After exiting The Next Ma/Gaisa Star Season 1 in the semi-finals in 2021, Lourencious Nanub was last weekend crowned the winner of the second season of the singing competition.
Nanub, affectionately known as Larcos, walked away with N$30 000 in cash and a full recording deal with Welwitchia Music Productions including management, publishing, distribution and marketing deals.
Shirtomsley ended second and won N$15 000, while Ten C ended third and received N$7 500.
Hailing from a small village called Leonardville in the Omaheke region, Larcos (29) started singing at a young age in church and school choirs.
“I started singing Ma/Gaisa in 2016. Actually, I was focused more on football and used to play for ‘Kom haal hulle’ in the Gobabis football league. But when I had to choose between football and music, I went for music when I realised people loved my songs. I always wanted to be an artist ever since I was in school; it’s a dream come true,” he told VIBEZ!
Larcos said the competition this year was tough and all the contestants brought their A-game to the final six. The judges were strict and straightforward too, he added.
“I feel extremely excited to be crowned The Next Ma/Gaisa Star but nervous as well since it’s the beginning of new things and scared of challenges that I might face. But yeah, overall, I feel amazing and blessed. It’s a huge responsibility that I’m carrying right now and nothing is gonna be easy. I just want to thank God for giving me this opportunity.”
Asked how he will spend his winnings, Larcos said: “I’m gonna buy my community a donkey and have a braai or potjie with some of the winnings. The rest, I’m going to invest in something and spend the money wisely”.
After the party, he will be focusing on his new journey musically, with more work awaiting him.
“I want to grow musically and do more features and videos with different artists. I want to carry this title responsibly and not disappoint my fans but give them music they will jive to for years to come.”
Steven Alvin Naruseb of Welwitchia Music Productions, the brains behind the competition, said the competition was a success overall and was all they had hoped for going into this season.
“I feel there is always an opportunity for enhancement, but overall, I am pleased with the progress we have achieved this season with The Next Ma/Gaisa Star Search competition. The participants this year were just as magnificent as the competition in its entirety. Their cooperation and commitment throughout made all of our work rewarding from start to finish,” he said.
Naruseb said they intend to polish and refine the competition for the forthcoming seasons, ensuring all components lacking from the first two seasons are handled better, including administration and overall production.
“Aside from that, we want to have more live performances with the candidates in the future, since we’ve found that some contestants with budget limits struggled with execution and quality and eventually fell out. We aim to ensure that all competitors have a level playing field. Next time, we would want to try to organise backing vocalists and dancers.”