Airtel Trace Music Stars, perfect concept to unearth raw talents - Judges

Judges for the Airtel Trace Music Stars reality show have given organizers thumbs up for coming up with a concept that gives contestants an avenue to fully unearth their music potential.

According to them, the show's entry requirement which demands that contestants call in and sing, unlike the other reality shows which require them to audition in front of judges, is an industry first.

Interested persons auditioned for the competition by calling Airtel shortcode 533 between October 7, 2014 and December 10, 2014.

The call-in auditions, the three judges – Kafui Dey, Raquel and Edem – noted the concept takes away the scenario where contestants are unable to deliver to their full potential because of intimidation from judges and other contestants.

The three judges speaking in an interview with Myjoyonline.com said, the concept also prevents judges from selecting candidates based on their appearance rather, their talent.

Kafui Dey:
MC and radio personality Kafui Dey said Airtel Trace Music Stars is “an innovative idea” which gives contestants the opportunity to sing freely and even sing more than one song.

He observed that since the contestants are not auditioning in front of judges, “it is taking out that whole element of somebody doesn't like your face, you getting intimated by a judge and you don't perform to the best of your ability.”

The judges' decisions are solely based on the person's voice, Kafui Dey stressed.

He said he is impressed with the entries and expressed the confidence that selected finalists “will do well. They sing clearly and some of them are original.”

Raquel:
Bubbly singer Raquel said she is also impressed with the fact that it is different from the usual talent shows were the contestants show their faces.

She revealed that she was “quite surprised that we have more females contesting and fewer males contesting,” considering the fact that most reality shows [and even the Ghanaian music industry] are dominated by males.

Raquel was optimistic that the reality show has the right structures to jumpstart the career of contestants because, “they are actually going to put [each contestant] through a process [that enables] you to learn about the industry – what goes on and meet a lot of people – before they put you in front of the cameras which is why I think this program is giving people a bigger and better opportunity.”

Edem:
For award-winning rapper, Edem, “one of my impressions was the fact that it is innovative. It's not the regular one where you see the faces of people so I think that level of fairness is 100% because you can't tell who is singing. You have to use your professional discretion to know if the song is very good enough for the person to pass to the next stage.”

Edem said he was particularly impressed with the huge female participation and assured that “the people we've selected are very talented. Even over the phone you can hear that people are naturally talented.”

Five contestants have been selected for the Ghana finale. The Top five will be recorded to compete in a televised series in February 2015 from which one winner will be selected.

The winner from Ghana will then take part in the Pan African Airtel Trace Music Star competition involving 13 other countries at the end of February 2015.

The winner of the Ghana edition of the Airtel TRACE Music Star will walk away with GHc50,000 and the ticket to compete at the Pan Africa event.

The Pan African winner will get a universal record deal and mentoring with Senegalese-born international music star, Akon.

The judges believe that the future of the Ghanaian finalists, who will be revealed soon, is bright and they have what it takes to excel in music commercially. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / Instagram: citizendela)