa lebih besar, so boleh ingat." (Mt Krakatoa is bigger, so I can remember.)

Another amazing moment was when a contestant had to seek the assistance of the studio audience to answer the question "Who celebrates the Ponggal Festival? The audience shouted their answers - Punjabi, Indian, Chinese and Malay - which further confused the contestant. He finally had to ask a friend for help. I didn't blame Jalaluddin for making the sarcastic reply "Pandai-pandai penonton kita di studio (we've got some smart people in the studio).

Reviewing Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? will not be complete without talking about its host. Whether you like him or not, Jalaluddin is very much an integral part of the show.

By now, Jalaluddin must have developed thick skin to withstand the remarks made about him or the show. But the fact that he is able to steer the programme to be one of the most popular game shows is proof enough that he is quite good. If only he could be better.

First, Jalaluddin should try to tone down his melodramatic style and leave his acting persona for the dramas. There is certainly no need to go overboard with the intonation or the expressions. I could almost hear overused phrases like "Anda yakin?", "Anda pasti" (Are you sure?) or "Jawapan muktamad" (Final answer) ringing in my ears.

While it is not easy to be a good host, most viewers would agree that he needn't try so hard to make some English words sound "more English" than it should be; it's almost unbearable to hear him say "Paul" instead of "Powell".

On another occasion, his overenthusiasm and excitement got the better of him when he repeatedly mention "sigategi" instead of "segitiga" (triangle) with that poker-face of his.

There are viewers who have grown accustomed to Jalaluddin's ways by now. Strangely, they don't find him annoying or overenthusiastic. In fact, those very antics some find irritating his female fans find endearing.

Of late, Jalaluddin has been able to show off his wit and has worked hard at cracking jokes and making small talk. Combined with his warm rapport with the audience, it sounds like he is in the same league as Amitabh Bachchan, the famous Bollywood star who is now hosting India's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

BY ZIEMAN - PUBLISHED 1/8/2001