- Eswatini praise talent looks beyond the 279 for the voices yet to be heard
BY NELIWE NGUBANE
MBABANE – The search for Eswatini’s next great singing voice has officially moved from the audition room to the judging table, but organisers say the biggest talent may not even be among the 279 entries received.
Eswatini Praise founder Sipho ‘Big Fish’ Makhabane has confirmed that 279 aspiring singers submitted audition videos before the September 20 deadline, with judges now working through the entries to identify the first top 100 contestants.
The figure marks the beginning of the next stage of the competition, but for Makhabane, the bigger mission is making sure talent does not remain undiscovered simply because someone does not have a smartphone, social media access or the opportunity to submit an audition.
This is where the competition’s planned ‘Who Did We Miss?’ initiative comes in.
The public-driven stage will allow members of the public to nominate talented singers they believe deserve a chance to audition, particularly people from rural areas and communities that may not have been reached by the competition’s initial call for entries.
“These are the people without phones, they are the people who this kind of news has not reached. We are talking about people who live in the rural areas but possess lots of talent,” Makhabane said.
The initiative could give the competition another pool of voices to consider as it moves towards its later stages.
For now, however, attention remains on the 279 singers who successfully submitted their audition videos before the deadline.
Makhabane said the organisers received numerous calls and videos after September 20, including emotional pleas from aspiring contestants hoping to have their entries considered.
Despite the pressure, he said no late submissions were accepted to protect the fairness of the process for contestants who respected the deadline.
“Some called crying, but that did not help them in any way because we wanted to be fair to all those who had been diligent and entered before,” Makhabane said.
The judging process is now under way, with resident judge Nothando Dlamini among those reviewing the auditions.
Guest judges Oncemore Six, Dr Rebecca Malope and Takie Ndou are also part of the judging panel.
Makhabane said the number and quality of submissions had been encouraging, giving the judges a broad pool from which to identify the singers who will progress.
“It is so exciting to see the amount of talent that is out there,” he said.
The first cut will reduce the 279 entries to a top 100, with successful contestants contacted and invited to perform before the judges in live auditions.
Those who make the cut will also need to understand that Eswatini Praise is being developed as a television programme, meaning contestants will eventually perform before a wider national audience.
Makhabane said contestants should therefore treat the live auditions as a serious opportunity to demonstrate their ability and readiness for the professional stage.
From the top 100, the competition will be narrowed to between 30 and 40 contestants, before the final top 20 is selected.
But even after that narrowing process, the door will not completely close on undiscovered talent.
Through ‘Who Did We Miss?’, members of the public will have an opportunity to point organisers towards singers who may have slipped through the initial audition process.
The approach reflects Makhabane’s stated intention for Eswatini Praise to become more than a search for one winner.
Workshops are also expected to form part of the programme, giving selected contestants exposure to skills and preparation needed for professional performances and larger stages.
For aspiring singers, the message is therefore bigger than simply waiting to hear whether their audition made the top 100.
For those who submitted, the next step is patience and preparation.
For those who missed the deadline, the organisers have made it clear that late audition videos will not be accepted.
But for the talented voices who have not yet had their chance, Eswatini Praise may still have a question waiting for them:
Who did we miss?
The public is encouraged to follow Eswatini Praise’s social media platforms and the Eswatini Observer for updates as the selection process progresses.
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