The stage is set to crown the Next Ma/Gaisa Star tonight at the National Theatre of Namibia.
The top six will have to bring out all the stops to impress the judges with their repertoire of singing and dancing to become Season 2 winner and walk away with N$30 000 cash, a full recording deal with Welwitchia Music Productions including management, publishing, distribution and marketing.
The runner-up gets N$15 000, third place N$7 500 and the fourth place N$5 000.
The six in the finale are Ten C, Lorencia, Shirtomsley, Jacky, Dirty D, and Larcos.
Entries opened soon after the second edition was launched last June and hundreds of hopefuls entered by sending recordings of themselves.
They were judged remotely by a panel of judges and public could also vote for their favourites.
Organised by Welwitchia Music Productions, the new season saw 13 episodes televised on the national broadcaster.
The three judges are Andrew Ignathius !Aibeb, top female DJ Lischen Khachas and Ricardo Gaoreb.
The eloquent Che Ulenga returned
as MC.
Tonight, the contestants will be backed by a live band plus guest performances are expected to entertain the crowd throughout the event.
One of the judges !Aibeb, also known as Bakos, told VIBEZ! it was a very interesting journey and he has been enjoying it from the beginning but it was tough.
“Although there were a lot of hiccups and challenges we faced as we judged the competition, we pulled through. I’m happy for the competition and happy with the artists that entered although we wanted more of them to enter,” he
said.
“The winner at the end of the day are all the participants as many of them who entered struggled with the resources that they had at their disposal. It was not an easy ride but at the end of the day, I’m of the opinion it is not only the artist who will walk away with the winning prize but the genre. I’m very happy that I could be part and parcel of this interesting journey. May the best person win the competition.”
Khachas said a lot of work was put in by themselves and the artists as the competition ran for nine months.
“It wasn’t easy, we have a lot of talent as we’ve seen. It took a lot of deliberations as the judges. However, the votes also spoke for themselves. I believe it has been a fair and transparent process.”
Fans can vote for their favourite artist by simply messaging their shortcodes as voting lines will close at 19h00. Season one winner Mervin ‘Marvtown’ Claassen walked away with N$10 000 and a recording deal worth N$100 000.
The competition is organised and sponsored by Welwitchia Music Productions, NBC, AIMS, Namibian film commission, Creative concepts and Genesaexperience.
Tickets to the show are still available at web tickets with general going for N$250 and VIP for N$350.