16 Jan 2014

My Star came to the rescue of entertainment-starved Kasane residents on Wednesday evening (January 15) as multitudes thronged Kwalape Lodge for the show’s debut tour in the town.

In spite of the fact that it was a weekday and the show was to start at 3 pm when some people were at work, the seats were filled long before the starting time. Thirsty for some clean family-oriented fun, it was not long before a queue formed outside the conference hall of people who wanted to be a part of the popular My Star show. After much shuffling there was finally room for everyone.

However, the contestants made it a worthwhile experience as they wowed the judges with their star-rated performance, a sure sign of a sizzling season ahead.

The first three who auditioned consecutively got through to the next round leading to one of the judges, Kgomotso Tshwenyego, saying, “O kare Kasane o tla a tla sentle,” shortly after the third contestant exited the stage. Master Dee could not thank the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture enough as one contestant after the other outshone the previous. Another five ‘yes’s and it was a wrap.

Kasane had just made an impressive mark sending eight of its 13 contestants through to the next lap of the competition  and inching one step closer to the P100 000 prize money. In Francistown, Goitsemodimo Williams reports that only seven people attended the My Star competition auditions in Tutume, with four of them making it to the next round slated for Gaborone.

Since its inception in 2007, it was the first time that the competition’s auditions spread to places other than major population centres. This year, the organisers had wanted to unveil talent that has been confined to places where the auditions never took place.

Surprisingly, the youth at Tutume did not come as expected; the seven came because they missed the Francistown auditions because of miscommunication about the time of the events. One fan of the show, who travelled all the way from Mathangwane to see the auditions for the first time in their region, Onkarabile Jackson, said the auditions were not given enough publicity, whereas it was the first time they were to be held in the area.

Jackson said unlike in the past auditions, advertisements were not aired enough on the national television as the main medium of communication and even on radio.He suggested that because it was the first time for the show to be held in such places, past winners such as Sharon from the region could have been asked to inspire other young people who wish to try their luck in the competition.

This, he said, was because often some young people lack confidence to take up the challenge but with inspiration from others, they can come forward. ENDS