Accra Glo X Factor Auditions Unearth New Talents

X Factor, the world’s biggest singing reality show, has been brought to Africa by courtesy of Glo, which has put up $150,000 as the prize for the best performer to emerge from auditions and acts in Ghana and Nigeria; the winner gets to be signed on for a recording contract with the famous Sony Record Label.

Accra’s numbers far outstripped those of Kumasi, the Ashanti capital, which completed two days of auditioning last Sunday as several hundreds of talented young men and women including large numbers of students and some aspirants who had travelled for auditioning from neighbouring regions, notably the Eastern and Volta Regions.

An exciting highlight of the Saturday auditioning came when 24 years old twin sisters, Lamberta and Lambertina Hansen who have just graduated from the Accra Polytechnic were selected for the next stage of auditions. The two vowed to win the prize money and swore to beat another favourite set of male twins emerged in the Abuja auditions barely two weeks ago to the prize.

‘We are very happy now because we are a step nearer the prize money. We hear that there is another set of twin guys who have already made it through the Abuja auditions in Nigeria. Well, we are female twins from Ghana and with our parents and entire family and the whole Ghana behind us, we wish to send the Nigerian twins a message: they have a fight on their hands. We will give them a good run for their money’, declared Lamberta.

Like the Polytechnic twins, popular Viasat-1 TV morning show co-host Kokui Selormey showed up to be auditioned, and when she scrapped through to the final stage, she told reporters she was delighted that so many talented youth are getting the opportunity to prove their worth and get a shot at stardom. ‘Glo has done very well in bringing X Factor to Ghana and I do hope that they would sustain this lifetime offer in order to unearth as many stars as are available,’ she said.

The hotel’s auditorium was filled with excitement as aspirants strived to outdo one another in humming, miming and singing in a wide variety of musical genres including hiplife, gospel folk and hilife.

Accra also recorded its first batch of adult singers when a duo made up of Robert Adinyirs 54 and Jonathan Seshie 53 both from Ho in the Volta region stepped forward to be auditioned. Going by the stage-name of Cross-crown, the two said they had been singing together since 1976 when they were teenagers living in Denu in the Volta Region. ‘ Glo X Factor is the best opportunity that has ever come our way, that is why we have travelled all the way from Ho to participate, and we are hopeful we will be selected,’ said Adinyira.

Hotel officials say they were baffled when they saw nearly 400 anxious-looking youth filing up at the west wing of the hotel as early as 6:00 a.m. Mostly above 17 years, young and old talents took turns in solo and group performances to snatch a spot in the next stage of the Glo X Factor.

Participants, whether they were soloist or groups, wore different colours of wrist bands as indication of their level of auditioning as well as of success. Customized white wrist bands indicated success at the very first stage of screening, then yellow after they have passed the second hurdle; a black wrist band meant that the participant had qualified into the final stage.

Following the successful auditions in Kumasi and Accra, the stage is now set for the final Ghana auditions billed for the National Theatre in Accra where the final short-listing of Ghana’s representation for the Glo X Factor Show will be publicly conducted.