[Expo MC Report] Bolivia – A Hot Stage, Unexpected Twists, and a Lesson Learned

2025/07/27 2025/08/06

admin-mc

Hello, I’m Rie Sasaki, a bilingual MC based in Japan.

On July 26th, I had the opportunity to host the Bolivia National Day event at Expo 2025 Osaka.
It was my first time working as a bilingual MC on a pop-up outdoor stage, and the heat was absolutely intense—true summer-in-Japan style!

Since our call time was early in the morning, I entered the venue before the gates officially opened.
The usually packed Expo site was completely empty and quiet. It felt like a rare privilege to experience that peaceful moment—it almost felt like I had the whole place to myself!

The event featured live dance performances and had a fun, high-energy vibe.
Even though the sun was blazing, the audience showed up with excitement, and I focused on keeping the energy high and hosting with a bright smile throughout.

But of course… things didn’t go entirely as planned.

Due to the late arrival of the performers, we weren’t able to rehearse.
In fact, right up until the last minute, there was talk of possibly canceling the event altogether because they might not make it on time.
Thankfully, they made it just in time, and we were able to move forward—huge relief!

Since there were last-minute changes to the program and layout, I used ChatGPT and my own judgment to quickly research and adapt as needed.
Some of the dancers were surprised by how small the stage was and had to cut parts of their routines on the spot.

Backstage wasn’t what I’m used to either—we were in a container-style greenroom, with performers rushing to change costumes and fix their makeup.
Surrounded by the scent of hairspray and the heat, I quietly went through vocal warm-ups and reviewed my script one more time, getting ready to go on.

Then came showtime.

As the background music grew louder and began to fade for my cue, I suddenly felt a huge wave of nervousness wash over me.

And that’s when I made a mistake.

I completely skipped my English self-introduction, which I had fully intended to deliver.

That part wasn’t included in the official script—I’d been asked to add it last minute, so I scribbled in the Japanese part by hand.
I had practiced the English version several times and felt confident enough that I didn’t bother writing it down.
But once nerves kicked in, my mind went blank—and I went straight into the Japanese introduction without even realizing.

What I learned from that moment is simple:
Even if you think you’ve got it memorized, always write it in the script.
In a live setting, even a small gap in preparation can have a real impact.

And finally, here’s a moment that made me smile:

After the event, one of the audience members came up and said,
"We’re all sweating out here, and you’re up there looking so calm while talking!"

In reality, I was nervous and overheated—but if I came across as composed, then I did my job well.
Each MC experience at Expo pushes me, teaches me something new, and helps me grow—one event at a time.