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Suubi wins Airtel trace star’s Shs100m
Suubi sheds tears of joy as she is comforted by her mother. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa
What you need to know:
Out of the five, two were professional artistes (Allan Toniks and Dan Flavour) who were also aspiring to hit the jackpot and stand a chance to record with Konvict Music founder, Akon.
Sandra Suubi, is the winner of the first season of Airtel Trace Music Star singing competition, a music contest that proved that this country has incredible talent that needs to be discovered.
The grand finale that took place on Saturday night at Victoria Hall, Serena Hotel, saw five finalists out of the five million eligible Airtel subscribers in the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) based music competition tussle it out for Shs100m and a chance to represent Uganda in the Pan African music competition in Nairobi on March 28.
After the elimination shows that were conducted during weekends last month at Ndere Centre Auditorium, five made it to the finals. Out of the five, two were professional artistes (Allan Toniks and Dan Flavour) who were also aspiring to hit the jackpot and stand a chance to record with Konvict Music founder, Akon.
However, Suubi put up the most memorable performance of the night that the professional artistes could not get any close to hers.
In her long red dress, Suubi’s voice projection, crowd engagement and how she carefully hit the high notes while performing Katy Perry’s July 4th pop song was incredible. It was worth a standing ovation. This attracted praises from the judges.
“You have shown the world that those contesting for the Airtel Trace Music Star should be competing to win a recording deal with you, not Akon. Your performance was amazing,” music producer Washington told Suubi.
Through votes that contributed 49 per cent and judges’ marks that contributed 51 per cent, Suubi beat Toniks who did a lukewarm mash up of Sean Paul’s Always On My Mind, Ndejje University student, Bruno Kiggundu who did justice to Bruno Mars’ Grenade, Dan Flavour who did his rendition of Sina Makosa and Brenda Nantongo who sang Rihanna’s 2013 hit single, Diamond.
Suubi will compete in a televised pan-African grand finale, where the African champion will win a trip to the US to be mentored by megastar, Akon, for a period of two weeks, in addition to a professional music video and a record deal with Universal Music.
About Sandra Suubi
A complete artiste. Sandra Suubi started her singing at a tender age. While at Gayaza High School, her love for music led her to join the school choir.
In her S.6 vacation, she joined the Novel Band and performed in many parts of the country. She is one of three members of Xabu, an all-girl music group with keen interest in neo-soul music.
She is also an eco-artist (recycles trash to create beautiful art pieces). Suubi has a degree in Industrial and Fine Art from Makerere University.
