Wrong 'Guy' For The Job

[THL]

Interviewing for a job is grueling enough, but I cannot imagine having to do it on live TV when your "interviewer" thinks you are someone else must be awful! I cannot believe he went along with it...and after all that - he'd better get the job.

'Wrong Guy' BBC interviewee named
Red faces as job candidate winds up on air

LONDON, England (AP) -- The BBC interviewed the wrong Guy.

The network has apologized to its viewers for a studio mix up that resulted in a man mistakenly appearing on live television as Guy Kewney -- an expert on Internet music downloads.

In fact the man was Guy Goma, a Congolese man applying for a technology-related job with the British Broadcasting Corp. Goma followed an employee to the studio after a mistake at a reception desk, the corporation said late Monday.

The BBC said it apologized to viewers for any confusion.

The case of mistaken identity occurred on May 8 -- the day Britain's High Court awarded Apple Computer a victory in a lawsuit against Apple Corps, The Beatles' commercial arm.

In a reaction piece following the verdict, the BBC News 24 consumer affairs correspondent Karen Bowerman welcomed someone she believed was computer expert Kewney.

After she introduced him, there was a moment when Goma winced. He scrunched his face in panic and tried to open his mouth as if to explain.

"Were you surprised by this verdict today?" Bowerman asked.

"I'm very surprised to see the verdict come on me because I was not expecting that," he said in a heavy French accent, blinking in the studio lights. "When I came, they told me something else."

Nonplussed, he pressed on, growing more confident in his punditry as the interview progressed. He gamely delivered his opinion on the future of music downloads and cyber cafes following the landmark verdict.

Meanwhile, the real Kewney, who was waiting to be taken to the studio, looked up on a monitor and found another man in the interviewee's chair.

"What would you feel, if while you were sitting in that rather chilly reception area, you suddenly saw yourself not sitting in reception, but live, on TV? A bit surprised?" Kewney wrote on his Web log.

Kewney, who could not be reached for comment Monday, said on his blog that he was amused at first -- but then thought that viewers would think he did not know his subject, hurting his reputation.

Kewney and other media outlets originally reported that Goma was a cab driver -- though the BBC later said the reports were inaccurate.

Producers apparently realized by the end of the interview that something had gone wrong -- and, after they had gone off the air, asked their "expert" if there was a problem.

"He said: 'Well, it was OK, but I was a bit rushed,"' Kewney wrote on his blog.

Goma told the BBC his interview was stressful, but added he was prepared to return to the airwaves. He said he was "happy to speak about any situation," the BBC reported. Officials at BBC declined to comment on whether he would get the job he was applying for.

Wrong 'Guy' Interviewed

[Asim Aquil]

Hahahahaha.

Hahahaha oh this reminds me of this one time when a Pakistani actress gave me an interview and I didn't even realize that she was a somebody! I was there to interview someone else. Apparently the organizers at the Dubai show made some mixup.

So trust me... EVEN THIS happens.

[Defcon 6]

You mean they have television in Pakistan??? You do learn something new everyday!

[sniperdude411]

Originally Posted by Defcon 6

You mean they have television in Pakistan??? You do learn something new everyday!

The Amish have coordless drills and cell phones too.
Strange, but true. Yet another thing you learn!

[Defcon 6]

Originally Posted by sniperdude411

The Amish have coordless drills and cell phones too.
Strange, but true. Yet another thing you learn!

lol, wow. but i'm still overly amazed about tv in pakistan. you think they get satellite or cable? hehe. Maybe I should become amish? nah...they don't have a very good fashion sense.

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by Defcon 6

You mean they have television in Pakistan??? You do learn something new everyday!

Originally Posted by Defcon 6

lol, wow. but i'm still overly amazed about tv in pakistan. you think they get satellite or cable? hehe.

You can stop that, right now. Thank you

[Lunatock]

Originally Posted by Defcon 6

You mean they have television in Pakistan??? You do learn something new everyday!

You'd be surprised what they have in the area of Lahore & Karachi.

And oh yeah, what a "burger" you are!