Linda Goraseh wins Airtel Trace Music Star
Attracting some of the best music talents in Ghana, the Airtel Trace Star Music Competition on Saturday February 14, birthed its maiden champion at the forecourt of the World Trade Centre in Accra.
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Linda Goraseh emerged winner after beating four other contestants for the Ghana title.
She walked home with a cash prize of Gh¢50,000 and a trip to Kenya to compete with 11 other talents from other African countries for the ultimate title of Best African Music Talent.
Adjudged by renowned musicians in the industry Edem and Raquel, as well as Radio and TV personality Kafui Dey, the decision was based on the public’s vote and contestants final performance.
The other finalists included Francis Tengey also known as DON, Cassandra Tettey also known as CAS, Princess Dartey also known as PBD and Angela Ackim also known as DZU. They delighted the audience with their music talent and stage performances.
As part of activities for the night, the finalists performed a group song to warm up the audience, raising high expectations of what to expect on the night.
Each contestant then performed a solo, with the song selected by the artistes themselves. The first to perform was the eventual winner Linda, who wowed the audience by performing Alexandra Burkes Hallelujah. Judge Raquel described her voice as "powerful" and commended her for singing a song which had high vocal chords.
After spetacular performances by Cassandra, PBD and Angela, it was time for the only man in the group to try to outperform the ladies.
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Francis who sounded like Samini from a distance as remarked by judge Kafui Dey, perfomed Saminis hit song "Odo".
And indeed from a distance one could have been lured into believing that Samini had graced the event with his presence. But it was Francis, also known as Don, more muscular and in a red T-shirt over blue Jeans, who held the audience spellbound with a rhythmic dispensation of Odo which saw some audience singing along with him, with his fans wildly cheering him on.
DKB, Ghana's finest comedian was also present to spice up the event by thrilling the audience with rib cracking jokes, even when sporadic power outages almost marred the event.
Choosing a winner amongst the finalists who gave a proper account of themselves was an uphill task for the judges but when Linda was eventually declared winner of the competition, the whole auditorium went agog in agreement - as fans and friends rushed onto the stage to celebrate with her probably as a sign of a deserving winner.
A notable highlight of the moment was when Linda's mother practically leapt onto the stage to hug and congratulate her daughter. Although a judge had asked the mother to stay on stage, the organisers thought it would disrupt the prize presentation and courteously ushered her off.
In the midst of the euphoria after announcing the winner, one of the contestants, Princess Dartey fainted momentarily on stage and was resuscitated.
Kwame Gyan, Corporate Relations Manager of Airtel Ghana presented a cash cheque of GH¢50,000 to the her.
The competition which is a partnership between Airtel Ghana and Trace TV, seeks to develop the African music industry by creating a platform to expose African music and musicians to the rest of the world.
The overall continental grand prize comprises of a recording deal with Kon Live, a distributed label through Universal Music Group, and an intense mentorship programme with Akon in the United States of America.