Thread: Star Quest enlists top music stars as jurors

Star Quest enlists top music stars as jurors

AWARD winning songstress, Weird MC; the jagbajantis master, Sound Sultan; multitalented musician and producer, Paul Play Dairo of mosorire fame, and first winner of Star Quest, KC Presh; have been selected as judges for this year's edition of Star Quest, the talent hunt reality television programme sponsored by Star lager. The auditioning has since moved to other zones after a record of huge turnout of talents in Lagos.


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A renowned music producer, Foster Zino will join these top music stars. The judges are divided into two sets with Weird MC, Sound Sultan and Foster Zino anchoring Lagos, Abuja, and Markudi while the duo of KC Presh and Paul Play would be in Benin, Owerri, and Calabar.

The Adebola House venue of the audition in Lagos was crowded by talented youths seeking to use the platform provided by Star to showcase their talents and ensure selection into the next round of the contest. Every known strategy was deployed by these youths to convince the judges that they had what it takes not only to get registered, but to make it to the next round of the competition.

Audition for the music talent hunt programme sponsored by Star lager beer began in Lagos last week Tuesday, with registration of possible candidates. The actual test of talents followed thereafter was expected to last till February 28. On February 26, the audition train moved to Benin with the Excalibur Hotel, GRA venue also recording large turnout. It was the turn of Abuja on Monday while Owerri will host the audition today. And those in Makurdi and Calabar would showcase their talents between March 6 and 8 2009.

The quest is still on for the band and according to Sampson Oloche, Senior Brand Manager, Star, the plan remains to create the hottest musical band in Nigeria with the participation of the general public. He said unlike previous years, online registration would not be required for participation and auditioning in this year's Star Quest. Entry into the show is free and open to individuals within the age bracket of 21-30. To qualify, applicants must possess demonstrable proficiency in at least one vital area of music; instrumentation, vocals, or song writing. A total of 36 finalists will be drawn from six zones pan-Nigeria and assembled at the Star Fame land, for a period of four weeks. During this period, the contestants will mingle, interact and bond with each other and then group themselves into six distinct bands. Each band would be made up of individuals with different musical skills. As usual, the six bands will be expected to create and produce their own original music, on which the viewing public will evaluate the group. The six bands will contest against each other with three eliminated in the first round.

The winning band of this year's edition of Star Quest is expected to smile home with mouth-watering prizes, which include a whooping N7.5m recording contract; N3.6m cash; a mini van; and one year guaranteed accommodation in Lagos. In addition, the winning band will also participate in the upcoming 2009 Star-sponsored events as performing artistes. This is a 50 per cent and 100 per cent improvement over the winning cash prize of 1.8m cash prize, and N5m recording contract given to the winning group in 2008.

According to Sampson Oloche, the entire process will be fully broadcast on national television while the elimination will be decided by public voting via SMS. The three remaining bands will then move on to the national final, where the overall winning band will be decided 100 per cent by live public voting via SMS. The final event will be broadcast live on Saturday, April 18, 2009.

Guardian Newspapers

Foster Zino? Much better!