Ján Dubnička worked at Markíza TV for eight years. During that time, he managed to alternate several sessions. He started his journey in the morning show Teleráno, later he was the face of the popular entertainment competition show Cestovina and also worked in the show Doma s Markíza. It ended in 2006 and Dubnička along with it. Years later, Dubnička revealed the truth about the Cestoviny show in the podcast.
The audience perceived the show as an exciting show in which a pair of presenters addressed random people who had to pack up and come to the airport for a tour within a limit of 3 hours. The loser won the consolation prize – pasta weighing as much as himself. The goal was to pack quickly, arrange time off and childcare and catch the flight. According to the former marquis, the reality was different.
Dubnička moderated the Cestovina show with Martina Bartošíková, today the Minister of Culture Martina Šimkovičová. Before them, Vilo Rozboril had this show in his hands. At that time, the rules of the show changed. “It was no longer about one being at the airport and one chasing, but we actually invented it in such a way that from one place, approximately at the same distance, me and my presenter partner are leaving – there were three of them, they took turns there. And the bottom line was that whoever returns to the stop sign from where we started as quickly as possible wins,” he described how Pasta took place.
Filming was not easy. “And it was all about the fact that, of course, we wanted to have the material filmed, so I was the honest one who did the material, and somebody wasn’t the honest one, so I rarely won because I tried, of course, to give the director a lot of material. With the fact that the director usually went in the car with the girls and I mostly went alone with only the cameraman, so it was about the fact that I was the conscientious one and wanted a lot of material,” he recalled.
Moderators addressed strangers on the street. How did you choose Dubnička? “I don’t remember what my criteria were, but I remember that it depended on where we were, because we often landed in villages where there really wasn’t anyone. So I was glad that I could ring someone’s house and offer them the holiday. But there were cities where there was a square and a lot of people, so it was easier to choose there“, he revealed.
It could be seen from the first glance. “I didn’t have such criteria as to whom yes and who not. Most of the time, when someone looked you in the eye because you were already walking around the square with that camera, you already saw that those people were looking at you. But I approached those who made that contact, because I knew that they would share, that it would not be “yes – no”. Since I was the conscientious one who was looking for that material, I wanted to capture those that would be usable in that car,” continued the ex-moderator.
Most of the viewers were probably wondering if they were actually traveling at that moment. “I was waiting for such a question to come, because it was always a question even then. This is perhaps also the answer to the question why the session had to end after some time. Because those people had already seen us, and thus we came to that square, I conscientiously searched for the material and those people told me: “You know what, I’ll just take a brush and leave.” I say, “But we have to go to your boss, we have to ask you out of work.”“, he tried to delay the participants of the show at least somehow.
So what is the truth about immediately leaving Slovakia for exotic places? “Those people already knew that it wouldn’t be an immediate departure, that they had if I’m not mistaken, half a year for them to use the tour,” revealed the shocking truth.
Dubnička is not sure if the Cestovina show worked like this even when it was hosted by Rozboril. “When I took over, the moment was already there that they had, if I’m not mistaken, half a year to leave, that they could choose the date of departure,” continued the ex-moderator.
The very moments when a person was willing to just pick up a toothbrush and leave were not good for the show. “And that was actually kind of unusable for us, because what can you cut into a half-hour session? Well, nothing. So I forced those people that: “No, we need to go to the boss, we need to ask you, we need to figure out what to do with your family,” that we need to have some interaction there. So after that it was like it didn’t have that much impact anymore,” Dubnička concluded about the show, which was a great success in its time.
