With the VOC Family Day at Ratanga Junction little over a month away, the station has launched an exciting new initiative that will lead up to the showpiece event. Amongst the star attractions of the Family Day will be a Nasheed competition, and in a bid to further promote the event, VOC will be running a unique mentoring initiative to help prepare competitors. Over the course of the next few weeks, four established Nasheed groups will mentor a select group of up-and-coming artists, who will showcase their talent on the VOC airwaves as well as on the big day itself.

The VOC Talent Search Competition will see competitors featured during a weekly segment on VOC Showtime every Saturday night, where they will hone their skills whilst also providing entertainment for the listeners. Amongst the mentor groups that will train them are Khaddaamul Islam, Nurul Qulb, Al Azhar Girls, as well as Boland based Sowtoe Asbaab. The final round of the competition will take place live at the Family Day.

Applications for the talent search are currently open, and those wishing to participate may submit a three minute audition clip to VOC producer and presenter, Yusuf Mallie at yusufm@vocfm.co.za. Alternatively the audition tapes can be brought directly to the VOC studios at 1 Queenspark Ave, Salt River. Entries must be accompanied by the relevant details of the participant/s, and must state whether they will be entering as a solo, duo or group act.

With a limit of only 20 applicants, entrants will be limited to amateur acts. Depending on the response to the competition, entries may be opened to established groups at a later stage.

“We will gaze the quality of the entrants before we make a decision to include any established groups. There will be a window available to have established groups, but as yet we are not going to accept them,” said Mallie.

The winning act, as well as the chosen participants will be in live to win some exciting prizes.

“We will have something special, but I can’t let the cat out of the bag. Contracts and maybe CDs, but it is something very special for them,” he suggested.

To experience the competition live, community members are encouraged to buy tickets for the VOC Family Day at Ratanga on the 25th January, which can be acquired at the VOC studios.

For more information contact the station at 021 442 3500. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)