Anděl Awards Moderators' Performance

If there were awards for the worst hosting performance in the Czech Republic, most people in the industry would be at ease after Saturday's Anděl Awards. The duo of Honza Dědek and Ivana Kulhánková would have triumphed, as they hosted the prestigious gala evening. Despite their efforts to be funny, their humor completely missed the mark and failed to entertain anyone in the audience, except perhaps for masochists. Their 'greatest success' was that they managed to make the audience in the hall practically not laugh during the nearly two-hour broadcast. It was one of those Saturday mornings when you are woken up with a heavy hangover by the phone ringing for the fiftieth time, and you find out that you are hosting one of the most watched broadcasts in the country that evening, specifically the Anděl Awards. Still under the influence of an alcoholic delirium, you agree to anything just to be left alone to drool on your pillow for a little while longer, and a few hours later, you are popping Ibuprofen and reading the manual 'How to Become Marek Eben Easily and Quickly' for breakfast. You don't know it? I would almost say that Honza Dědek and Ivana Kulhánková do. In reality, both hosts had agreed to host the Anděl Awards many months ago, so they had more than enough time to prepare. Although it is a prestigious event, at least for the experienced Dědek, a former music critic who has his own talk show, and often a funny one, it should have been a walk in the park. Kulhánková is also not a newcomer in the industry, as she hosts shows on Óčko and Evropa 2, and also entertains with comedic videos on Instagram. In theory, she should be able to engage the audience. In theory... However, as it turned out, the theory was more of a utopia, and what we saw on television screens was a pure mix of despair, awkwardness, and complete misses. The bar was set very low after last year, thanks to Kryštof Bartoš, who was crushed by the weight of hosting a similar large event. While the star of the 90s amused the full hall with his awkwardness stemming from stage fright and nervousness, in the case of Dědek and Kulhánková, practically no one laughed throughout the evening. The present guests and viewers behind the television screens were more gripped by sheer horror than anything else, and in the best case, they wanted to bury themselves out of embarrassment, and in the worst case, shoot toluene into their veins. Judge for yourself based on what the duo presented when they tried to introduce a new category - a joint project. And yes, they really tried, and it was a fitting expression. 'We were supposed to say this together, because this category is based on equal cooperation, something between us, you know,' reacted the pseudo-offended Dědek. 'Okay, and do you feel like we are in equal cooperation? I rather feel... This is called featuring, feat, like you are...' Kulhánková replied. 'Excuse me?' Dědek pretended not to understand. 'I mean, you say some addition here and there,' continued the host. 'I feel better already,' concluded the former music journalist. Badum tss. The hall was filled with excruciating silence, and I could swear that somewhere in the background, someone was choking on a hastily made noose. The entire performance of Dědek and Kulhánková actually felt like they sat in a pub the day before the broadcast and tried hard to think of ways to engage the vast majority of the young Generation Z audience, but they forgot about it under the fifth beer, and finally resignedly said, 'We can't be worse than Bartoš.' Lo and behold, it really is possible. What's really stupid about all this is that there had to be someone responsible in the background, specifically the director, who had to listen to it all during rehearsals. The fact that Dědek and Kulhánková got the green light for their act either means that everything was completely free for him, or that he was totally drunk. And I pray that it's the latter, because the former is a little harder to excuse. We can laugh at the Slavík Awards as much as we want, that it's a popularity poll, that Richard Krajčo runs around like Cinderella in slippers, and that from time to time, domestic stars can't handle the honest and completely truthful criticism of a masked gentleman, but on the other hand, it has at least a little bit of charm. Sure, Ondřej Sokol with Aleš Háma, or two years ago with Tereza Pergnerová, are not Monty Python, but at least they are not afraid to aim at the chamber and occasionally entertain with a really good joke. Although it should be added that they have a slightly different service, and the duo from the Anděl Awards obviously prepared it all themselves. Then the question arises, why did the Anděl Awards turn into such a fiasco? Maybe Czech Television doesn't want Sokol and Háma, maybe funny hosts are expensive, maybe it just wants to go its own way. Everything is fine. But I am somehow afraid that after the successful experiment with Mikýř, it decided to follow the hyper-correct time, is afraid of some harder jokes, and hires or dictates to the hosts what is okay and what is not. However, at an event that also honors bold creators like MC Gey or J.A.R., it is like a slap in the face and shooting oneself in the foot.