Love brings learning curve for Howza

Howza could easily be said to be honing his skills to become the next Ryan Seacrest. Well, save for the music part. Imagine Seacrest singing “I am a hustler and you are the customer” the way Howza does. That would be a crazy sketch for Saturday Night Live.

Howza has done almost all there is to do as a media personality: acting, singing, rapping, hosting.

Apart from the SABC1 show Big Up which has kept him busy for years, Howza has been deliberately flying under the radar.

“I took a break, especially from acting, because I wanted to rediscover who I wanted to be in the trade.

“I stopped auditioning after my stint on Generations. I felt I was heading towards being typecast and I didn’t want that,” he said.

So the man focused on other things, including music. He has been working on repackaging his current album, World Premier, which will release with three extra songs.

“It is probably going to be my last kwaito album and then I’m going to look into a new sound altogether,” he said.

Though he tries to shy away from TV, hosting the All You Need Is Love show on SABC1 was an exception.

“I was approached by SABC1 and Endemol and they asked that I be the host of the show. I did a screen test and passed, so they asked me to join the production.”

Though he was happy with his new spot, Howza was not going to lie and say All You Need Is Love was familiar territory.

“It is different from what I normally deal with. I’m comfortable with working in an environment where things are pre-recorded, but here we have a live audience and that takes getting used to,” he said.

Interestingly, before Howza joined the show, he did not believe the stories covered were real.

“I used to think it was all planned to make for good television, but now that I am part of the show I realise there are people out there who really come to the show with their love issues,” he said.

Howza says he learns about love from the show, but what interests him the most is its impromptu nature, where no scripts are used, but guidelines are followed.

“You never know what is going to happen next, so there is no point in learning lines. You get sudden shockers, like a guy going on one knee to propose and she declines. We have to quickly find ways to diffuse that situation and tactically shift focus to something else,” he explained.

• All You Need Is Love airs on SABC1 every Tuesday at 6.30pm.