MC fumbles at Sprite finale

For others, it was their moment to shine, express themselves and live to remember, but for Lilongwe-based up-and-coming rapper Young Ice, it was a sad moment as he failed to master his lyrics, forcing him to withdraw from the competition at the Sprite Urban Xpression Grand Finale at Robin’s Park in Blantyre on Saturday.

Young Ice fumbled with his lyrics, attempted to remember them several times to no avail, forcing him to angrily depart the stage, throwing away his sunglasses and the microphone in agony.

Commenting on his performance and attitude, one of the judges Rina said it is important to stay focused and stick to whatever you are doing at a particular time.

She said Young Ice was not focused and concentrated on the audience and not on his performance.

“He was not determined and was not calm, he had to calm down and take his time. If he had done this, things would have worked because he had the confidence,” she explained.

When passing judgement, Rina said they were looking at originality, style and confidence in choosing the winner.

She said they did not approve of obscene language and those that slightly uttered curse words were automatically disqualified.

In the DJ battle, 25-year-old DJ Trix from Blantyre proved too good on the decks as he emerged winner in the category.

In an interview with The Nation, the excited DJ Trix said the prize money has just come at a good time as he has been struggling with school fees

“All thanks to God for giving me this chance and for making me winner. This money will help me with my school fees,” he said.

Lilongwe’s George Tran, who was hailed at the announcement of his name as winner in the dance competition, said it is his confidence and strong attachment with music which has made him winner.

The contortionist said his triumph card was his link with music, his self-belief and his passionate dance.

In the rap category, Mzuzu-based Tchizzol emerged winner, quickly noting that he did not believe he could make it as he had joined the competition following pressure from friends.

“I was just doing this just for fun and I did not think I could make it this far. I wish to extend a word of advice to my fellow youths who have talent to take the chance and expose it if the opportunity arises,” he said.

Each of the winners in the three categories walked away with whopping K200 000 grand prizes.

On top of that, the winner in the rap category will record a song with renowned producer Tapps Bandawe and the winners in the dance and DJ categories will get to perform in one of the big local clubs.

Coca-Cola senior brands manager Titha Mbilizi says the turn-up was impressive which has prompted the company to want to bring the show back next year.

“What we got at this event is a ‘bring it back’ patronage and for sure we will bring back the competition next year with a lot of goodies. People should expect more and we are also hoping for more than this,” she said.