Akon, Airtel Africa and Trace TV have unveiled competition dubbed “Airtel Trace Music Stars” to give opportunity to youth in Africa to compete with others over their mobile phones.
The competition will involve youth in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon and will identify, reward and help the best overall grand prize singer to sign a recording deal with Akon’s Kon Live and mentorship classes with Akon among others.
Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said, “Airtel is passionate about creating credible platforms that celebrate and reward young, talented people. Kenya has got talent and we are pleased to be able to showcase the wealth of talent that exists within our country. It was a fitting choice for us to partner with Trace Music Star to empower, reward and celebrate the youth.”
The grand finale will be held in March 2015. The partnership with TRACE Music Star will last three years. Other prizes up for grabs in the competition include – cash prizes and mobile phones. The overall winner will walk away with a prize of 30 000 Euros in cash, a recording deal with Universal music, mentorship by AKON and a 5 star trip to New York City.
“I am pleased to join Trace to develop innovative ways in which to identify and nurture dynamic music talent throughout the continent. The intersection between technology and artist development is elevated by the presence of this ground-breaking music competition concept,” stated Akon.
The six months competition is expected to begin in early October 2014; to participate, contestants will need to call in a short code number with their mobile phones, record their songs to stand a chance to become the next big music star in their country and possibly across Africa and the world. The platform also provides an option to rehearse on a phone karaoke that scores the performance.