THE DundaStar Talent Search has reached a critical stage. The search team has announced the 24 finalists to compete in the 2012 talent search finals in both the singing and dancing categories.The exercise was held at Papyrus Bar and Restaurant in Gasabo district, on Saturday. The event attracted 35 contestants.Eight dance groups, four solo dancers and solo singers are among those collected."I am really excited that our group has finally been selected to take part in the competition. This gives us hope that we stand more chances of winning the competition,” said Alice Uwera, a member of the Hunters.The judges will look out for certain attributes like vocal range, vocal quality and technique as well as the stage presence and creativity of contestants to determine the winners of the DundaStar Talent Search in each category. The grand final of the talent search will be conducted on December 28 at the Expo Grounds in Gikondo. On top of receiving the accolades, the winner in the singing category will record songs with Uganda’s music producer Washington, who is among the judges, while the best dancer will be signed to some of East Africa’s best dance groups.DundaStar Talent Search, titled "DundaStar: Rwanda’s Next Super Talent”, is a reality television singing and dancing competition. It is the first raw talent search competition that brings in reality TV to create a richer viewer experience, and highly interactive show.The auditions started in November in three districts of Kigali. The concept of the talent search is to discover new artistes in the music and dance category, and the winner is determined by the viewers through SMS voting, and the internet. Rwanda’s newest and biggest reality TV programme will showcase contestants competing to become the country’s Next Super Talent, and earn cash prizes and a recording contract. DundaStar aims to become Rwanda’s and the region’s most anticipated Reality TV show, and a springboard for launching successful careers.The judges review a performer’s talent and the public then votes for their favorite potential star. Contestants have to go through initial auditions stage, qualifiers stage, to join the Talent Studio where they are tutored and trained in dance and music. All these stages are captured on camera, and produced for TV audience, as it forms part of the show. The contestant with the least votes are eliminated from the competition at the end of every week’s performance show. The show is scheduled to run for approximately five months.With effect from December 14, the competition will get to an advanced level, where all scenes will be live on RTV. This will then see another screening that will determine those to go in a boot camp in preparation for the final audition of the competition.Timothy Kayigwa, one of the organisers, told The New Times that in the boot camp contestants will undergo various trainings in preparation for the finals.