Find out more about the All Africa Song Contest, a six-week contest that was officially revealed in 2014.
How would it have worked?
The All Africa Song Contest was set to be hosted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and run over six weeks. The competition was launched in 2014 and so far does not have a set date for the competition, singers have however been selected to participate in the contest.
Each country in Africa was to be represented by a singer selected by its Ministry of Culture, the public of each country would not have a say in who represented them.
A total of five heats were to be held where the songs from each country are presented in the form of a pre-recorded video. These shows would then be made available to national broadcasters across Africa to broadcast free of charge, the public would then vote for the singers they want to see in the final via SMS.
For the final, the singers that are selected by the public will perform live in a televised competition.
No details were released regarding what would happen to the country that won the contest and where it would be held in the second year. The contest was created by Kush Communications a production company that has worked on a number of African TV series for the BBC.
Who would have competed?
The hosts of the show have already been announced they will be Henry Bonsu and Zeinab Badawi.
The following countries have so far selected their singers for the competition:
- 🇧🇼 Botswana – Zeus – Maafrika
- 🇬🇲 Gambia – Jali Madi – Jarabi
- 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau – Binhanquinhe Quimor – Amour so Amour
- 🇲🇼 Malawi – Lawi – (Song not yet selected)
- 🇷🇼 Rwanda – Kigali International Choir – And The Glory
- 🇸🇴 Somalia – Aar Maanta – (Song not known)
- 🇸🇸 South Sudan – Mr. Emmanuel Mark Kemble – I Love Reggae
- 🇸🇿 Swaziland – Mozaik – (Song not known)
What happened to the contest?
Since 2015 there has been no news released regarding the competition.