Tears and joy at E-Wallet talent search Blantyre auditions
Witnessing the audition for the E-Wallet Talent search, last Sunday was a day of grief and joy at Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre where contestants shed tears and others left over the moon.
The turnout was huge as over 266 wanna-be professional singers, rappers and dancers, among others, came to try their luck for a place in the country’s only music talent search competition. The auditions started at 9:00am and finished at 7:30pm, instead of the scheduled 5:00pm.
The judges, comprising Pop singer Angela Mizinga aka Tigris, music producers Marvin Hanke and Dumisani Mfune were on guard, sifting the best of worst. In the end, it was only 35 aspirants that went through to the final auditions.
Scheduled to take place at the same venue in Blantyre, the national auditions this coming Sunday will bring together contestants that qualified at regional level, in the north, central and south to determine the finalists.
“The selection of the finalists will be based on talent and not the number of participating contestants. The show is expected to start 1st September,” disclosed organising chairperson of the show, Felix Njawala.
More talent
There are 55 young men and women; the 35 from Blantyre, 15 from Lilongwe and 5 from the northern city of Mzuzu who will be competing for Top 25 at the final auditions.
“A lot of people came for auditions in all the three cities, [but] few good ones for the competition. [We had] more dancers and rappers than singers,” Tigris told Nyasa Times in an interview at the end of the regional auditions.
She said those who have made it to the next round should expect stiff competition. One of the best female vocalists in the country, Tigris observed: “It promises to be a good show and we’re looking forward to it.”
Though the judges would at some points differ, but arbitrating on their arguments, it was all meant to select the cream that would show the nation what they are made of to partake in the competition, fighting for a cool K500,000 cash prize.
Good response
Meanwhile, Njawala has described the road to the national auditions as an overwhelming experience. Appreciating the interest shown by young Malawian in coming out to participate in the competition, he said as organisers, they were very pleased with the response.
“It simply means Malawian youngsters are hungry to achieve something in their lives. These are some of the activities we need to give out to them to shape their future and that of the country,” said Njawala, a Member of Parliament for Blantyre Kabula Constituency.
This year’s E-Wallet has come up rebranded from the previous shows where only music was only talent hugely concerned. This time around the organizers have incorporated dancing and hip-hop to Pop music.
In his remarks, the E-Wallet sponsorship director Godfrey Katsanga has said the competition has also signalled the corporate world that time has come to seriously invest in the youth.
“We thank all few who are already sponsoring the shows, and those interested, there is still time to come on board,” he said.
E-Wallet last came into reality in 2006 before disappearing into oblivion. In 2008 it was rebranded but failed to take off, and in 2009 it was commissioned to another company which failed to run it.
