Aziz Mola (@azizmola) Represented BAKE at the Tusker Project Fame Media Ignition and here he talks about his experience at the event
I must admit that being informed that I would be singing in front of judge Ian was quite a scare. But here I was already in the fire with no means back into the frying pan.
It was a great privilege to represent the Bloggers Association of Kenya aka BAKE at the Tusker Project Fame Media Ignition. This was an opportunity for the Tusker Project Fame’s media partners to experience what contestants go through during the duration of the show- or just a sneak peak at it- and also a chance for one to walk away with 100k. Over a period of two days we would be afforded the 5 star experience that is offered to the TPF contestants including accommodation at a 5 star hotel, some vocal training and all these culminating in a live karaoke performance to an audience consisting of our peers and TPF judges Ian and Kavutha. The pressure was on!
The GOOD
I must admit that whoever makes it to be a finalist in Tusker Project Fame has an awesome experience. From armed security, 5 star accommodation (in this case the Windsor and Safari Park), among many others. This broda planned to enjoy the best of it.
I for one do not take networking opportunities lightly and here was a chance to interact with personalities I only get to watch on the tube, read on print or listen to on radio. I guess that’s one of the best things contestants get from TPF – a chance to interact with diverse people from different countries across Eastern Africa and professions. I doubt opportunities to work with amazing voice coaches, in our case Natalie from Penya Africa, and world renowned reality television producers come on a silver platter as they do for contestants on Tusker Project Fame.
On top of the whole experience, Tusker Project Fame was able to announce that Joey will be the hostess for the sixth season. Surely the new season will be bigger and better.
The BAD
We all have talents that we don’t really believe in so as to invest heavily in, let alone do a performance in front of a crowd. That, ladies and gentlemen, is singing for me. The task of moving my shower singing on to a stage looked daunting enough. But as they say, you have to take a leap of faith or rather fortune smiles on the bold. If I was going down, I would go down fighting. This is Sparta!
The first huddle was choosing a song. Why is this in the bad you ask? Well, I came to realize that picking a song to sing for a group of seasoned entertainers is no mean feat. It’s all good when you’re singing along in the car or the comfort of your home but when it comes to choosing one for performance, the tale is a bit different. The problem is that you know or think you know so much from what you listen to and yet you know so little. After a long self-debating session I settled on a song which in hindsight I should not have tried to pull off. But who can read into the future?! Carpe Diem!
The UGLY
One always has a big laugh when you see TPF contestants choke during auditions and performances, plus the comments that come from the judges (especially Ian) but trust me you wouldn’t walk a kilometer in the contestants shoes. As one gets on stage and sees the crowd, your nervous levels goes off the roof and all of a sudden the S on your chest starts to fade off. You take one look at Ian and it’s like you can hear what he is about to say. PS, I was neither that horrible nor that good either but the roasting that came after! Still, in a week that had Miley twerking on a world stage, things couldn’t be worse.
I have reserved a future post on judge Ian once I can move past the trauma and heal from my PTS.
All in all this was one hell of an experience and I will surely not be laughing my ass off at contestants once TPF6 begins. But after what I went through, who knows, laughter might just be the best medicine.