Jamie Cardona to host TVM’s Paniku gameshow starting October
Contestants to compete for €30,000 prize in a fast-paced weekday gameshow
Maltese board game Paniku is poised to make its television debut come September, with Jamie Cardona hosting the weekday gameshow on TVM.
Contestants aged 16 and over will compete for a €30,000 prize, awarded to the winner who manages to keep their cool throughout the fast-paced trivia game.
“I’m incredibly excited to be hosting Paniku on TVM. It’s fast, unpredictable, and fun, exactly what I see when I look in the mirror,” said Cardona, who has had a whirlwind of success in the last year.
Auditions for the pilot season are already underway.
This will be Cardona’s first time hosting a television game show. He won this year’s edition of Mużika Mużika with his song Stajna Konna Aħna, while his one-man show, Mid-Djarju ta’ Student fi Skola tal-Knisja, was recognised by Malta Records as the longest-running theatrical production in the country.
Cardona also appeared in several major stage productions, including the sold-out musical Il-Każin tal-Imqarbin, and played the title role in The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin’s classic satire.
He was also shortlisted as one of Times of Malta's people of the year for 2024.
The Paniku gameshow is based on the original BDL board game Paniku, in which players draw a card containing a challenge, typically asking the others to list a number of items, such as five bays or four government ministries. The other players must shout out the correct list within 10 seconds of the buzzer to stop the cardholder from keeping the card.
Remaining cards are then used to build a six- or nine-box pattern, where the edges of each box must match. The first player to complete the grid wins.
The gameshow is being produced by Watermelon Productions, the company behind popular GO television dramas Il-President and Iċ-Ċaqqufa.