MTN Hit-Maker judges poised for final selection

Their sole aim is to select the 10 or 12 people who will enter the second season of the MTN Hitmaker television reality show.

It took the judges four days of sitting at the Oak Plaza Hotel in Accra to listen to the over 2000 demos collected nationwide. In the end, 227 contestants were shortlisted and invited for auditioning.

Made up of 31 females and 196 males, they converged from last Wednesday, to Friday, on the National Film Institute (NAFTI) at East Cantonments in Accra to perform their songs in real life and to convince the judges to select them.

The shortlisted entrants sang without any instrumentals for the judges to determine how good their voices were.

The judges were to reduce the number from 227 to 40, who would then be joined by the 10 regional winners chosen from the nationwide radio competitions to perform with instrumentation for the final selection.

The judges were expected to round up their work and announce who would be among the final 10 or 12 contestants to go into the Hit-Maker house.

Sound engineer and judge, Zapp Mallet, noted that it wasn't easy listening to all those songs but he and his colleagues were able to select the grain from the chaff.

'We will continue to work hard to bring out the best among the best for the television reality show to begin,' he said.

Ivan Quashigah, CEO of Farmhouse Production, the producers of the show, said they were impressed with the high number of demos submitted.

'It was an indication of the importance attached to the competition,' he added.

The MTN Hitmaker Season 2 has a prize package of a recording and artiste management deal worth GH¢100, 000.00 for the winner and GH¢50, 000.00 for the first runner-up.

The third and fourth-placed winners will also receive some handsome prizes. This year, the contest is looking for the artistes who can 'Move The Nation'.

By Francis Doku