Stars Of The Future

By Stephen K.Effah
Saturday, 07 June 2008

IF the flair and performance exhibited by the 12 young men and women at the National Theatre in Accra last Saturday was anything to go by, then television viewers will for the next 10 weeks witness a classic and keenly contested show — Stars of the Future.

At the launch of the Season Three of the event last week, each of the 12 finalists, made up of five chaps and seven ladies, sang their hearts out to justify their inclusion in the ever-growing popular urban music reality TV show.

They are Max Joe, Dan, Adjoa, Max, Anita, Sheila, David, Stephanie, Adina, Deborah, Ike and Laureta.

Obviously, being their first performance on stage at the packed National Theatre auditorium, most of the contestants panicked, but that did not affect their rendition of songs from the camps of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Lemar, Westlife and Luther Vandros among others.

Undoubtedly, this year’s event is expected to raise the bar from the previous ones won by Irene Logan and Justice Nhyira Owen in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

As exhibited at the launch, each of the 12 finalists is poised to battle out in a musical style for the ultimate prize of an international recording deal and a brand new car.

For the judges; singer Bibi Brew, recording engineer, Zapp Mallet and radio presenter, Doreen Andoh, it will be a herculean task to determine who becomes the next music star. And for the public who have 70 per cent of the votes, it will not be easy to choose a favourite due to the calibre of the contestants.

The Stars of the Future music reality TV show, the brainchild of Charter House Productions, aims at harnessing musical talents of people between the ages of 16 and 26 in the country.

Every week, the finalists would deliver live musical performances ranging from highlife through gospel to soul among others, to a large audience at different venues which will be telecast on GTV from June 22.

This year, radio favourites can also enjoy the performances on Citi FM in Accra, Kapital Radio in Kumasi and Skyy Power in Takoradi, according to the organisers.

The number of contestants would be trimmed down to four through weekly evictions which will be based on the contestants’ performance and the number of votes they secure. The final four would then battle it out at the grand finale of the event.