Deitrick Haddon and Michelle Williams are big in the gospel music industry. He is the poster boy of the Christian community and she is a former Destiny’s Child member. You can already see that their CVs have taken them far and this is why they were the perfect choices for the new show on Vuzu, Fix My Choir.
Haddon is to gospel what Chris Brown is to R&B. Including the trouble. Haddon has immense talent on stage and a definitive sound that sets trends in the industry. That said, he makes headlines for the wrong reasons including calling out TD Jakes, after being criticised for appearing on Preachers Of LA. This is all stuff we would not expect from Christian folk, but more so from Haddon as he is way younger than Jakes.
Williams is the lesser-known member of Destiny’s Child. She might not have been on Beyonce or Kelly Rowland’s level, but she had a unique voice which got her into the group in the first place. Her Christian faith has always been a part of her so it made sense that when the group took a break to further their solo careers, she chose to take on gospel projects. A year ago she released a hit song, When Jesus Says Yes, which featured Beyonce and Rowland. Perhaps another album is on the way.
That said, Haddon and Williams are now using their experience to elevate the choirs that need help throughout America. From the outside, a choir is just another group of people singing the same song, but this programme will show you just how complex the process of running a choir is.
Haddon and Williams immerse themselves in the given choirs’ affairs, including leadership, inter-personal conflicts, artistic direction and presentation. The pair is like Cuba Gooding jr and Beyonce’s roles in The Fighting Temptations, only the stories here are true.
Of interest is how the two, Haddon and Williams, stand to gain from being on this show. It is a classic case of placing their faces on TV to remind us of the music they make. Reality TV has fast become a tool to self-market despite its format or promised subject. So yes, we will see impoverished choirs, but are we really looking at them or are we looking at how they relate with the gospel stars in their midst?
Let’s say the two gospel singers really wanted to help the choirs wholeheartedly. Then what is the point of having cameras around? It is also just a publicity stunt for them which they can tick off their to-do lists.
If Mary Mary and Preachers Of LA are doing well on the reality TV scene then why not have Fix My Choir? Williams follows Rowland’s footsteps as she has also done the “choir on TV” thing with Clash Of The Choirs.
• Fix My Choir season one airs every Tuesday at 8.30pm on Vuzu (DStv channel 116).