The ability to sing has been a personal lifetime desire. It is no secret therefore that I viciously admire anyone who can hold a tune. My eyes were glued to the stage. It was about half past eight and I had just made my way down the aisle at the National Theatre to join the many others who had come to witness Citi FM’s Voice Factory Season 2. I looked around me and couldn’t help but notice the excitement on the faces of different groups of people who had come to support their favourite contestants.





Abigail was the first to take the stage. She was one of four lucky others who had vied with the hundreds of hopefuls to get to the finals. Her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman was impressive and all the judges seemed to agree on one thing: she had great stage craft. I was eager to meet the other three contestants and as they followed each other on stage, one after the other, I couldn’t help but sense a hint of anxiety. Philip’s rendition of Michael Bolton’s To Love Somebody, really started off the competition for me. A look around told me that absolutely everyone in the audience was blown away by this powerful performance from such a seemingly unassuming young man.

I started to reply to a text message I had just received and stopped midway. I glanced up to see who the soothing voice was coming from. It was Fritz. Last year’s winner of Voice Factory. He was joined by Paulina (one of the judges) in a scintillating duet that left the audience in awe. After listening to him and watching him perform, I wasn’t surprised that he’d won. What I loved most about Fritz’s performance was the confidence he exuded on stage. He seemed like a pro and it was difficult to believe at a point that he had only just began his music career. “This young man is certainly going places”, I thought to myself silently.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the duets that came from the competing finalists after that though. Total voice mismatch put me in a state of confusion. I was plunged into a state of uncertainty as to whether it was the sound engineer or the finalists that were just plain terrible together. Phillip and Abigail’s rendition of Beauty & The Beast left me wondering who was beauty and who was beast. I was beginning to get a bit bored and restless until Melody took over the stage with Cece Winnans’ No One. Now that put me back in a good mood. I was certainly impressed. She engaged the audience perfectly and certainly made an impression on the seemingly unfazed judges. Philip’s amazing performance of A Note To God quickly made me realise that although these four seemed a mess together, they were absolutely fantastic as individual artistes. An undoubtedly incredible unearthing of raw talent.

Bra Kevin and Lil Shaker. Now those two are actually quite good. They had the crowd on their feet in no time. I am not a great fan of rap music but these two certainly had my full attention for close to thirty minutes and at a point even Ben Brako seemed to be nodding along approvingly. Intriguing performance.

My general impressions on the show? Extraordinary talent. I was impressed with the event organisers’ attention to detail and how smoothly the whole show run too. So in the end Melody Mida-Lisa Wilson, a student of the University of Ghana, was adjudged the winner of the ten week long competition. Did the best person win? I suppose so. If you ask me though, Fritz should have just won again. When it comes to the total package, he certainly did it for me.

As I walked out of the theatre, I suddenly came face to face with a Citi FM branded mic. “So tell us, what did you think of the show?”. I looked at the young man and looked back at the mic. For a split second, I felt a strong inclination to grab the mic and deliver my own rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody. At that same moment, my family’s embarrassed faces as they listened to me singing live on radio flashed before my eyes. “Oh yeah. It was a great show. You guys did a great job.” I replied quickly.

Maybe in another life. For now though, I suppose my 'amazing singing talent' will remain in the confines of my shower cubicle.

Credit: G. Buckman - for Planit Event Review