A new vocal competition, dubbed ‘Acapella Competition’, is set to identify and recognize the most talented upcoming singers in Rwanda. The competition is designed for talents that would love to make their mark in music but haven’t got the opportunity to do so yet. According to Brian Johnathan Hakizamungu, the brains behind the initiative, the idea is to recognise talented upcoming singers and to promote the country's music industry.

Hakizamungu, who is currently pursuing a videography course in the USA, was a former member of Camp Rock, a band that used to sing and record gospel music.

Being in music, he realised that there are a lot of talents that are not recognised because they lack funds to further their careers and so their talents ending up to a waste.

The competition, he said, is slated to begin on January and will end on March 31. It is open to all age groups and will take place online.

Eligibility 

Hakizamungu explains that the participants are required to take a video while singing any of their best choice of songs, which shouldn’t take more than three minutes long.

The recorded voice should then be sent to +250724230087, accompanied by their full names. 

After the videos are submitted, he added that they will be put together by the judges and uploaded on HBS, a YouTube channel.

 "There will be four judges, two of them based in Boston Massachusetts while two will come from Rwanda. These will be the ones coordinating the whole process.

 During the voting process, the audience has 80 per cent of the votes depending on the views, comments, and likes, while the judges will only have the remaining 20 percent,” he said.

 The competition will have three stage, determined by the audience’s votes; the first three people will be awarded with the overall winner will receiving USD500, USD300 for the second position while the third one will walk away with the cash prize of USD150.