Nthatuoa Koeshe
FILM production house, Khaya Holdings has partnered with Vodacom and the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology for the upcoming Step-Up Lesotho Season 1, a television music talent search show.
The three organisations launched the project at Vodacom Park this week.
The show will run from 4 May 2019 and the auditions will continue every weekend across the 10 districts.
Step-Up will focus on discovering upcoming music stars and turn them into instant national icons with the ultimate goal of promoting them beyond the borders while delivering mature entertainment for the viewers.
Khaya Managing Director and Step up Executive Producer, Tumahole Lechesa, said the show is meant to unearth talent in the grassroots and give the artistes a platform to show off their talent’
Lechesa said the competition will start with 100 contestants who will be whittled down to the last three with the grand prize being a VW Polo vehicle.
He however, said the show was only meant for artistes who have never recorded and have never had a chance to make it in the music industry.
“Step-Up is for individuals who have never explored their talent and any talented person aged from 15 to 35 years who has never recorded an album can audition at any of the audition venues across the country,” Lechesa said.
He said they intend to offer artistes an international platform and sustainable careers.
“On 4 May we will be in Qacha’s Nek to kick off auditions and we will travel to all the nine districts until we have 100 participants. These will be taken for a boot camp where they will be taught about many aspects of the music industry,” he said.
He said the boot-camp will be followed by a step up house where the top 10 participants will be taken into a boot-camp with coaches to help them compete for the top three.
Leshesa further said the programme is meant to ensure that dreams come true for young aspiring musicians who need platforms to start their careers.
He said the show will also present Basotho with a chance to watch high quality TV productions in Lesotho as they are pioneering change in the electronic media and entertainment industry.
Vodacom Head of Consumer Business, Tšepo Thabisi, said the journey of the show started a few months ago. He said the idea was a natural fit in their scope of work as they have previously hosted the Vodacom Superstars.
He said they were eager to partner the initiative as it will empower youth and also create hope for all talented youths.
“In life we tend to focus on our traditional careers but we have a lot of talented people and unfortunately, in Lesotho it is hard to make a living using passion and talent especially in the arts,” Thabisi said. He added that the project was also crucial in the alleviation of poverty.
He revealed that Vodacom will be sponsoring the show with M1 million.
The Acting Director General of the Lesotho National Broadcasting Services (LNBS), Mothepane Kotele, hailed the initiative one of the biggest news for the music industry this year.
“I owe my gratitude to Khaya and Vodacom for this exciting journey that we have started,” Kotele said.
He said the traffic and hype that will be generated from the show will be hugely beneficial for LNBS.
