AFRICA MUSIC CHALLENGE TOP 20 REVEALED
SIX of Botswana artists have been announced to be in the top 20 Contestants for the Africa Theme Song edition of the 2021 Africa Music Challenge organised by Africa Sports Ventures Group (ASVG) and HITLAB.
The six are the legendary Kwasa-kwasa artist, Alfredo Mos, Botswana Musician Union
President - Phemelo Fresh Lesokwane, Oteng Ntesang, Oliver Gaolaolwe, and Lucia Major. Nigeria and Botswana both have six artists each, followed by Zambia with two and one each for Sierra Leone, eswatini, South Africa, Cameroon, Namibia and South Sudan.
The competition, which ran from February 15th till 31st March, 2021 attracted over 400 submissions from artists around the African continent. Artists from across Africa were expected to come up with a song about the continent.
The top five finalists will get an opportunity to perform at Africa Day celebrations on the 25th of May at the Africa Sports Awards in Liberia. The winning song will be a theme song for Africa Day and the winner will get a deal with the digital music company, HITLAB, based in London.
Speaking during the announcement of the top 20, ASVG Chief Executive Officer, Leslie Koroma, said the competition is intended to provide opportunities for artists from all 55 African countries. He said the top 5 artists will be unveiled on the 8th of May.
“The five will then perform virtually during ASVG’S second edition of The Africa Day Celebrations on May 25th after which the winner will be announced. For artists to make it in the top 20, their songs had to be in adherence to the 2021 theme, which is celebrating Africa’s culture, its people, its food, its music and everything that makes Africa unique. We are looking for a unique song about Africa and I am impressed that the contestants were very creative and fulfilled all the requirements,” said Koroma.
Koroma also noted that the artist with the winning song would be awarded a recording contract with HITLAB plus a variety of prizes from other sponsors. The winning song, Koroma further explained will also be translated into all Africa languages for an appreciation by a wider audience