Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers has urged Catholic school students to reflect more deeply on the challenges faced by communities living in poverty overseas and consider practical ways to offer them ongoing help. However, that quickly dissipates once the shooting starts and they swiftly get in the groove and suddenly the energy changes from being tense to one that is highly competitive.Bishop Umbers with Nicole Chehide and students at Casimir College in Marrickville (Supplied) Prior to an episode being shot, usually most of the students are a little tense. On more than one occasion, participants have come up to us and mentioned that they would like to make a career in media and production and asked questions regarding the same. The children are keen to learn how rounds are shot, how cameras work, etc. How do you engage them – and ease the tension of the competition? Since SQC attracts participation from all over the country and across nationalities, the Star team has been trained to be sensitive to local customs, traditions and over all, be sensitive to their age.Ĭhildren, being extremely curious and inquisitive about things, are constantly keeping the Star team on the ground on its toes with their constant barrage of intelligent questions about the show, production techniques, etc. The key insight has been their high energy since the format of the show demands energy and spontaneity. School-going children have proved to be exhilarating to work with. Was it tough working with so many kids on the show? There’s a well-known showbiz maxim about not working with animals – and children. The show is a regular fixture on the UAE’s annual school calendar and has been such a success that schools have now started preparing students for SQC well in advance. The participant count has grown over 60 per cent from 600 students in 2011 to more than 950 students in 2014 from the best schools in the UAE, across the Emirates and across curricula. How has the show developed over the years? Quizzing is here to stay in the UAE and Star Quiz Challenge has a great part to play in it. Today schools are actively promoting quizzing internally, making preparations so that they equip their students better. Star Quiz Challenge has promoted the concept of quizzing across schools in the UAE. This has gone a long way in furthering the local connect and enriching the lives of our viewers. Putting together the region’s only interschool annual quiz contest on TV was one way of giving back to the community here. The Star TV network conceptualised and created the UAE’s only interschool quiz contest on TV. As one of the region’s leading TV networks, we have always wanted to contribute to the region. Locally produced content makes the channel more relevant to the environment and at Star we look to continually raise the bar in this area. Are locally made shows something Star sees as important for its Gulf audiences? With so much programming aimed at the Indian/subcontinent audience currently imported, it's quite rare to see such a large-scale production taking place here in the Gulf. We sat down with Sumantra Dutta, Star’s country head for the Middle East, Pakistan and Africa, to get the lowdown. From 950 initial entrants from more than 70 schools across the UAE, covering curricula including British, American, Arabic and Indian, the elimination rounds have whittled down the entrants to the final three teams: Our Own High School, Dubai Gems Modern Academy, Dubai and Asian International School, Ruwais – who will do battle in front of a capacity crowd at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium on Sunday night’s show for the coveted Star Quiz Challenge Rolling Trophy.
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