By Reporter
As the curtains rise for sizzling new stars, the seasoned take a bow. The ongoing Pearl of Africa Star search saw winner of the last Coca Cola Rated Next, Joel Kisakye booted and not making it to the Top 12 shortlisted contestants.
Joel was a part of the #POAstar Central Region contestants competing against Carsten Yesuamala, Sandra Nansambu, Maggie Wandeka and Tracy Mirembe. He put up a great show at the first physical auditions at the Talent Africa offices when he did his own Luganda rendition of Sam Smith’s “I’m not the only one”. This impressive performance won him the highest score in the judge’s report giving him a straight pass to Top 20.
Before he was booted, Joel got chance to feature in a musical project alongside the rest of the Central stars, Navio and Lydia Jasmine, dubbed “Kampala Kyekyo” showcasing the beauty in Uganda’s capital. They also visited iconic sites in Buganda like the Royal Palace, Amin’s torture chambers, The Independence monument, Kalangala Island and the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre.
On the evening of the performance night that determined which contestants the judges selected to proceed to the next level, Joel performed Winnie Nwagi’s Matala , which unfortunately failed to light the judge’s score cards. The judges selected Carsten and Sandra while the public voted in favor of Tracy, which left Joel and Maggie’s dreams of becoming the first Pearl of Africa Star and winning a hefty grand prize worth sixty million Uganda Shillings coming to an end.
The next round of the show has 12 contestants, with 3 from each of the four regions in the country. We cannot wait to see who wins this grand prize and gets off the line of the vulnerable youth, awaiting Hon. Nabbanja’s Mobile Money notification.
The Pearl of Africa Star Search is a reality show that runs every Sunday, 7:45PM on NBS TV.