VODAFONE: ‘Icons –Divas Edition’ set for TV Viewing?
By Peterking Quaye, from Accra,Ghana – It seems that there was more than just a recycling of old faces from various past singing competitions at the nationwide auditions for the hot new TV reality show, ‘Icons: The Divas Edition’ which aims to create Ghana’s first super girl-group.
Judges for the show Vodafone Icons Diva Edition
According to reliable and confirm reports reaching Shout-Africa.com,the auditions for Icons saw contestants whom had already qualified for the finals of the upcoming 5th edition of singing contest, Stars of the Future pitching for a chance to enter the Icons: Divas Edition show.
The first episode of Icons: Divas Edition airs on TV, Sunday, February 13. The first episode would show highlights from the audition process and the subsequent two episodes would be dedicated to boot camp.The first live performance show will air on Sunday, March 6. The TV series will air on major TV stations in Ghana and on pan-African cable networks. TV3 has the prime spot telecast at 8.00pm with Net 2, Multi TV, Crystal TV, ETV and GTV and Metro TV (yet to be confirmed) joining in at 8.30 each Sunday evening.
The show will be hosted by fresh faced entertainer, Benny Blanco, well known for his voice impressions and DJ talents on the club circuit and radio station X FM.
Carmen Bruce-Annan, Head of Corporate Communications at Vodafone who was elated by the selection of the team remarked: “We are very excited to have such world class talent on board for ICONS. These judges were once young hopefuls, just like our contestants in ICONS so we can be sure they will recognize the potential of the contestants and empower them to take Ghana by storm.”
Stars of the Future completed its auditions in October 2010 but the competition failed to take place that year. This was the first time that the annual reality TV show wasn’t staged since it started in 2006. The 2010 auditions took place rather late in the year compared to the previous editions, and although Charter House, the organizers of the show haven’t come out to say when and if the auditions would be rolled over into 2011, some of the chosen finalists may have already lost hope in seeing the contest take off. It is reported that some of the Stars of the Future finalists went past the audition stages of Icons: Divas Edition and are waiting for boot camp from February 9-11.
35 girls will soon be selected for Icons: Divas Edition boot camp but only 21 finalists will go into the main show. They would then be divided into 7 groups of three girls that would battle it out for the ultimate prize including GHC 20,000 cash to each member of the winning group; a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the group; and a recording contract for the Group with Paradise Entertainment and a management deal with Duke Banson.
Thirty five contestants out of the hundreds of young hopefuls who auditioned for the show will be invited to attend the ICONS bootcamp where they will be coached by the three judges and choreographers.
Meanwhile a ‘Call to Watch Campaign’ has been activated nationwide and general public will have some insight into the show before it premieres on TV. The press will also get a chance to interact with judges, the host, and the producers of the show at a soiree ahead of the premiere date.
