Mediacraft Blog

Star Quest Audition Schedule Announced

The audition schedules for the 2012 edition of Star Quest, Nigeria’s first and only band-based reality

Show/Talent Hunt competition has been announced.

The interested participants in the Star Quest auditions will be assessed by a panel comprising top music artistes in the country. These include Paul ‘Play’ Dairo, Waje and KC of the KC Presh fame.

The auditions will kick off at the Benue Hotels, Makurdi, from February 21 to 22 before moving to Enugu State from February 24 to 26 at the Dannic Hotels. From Enugu, Benin will take the centre stage with the Excalibur Hotel hosting the auditions from February 28-March 1. The final batch of auditions will hold in Lagos at the National Theatre, Iganmu, from March 4 to 8. A total of 55 qualifiers will emerge from the four audition venues.

Interested participants are required to be proficient in vocals, instrumentals and song writing. The lucky 55 qualifiers will slug it out in a grand audition ceremony for the 36 tickets that will guarantee them entry into the Star Fameland.

In the Star Fameland, the remaining 36 contestants will form six bands comprising six members each. They will be coached by eminent music professionals as they square up against one another in the competition.

The six bands will be cut down to three via audience SMS votes. The final three bands will then compete for the overall winner which will emerge also by audience SMS votes. The winner will get a recording contract worth N7.5m, a brand new SUV, N36m cash (to be shared by the six band members) and free accommodation a choice location in Lagos. The accommodation comes with a studio stocked with the latest music equipment.

Speaking on the forthcoming competition, Obabiyi Fagade, Brand Manager, Star, described Star Quest as a unique opportunity for aspiring musicians to launch their career. “What we are doing is giving aspiring musicians a platform to launch their careers,” he stated.

The Quest Is On! ...Excitement as Star Quest Gets Set to Kick Off

Excitement and anticipation! That is the dominant mood as Star Quest, Nigerian’s first and longest band-based reality TV show/ talent hunt competition gets set to kick off. From February 21, 2012, some of the brightest and most talented young musical acts in the country will storm four auditions centres across the country. They will face possibly the toughest test of their musical life. Their goal is to be the winning band of the Star Quest 2012.

Star Quest, which began in 2002, has managed to carve a niche for itself in spite of the glut of music reality TV shows in Nigeria. The reason is simple: Star Quest is the only band based talent hunt musical competition in Nigerian today. While other talent competitions focus on the search for one individual as winner, Star Quest goes beyond that. It seeks for the blend of talented individuals to form a music band.  Through Star Quest, the dying art of live band music is finding expression in the country.

At stake is a N7.5 million naira recording contract, a brand new minivan, N3.6m cash for the winning band plus one year paid accommodation in a choice area of Lagos. The accommodation comes with a studio equipped with the latest musical equipment.

Fantastic prizes indeed but the biggest boost the winning band will get will be the opportunity to perform in two of Nigerian’s biggest musical events; Star Trek and Star Mega Jam. Star Trek is a yearly musical tour that moves around the country featuring some of Nigeria’s biggest music icons. Star Mega Jam, on the other hand, is an annual musical fiesta where an international music artiste performs in selected venues across the country.  Winning the Star Quest competition may well be their launch pad to making it big in music. The concerts will afford them the much needed exposure and chance to show the world that their winning the competition is no fluke. Indeed, the prospect of performing alongside an international artiste as well as the best of local acts is a rare opportunity they will do well to seize.

But emerging as the winner will be anything but easy. Thousands of wannabe music talents are expected to turn up at the audition venues for the screenings. The music enthusiasts, who must be within the ages of 18 and 24 years, are expected to show demonstrable proficiency in at least one vital area of music ranging from vocals, instrumentals to composition. They will have to do enough to convince the impressive array of judges made of Paul ‘Play’ Dairo,Waje and KC Presh before progressing to the next round. In order to give equal opportunity to participants from across the country, the selection will hold in four cities- Makurdi, Enugu, Benin and then Lagos.

The auditions will not be an easy task for the judges. They will have to probe through the anxious horde of fame seeking budding musicians and prune the crowd down to 55 from the four audition venues. Only the best will advance to the next stage. Then the action will move to Lagos for the grand auditions. There, the judges will once again assess the qualifiers to determine which of them is good enough to move on to Star Fameland. Only 36 of the 55 qualifiers will be lucky enough to advance to the Star Fameland from the grand audition.

Then the real work begins. Inside the Star Fameland, the 36 lucky qualifiers will be required to form six bands of six members each. Interestingly, the pairings are done without the interference of the show organizers. Here, the bonding process really begins for the band members. Gradually, each of the bands begins to develop character and identity independent of the others. The six bands will have to pick a band name and assign specific roles to the individuals in the band. They will also undergo extensive rehearsals in preparation for their regular performances. Coached by music professionals, each of the six bands will be required to perform hit tracks from a variety of musical genres from both local and international artistes. This time, their fate lies in the fate of the voting audience who will determine who stays and who leaves in the competition via SMS. The bands will be trimmed from six to three before the final round of voting to determine the over-all winner.

