Creativity Galore At President�s Day Music Competitions
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday July 19, 2017 13:36
The stage was set and Tsholofelo Park was once again the host to the tough contest and people came in large numbers to support and see performing arts talent in display. The contested categories on the day was the Best newcomer live band, Best backtrack artist (CD), Best live band and Best Disc Jockey.
The backtrack artists were the first to hit the stage and Gabz Voce with their magical voices managed to retain the P30,000 coveted prize they won last year. Ghetto Gospel artists from Francistown came second, pocketing P25,000 with De Dance Doctor grabbing the third spot and P22,500 prize money. Coming fourth was Saera from Gumare, who took home P20,000.
The Best Newcomer live band brought together rookies in this category and they did not disappoint. Sparks flew and even though the competition was intense, in the end, Baiseraele from Francistown impressed judges the most. In a category that was mostly dominated by kwasa kwasa performers, Lewesto and Sagafro from Hukuntsi scooped the second prize.
In one of the toughest categories of the competition which is Best Live band, competition frequent and winner of 2013 and 2015 best live band Dedcor and Desert Musica was pitted against much stronger opponents this time around. It was Mmabesi Afro Band from Serowe who pooled together their musical know how to impress the judges and scoop the first prize.
The band that won the second prize last year transfigured the live concert experience with their performance this time around. Peter Bollen from Ramotswa walked away with second prize while Dedcor had to settle for the third. Now it was time for DJs to get past their last challenge. Unlike other categories, best Dick Jockey brought together eight opponents to hit decks show their creativity.
The stage judge DJ Fondo Fire set time of seven minutes for the DJs to showcase their skills sets. All eight contestants included experienced DJs and they battled it out against each other and the final winner was Seane Modigwane also known as DJ Skizoh from Tsabong. Casper The DJ from Gaborone region won the second prize after blowing the crowd away with a superb mix.
One of judges and also a legendary local mix master, DJ Boogie Sid said they were looking at preparedness amongst other things. He added that they were also looking at the technique when it comes to mixing and applying effects. “We looked at how they controlled their levels, the type of songs they mix and how they understand their equipment,” he said.
DJ Boogie Sid said on top of playing local songs, they required the DJs to control their crowd. One of the judges in the contemporary music section, Keitumetse Serala said even though they were judging different genres they were focusing on instrumental balance amongst other aspects. She said most of the artists had lousy sound.
“Music is an organised sound, too much noise annoy listeners,” she said. Serala added that they were also looking at originality and arrangement of composition. “Well arranged songs should have well flow of rhythm,” she said.