Ricky Anokye
An Accra-based television station, CTV, has officially launched the maiden edition of its annual music reality show, ‘Bars & Beats’, at the forecourt of the station located at Labone in Accra.
Bars & Beats, which will officially begin on November 5, 2020, is aimed at providing upcoming artistes with the opportunity of a lifetime to showcase their talents and take a giant leap into the broader music industry.
Speaking at the launch, the General Manager of CTV, Mr. Ricky Anokye, explained that unlike what pertained in other contests, there would be no one-off selection of participants from auditions.
According to him, 13 participants will be selected every week across the country to battle it out every Saturday, adding that different sets of participants will display their talents each week, with voting reserved for the participant’s fans and followers.
The success of the participants will be dependent on social media engagements.
The general manager hinted that there would be judges on the show who would be required to advise, analyze and guide the participants. However, the judges will not have any vote.
He added that there would be one permanent judge throughout the show with other rotational judges.
“Normally how it is done is that 13 participants are selected out of the 31 million people and the 1,000s of people who go for auditions.
“So, for the first week, which is two weeks from today, 13 participants will be on and based on the likes and shares from their supporters, winners are selected,” Mr. Anokye explained.
“The contest will be in two segments – the first segment will consist of performances of their own songs and the second, dubbed, #MyOwnRemix, will require participants to perform a peace or election-themed song with a beat accompanying it,” he said.
The general manager said “no judge will scores anyone. They are just there to give their comments, guidance and direction but the voting depends on you the artiste and your fans.”
He indicated that the winners would have access to music promotions across the 12 media channels under CMG.
Additionally, music producers – JMJ, Smokey Beats, Appietus and Wei Ye Oteng are on board to supervise music production. Legendary sound engineer Zapp Mallet will provide supervision and technical expertise in mixing and mastering.
All these, he said, formed part of a GH¢35,000 prize money.