For some past winners of the event, Star Quest was the ticket through which they achieved fame and success in music. One example is the duo of Kingsley Okonkwo and Precious John of the KC Presh fame. While speaking during the press conference, Kingsley Okonkwo expressed gratitude to Star Quest for their role in making KC Presh a success. “The truth is that we owe it all to Star Quest. Precious and I literarily walked the length and breadth of Lagos seeking for just one chance. We got it through Star Quest and today we have come a long way,” he said. Okonkwo also urged the participants of this year’s edition to be very focussed in their careers, saying that winning Star Quest was no guarantee for a successful career in music. “Winning Star Quest is one thing. Making a successful career out of music is another. When you win a competition such as this, you must understand it is just the first step. The hard work continues after that,” he continued.

Speaking in the same vein, Samspon Oloche, Senior Brand Manager, Star, also stressed that Star Quest was a platform for young, aspiring musicians to showcase their talents. “What we are doing through Star Quest is to provide a platform for these aspiring musicians. What we have noticed over the years is that this country has abundance in talented people but there is hardly a platform for them to express themselves to the world. We hope that after they get the platform to showcase their talent in Star Quest, they will go on to make something of their lives,” he said.

So which band will clinch the 2012 edition of Star Quest? Only time will tell as the Nigerians army of young musicians get set for the nation’s hottest band based music talent show.

Big Social Media and Digital Trends for 2012

The social media gap is growing into a full-blown chasm. On one side, we have companies that are struggling to get on board, having stalled at the twin road blocks of ROI justification and resourcing.

In the middle, there many businesses that have made solid steps but run the risk of seeing their fledgling communities wither and die under the growing threat of recessionary cuts.

And in the distance, we have organizations that are well on their way to becoming social businesses. They have vibrant, self-supporting owned media communities while experts from many business functions act as ambassadors in earned media networks. Their customers and employees are actively engaged in digital discovery and collaborative service development, and all of this is wrapped up with measurable and meaningful ROI.

But let’s be frank. This is certainly the exception and not the rule. With this ideal in mind, it seems timely to look the trends that are likely to shape social business adoption in 2012 and beyond…

http://text100.com/hypertext/2012/01/socialmedia-digitaltrends-2012-partone/

Amstel Malta’s Showtime: Empowering the talented

Since the Amstel Malta Showtime  campaign hit the road, the programme aimed at spotting talents has been featuring big time artistes and youths. It has also been encouraging its fans to be the best in what  they do. WALE ALABI. writes

Brand builders and custodians are playing more prominent and visible roles in promoting growth, good causes and development . With the rising army of jobless and restless graduates, brands have embarked on some positive development programmes to encourage, motivate and empower the youth.

Regarded as the leaders of tomorrow, most youths graduated from schools with no job to do. However, some of them imbued with talents have found careers either entertainment or sport. With dint of hard work and in luck, most of them have not only grown to become successful, they are also being looked upon as role models by the upcoming ones.

Among the crop of these rising acts are Darey Art Alade, MI, Banky W, Buchi, Jenifa, D’Banj, 9nice, Wizkid, Tuface, Basketmouth, Gbenga Adeyinka 1st and Chimamanda. All of them have beaten the odds to rise to stardom. Impressed by their success, the beverage giant, Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc, using the platform of entertainment has begun a motivational, inspirational and empowerment campaign aimed at encouraging the youths to be the best in whatever endeavour they do. Entitled: The Amstel Malta Showtime, the programme features dancing competition, comedy contest and musicals.

At the Abuja edition of the event held at the Thisday Dome, top acts, such as Darey, Banky W, MI, Wizkid, Buchi and the dance group, DNMT took the centre stage. The event, attended by students in Abuja and from other parts of the north opened, with the comedy competition. At the end of the hilarious contest, Ndubueze Neboh , a graduate of Mechanical Engineering emerged winner. Neboh, who came  from Enugu, went home with a brand new laptop, N100,000 cash shopping prize and a weekend getaway ticket for two at a reputable hotel in Lagos. He also had the opportunity of sharing the stage with the popular stand up comic, Buchi. Neboh, who said he runs a mechanical firm in Enugu, described the experience as life-changing. According to him, “this prize has changed my life. My life will never be the same. I have stepped up in the comedy industry. Although, I am a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from (ESUT), I am a motivational speaker. And before now, comedy was just my hobby. But after today, I will go full blast into comedy professionally. On his message to other youths, Neboh said: “First of all, you must discover your talent. But before you discover your talent, you must discover God. After this, you will know that there are lots of potential deposited in you. Actually, while I was performing today, I looked around the hall and I saw a lot of youths like me with huge potential. In fact, the average Nigerian youth is blessed, but the only problem is that we are being distracted.” Neboh thanked NB for organising the event.

A graduate of Fine and Applied Art, Martin Rock, won in the dancing category. He went home with the star prize of a brand new laptop, N100,000 shopping prize and a ticket for two in a reputable hotel in Lagos.

Rock from Delta State University (DELSU) described the show as exciting and excellent. A professional dancer, who started five years ago, said: “After this show, I am going to up my game. Because this prize would open doors for me, I will use the links and contacts I made today to develop my career as a dancer.”

Samuel Falowo, a rapper, who connected with the audience with his dazzling stagecraft, won in the music category. Before the Abuja event, the show had held in Enugu and Owerri. The grand finale of the programme holds in Lagos this month.