Next ma /gaisa star gets stamp of approval

With the grand finale staged at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) Backstage on Friday night, the Next Ma /Gaisa Star contest concluded its third season.

Eight contestants vied for the top prize of N$30 000 and a recording contract with Welwitschia Music Productions (WMP), owned by Stella Naruses and Steven Naruseb.

WMP partnered with the NTN, National Arts Council of Namibia and Namibian Broadcasting Corporation to host the event. The night featured performances from seasoned entertainers like Patricia /Ochurus, season two winner Larcos, Oc Bulan, the evergreen baritone voiced Ou Backos, veteran singer Michael !Owos-oab, reggae group Gerry Dread and the red hot duo Raphael & Pele, who lived up to their reputation as one of the hottest live performers in the country.

The saying, ‘dynamite comes in small packages’ was evident when Latitia Uri-khos, who goes by the stage name of Nadine, put on two very powerful performances to claim the grand prize.

Apart from cancelling out the male dominance displayed in the first two seasons of the event, the 19-year-old pulled out all the stops to prevail above runner-up Daniel ‘Ivotitage’ /Oxurub from Okahandja.

However, with limited dancing skills, a commodity Nadine and third-placed Eunice ‘Latifa’ //Garoes from Rehoboth had in abundance, /Oxurub had to be content with second place.

The organisers say this year’s competition drew overwhelming interest from a record 400 aspiring artists.

“The number of entries we received for this season is a clear intigation that there are many young people out there who want to carve themselves a career in music. It is just a pity that, like in any competition, there has to be only one winner,” says !Naruses.

“We would have loved to improve the prize money of the top three places but with most of the funds going into logistics at the moment and the limited number of partners we have on board, that will just remain a wild dream for now.”

This year’s event was attended by minister in the presidency Christine //Hoebes and Swakopmund mayor Dina Namubes.