Airtel’s The Voice Africa hunts for best vocalist in 14 African countries, 7 Ugandans to contend

Winner to bag UGX380,000,000/=

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The hunt for Africa’s best vocalist is on as The Voice Africa, connected by Airtel, spreads to 14 African countries where seven Ugandans will contend against contestants from 13 African nations including Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, DRC among others. Since its inception in 2015, The Voice Africa has only been held in Nigeria and for the first time ever, the musical contest will be featured in other markets where Airtel operates.

Musical contests are well-known for producing some of the best musical and vocal talents world-over with the contestants undergoing thorough training and mentorship from renowned coaches and artists for a given duration. Previous musical talent searches that have produced some of the great acts in Uganda’s music industry include Tusker Project Fame, Coca-Cola Rated Next, and East Africa’s Got Talent.

Recently, Airtel partnered with The Voice Africa to give young talent a chance to showcase their talent by recording a one-minute video of them singing, then they proceed to register, and upload the video to www.thevoice.africa.com. This investment by Airtel Africa is expected to ignite more interest in Uganda’s Music Industry and its commercialization.

Airtel Uganda has set up areas that support intending contestants to upload the required information at Akamwesi Mall in Kampala, Capital Shoppers Supermarket in Kampala, next to Agip Motel in Mbarara, Gardens Restaurant Café in Fort Portal. Other activation points are in Jinja, Mbale, Masaka, Gulu and Arua.

Successful entries will participate in live auditions that will be hosted in Uganda and from there, the seven strongest vocalists will be flown out to Nigeria to be part of the grand show alongside other successful contenders from the selected 13 countries.

The next stage of the competition will be the blind auditions where judges get to select a contestant based on their vocal abilities without the bias of seeing the contestant.

Selected participants will be trained by the judges for the knockout round, and in the final phase, 16 singing superstars from across Africa – including two from Uganda will compete each week against each other in a live broadcast, taking place in March 2023.

In Uganda, The Voice Africa will be broadcasted on NTV Uganda and KFM Radio every Sunday at 8:00pm.

The grand winner is set to walk away with USD $100,000 cash prize, and a recording contract. Each of the seven selected contestants from each country will receive USD $5,000 and Airtel goodies.

Bruno Kiggundu stage named Bruno K, a former Airtel Trace Star, first runner-up and celebrated Ugandan R&B artist attributed the growth of his musical career to the Airtel Trace Star which gave him the opportunity to be discovered and has since opened many doors for him. He made the revelation during a Twitter space held under the theme; Opportunity for Uganda at Africa’s Biggest Stage hosted by Airtel Uganda last month.

Bruno further tipped The Voice Africa intending participants on having the right song selection that blends with their vocal strength and mentioned that there are numerous benefits that contestants will tap into like training opportunities from the best vocal coaches across the region, networking with vocalists from other countries, publicity, plus contestants will perform for a global audience, which will enable them to build a following and fan base.

Other artists who have built successful musical careers as a result of contests include; Naava Grey who is still soaring high from her time in Tusker Project Fame search in 2008, Winnie Nwagi is worth mentioning for her vocal ability which stems right from her Coca Cola Rated Next performances back in the day, the Mutesasira siblings, Esther and Ezekiel Mutesasira who not only won the first season of East Africa’s Got Talent but also went ahead to headline news with their incredible performances in Canada’s Got Talent among other artists.

It remains to be seen which Ugandans will make it to the finals in Nigeria. It could be you reading this. Have you made the submission?