VoxAfrica Launches Music Competition

“The Voice Afrique Francophone” was presented to the public in Douala on June 1, 2016.

A competition to identify and groom young music talents in Cameroon and 16 other Francophone African countries has been launched.

The popular show, “The Voice,” by the London-based TV channel, VoxAfrica, is henceforth available in Francophone African countries under the name “The Voice Afrique Francophone.”

The show was launched in one of the hotels in Bonapriso, Douala, on June 1, 2016, with four young music artists doing live performances during which Eva Hakapoka was selected for the casting stage.

Jules Domche, General Manager of VoxAfrica Cameroon, says if the idea could work well in war-torn Afghanistan, then, it will do same in Africa.

Concerning content, 60 percent of music to be sung by candidates will be African while 40 percent could come from elsewhere.

“The Voice” is one of the most watched international TV shows produced in 65 countries and broadcast in over 156 nations.

On the continent, the programme is produced in Angola, South Africa, Nigeria and now in Francophone Africa.

The 17 Francophone African countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Niger, Chad, Togo, Senegal, Rwanda and Congo Brazzaville.

The competition will be organised in 17 episodes within 17 weeks during which its audience will discover the most beautiful voices.

It will take the form of six blind auditions, four battle episodes, two knock-out shows and five live shows.

The first edition will be broadcast on October 15, 2016. As concerns casting, the first in Central Africa is scheduled for July 22-23, 2016, in Cameroon’s port city of Douala.

For West Africa, casting will be done from July 18-19, 2016 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Casting will also be done online for all aspirants who may not be able to go to any of the scheduled venues.

The production team will contact all aspirants to this effect. Meanwhile, aspirants have from June 1-30, 2016 to register for the competition.

They must reside in any of the 17 Francophone African countries and fill a form obtainable from www.voxafrica.com/thevoice.

The competition accepts any number of candidates per country.