Leading Telecom service provider Airtel Nigeria, in
collaboration with international music video channel, TRACE (DSTV Channel 325)
has announced the roll out of the mobile device song contest tagged ‘Airtel
Trace Music Star’, following the unveil of 5678, the special short code for the
competition. Airtel Trace Music Star’ is a mobile song contest which
allows contestants to audition right from their phones to earn a chance of
becoming the next big music star in Nigeria and Africa in addition to being
mentored by global superstar, Akon.
The contestants will be aided by an interactive voice
prompt, loaded with bi-lingual functionality in English and Pidgin which will
assist in eliminating language barriers and enable youths from across Nigeria
to participate in the competition.
Speaking on the initiative, Chief Commercial Officer,
Maurice Newa, noted that Airtel’s aim of initiating the platform is to empower
Nigerian youths by giving them opportunities to develop their innate skills,
achieve their dreams and possibly become the next biggest stars. In his words: "Airtel is delighted
to be associated with TRACE in providing excitement and entertainment
opportunities for our teeming customers and music lovers to showcase their
talents to Nigeria and the rest of Africa. This initiative is geared towards
supporting and nurturing the potentials of Nigerian youths. The uniqueness of
this initiative is that contestants are able to express their singing talent
through their mobile phones from the comfort of any location they choose", he
said.
To participate in the competition, contestants will need to
call 5678 with their Airtel phones and record their songs. The platform also
provides an option to rehearse on a phone karaoke that scores the performance.
Once the recordings are done, the auditioning will be
carried out by a select group of judges comprising A-list music acts and
industry experts. The auditioning sessions for this competition will run for
eight weeks after which the organizers will stop taking entries.
Voting will begin immediately after the first set of
auditions and will happen for a total of twelve weeks before the final winner
is selected. The public will also be able to vote for their favorite
contestants whose songs will be selected for the next round. There will be
weekly prizes for various categories.
The competition is also taking place across 12 other
countries where Airtel has presence; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Zambia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, The
Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon.
The best singing talent in each country will be identified,
rewarded and put in competition with the best singing talents of other
participating countries to run for the Title of best African Music Talent. The
overall grand prize comprises of a recording deal with Kon Live, a distributed
label through Universal Music Group and an intense mentorship programme with
Akon in the United States of America.
In his statement, Akon expressed pleasure in joining Airtel and TRACE to develop innovative ways of identifying and nurturing dynamic music talent throughout the continent. The intersection between technology and artist development is elevated by the presence of this ground-breaking music competition
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