Botswana native, Oliver Gaolaolwe is the winner of the first edition of the Pan African music challenge (AMC) 2021. Oliver the Poet, as the singer is affectionately known, was crowned the winner during a virtual live show hosted by Africa Sports Ventures Group (ASVG) last week.
AMC, the musical arm of ASVG, was founded on January 4th with the objective of finding an artist to create a theme song for the Africa Empire Warrior contest, which is to be hosted in Liberia. The challenge attracted interest from 24 out of 54 countries across the continent, receiving 500 submissions. Kopano Berrybone-Bodume, Oliver the Poet’s producer and manager was ecstatic over the news.
“Honestly, we are very excited as we were not expecting to be awarded the win,” he said.
Bodume is most by touched the fact that Oliver is an upcoming artist and the first to sign to his record label, ‘KGB music’.
“Oliver is an upcoming artist and when the challenge came, we were working on his first album. He won the challenge while his album was being completed. And above all this, is the motivation to show that we are doing something right,” he gushed.
According to ASVG Director of Communications, Ntebogang Sebetlela, Oliver’s coronation was a culmination of a long and eventful journey.
“It has been an amazing journey that the AMC and ASVG team undertook to reach all corners of Africa in publicising and marketing the event to African artists. When the artists started uploading their songs it became an instant hit,” Sebetlela said.
“The journey was very challenging as the team was spread not only across Africa but the US, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Korea, to name a few. So, time differences were a major challenge,” she explained.
Sebetlela said the ASVG team worked hard and succeeded despite their different cultural backgrounds. For his part, Leslie Koroma, ASVG CEO said he alongside the ASVG team are thrilled to have created this vehicle called ‘Africa Music Africa Challenge’.
“This challenge will give life to the careers of many musicians across Africa and create opportunities where there were none before. We are looking forward to a bigger and better season 2 in 2022 and beyond,” he said.
During the grand finale streamed live on Zoom, Head Of Global Touring Operations/ Beyoncé / Jay-Z OTR II, Allan Floyd commented;
“Africa is immensely talented in music. I would urge artists to collaborate with others in different countries even if it is within Africa, as this would help grow them beyond their border.”
Floyd however urged them to step outside their comfort zone and aim for the international market. Oliver the Poet walks away with US$1000.00, an iPhone 12 Pro, an AMC winner trophy, a vintage AMC 2021 T-shirt, a recording deal with ASVG and Partners. His song will also be featured as the ‘theme song’ for the Africa Empire Warrior Sportainment Series.
Source: http://www.sundaystandard.info/oliver-crowned-africa-music-challenge-season-1-winner/
