The first leg of the campaign was made up of roadshow auditions at various high foot traffic malls. The second leg consisted of the semi-finals which took place in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The finals were held at the Soweto Theatre and 23 finalists participated. Jacqueline Jacobs, sales and marketing director at Bliss Brands, says that it is thanks to Bliss Brands CEO Shoaib Iqbal that the brand has foresight, vision and open-minded in terms of marketing.
Out of 23 finalists one group was chosen – Hash Tag from Meadowlands, Soweto. “The judges had a tough decision to make. All the performances were polished, on point and performed to perfection. They were looking for something particular though, a song that would be the next MAQ song to be used in commercials and on our roadshows,” says Jacobs.
Prince Zulu, Kagiso Magoai and Mogomutsi Makolo from Hash Tag walked away with the grand prize of R50 000 in cash, an in-studio recording, a music video recording and a year’s worth of MAQ products. The three amateur singers were extremely excited to receive the prize. “We are so excited, happy and amazed that we won,” they said in unison.
When asked what they would do with the prize money, Zulu explained that he would be going to music school, Makolo was going to open an internet café and Magoai would be going to music school in Bloemfontein.
“Each group was exceptional. We want to thank everyone who auditioned and who participated in the MAQapella Song Contest. The talent was amazing. The MAQ team wishes all the semi-finalists success in their music careers,” concludes Jacobs.
For more about the MAQapella Song Contest, one can
visit the Facebook page.