Popular music impresario, Cobhams Asuquo has described MTN Project Fame as West Africa’s foremost music talent hunt competition.

According to the Cross River State born musician, songwriter and producer, “There’s a rigour and attention to detail in Project Fame that you can’t find in other talent hunt competitions. Beyond the glitz and razzmatazz that we see on television, Project Fame is a serious platform that is focused on bringing through the next generation of Nigerian music talents.

“Everybody involved in the show,” he continued, “from the judges to the faculty members and even the backroom crew tries to keep that in perspective and that’s why MTN Project Fame is the biggest musical show across West Africa.”

Cobhmas, also expressed optimism that this year’s edition will not only feature the best of upcoming musical talents in West Africa but also produce the next batch of music superstars. In his words: “We are happy that Project Fame has been able to produce the likes of the Iyanyas, Chidinmas, Praiz and others but now we are looking for the next batch of music superstars. Given the quality of talents we have seen so far at the auditions, I can assure the followers of the show that we will have a thrilling and exciting competition this year.”

Speaking on the quality of judges during the audition, Cobhmas added that the panel of judges featured some of the biggest and most experienced stakeholders in the music industry.

“One of the selling points of this competition is the quality of the judges,” he said. “We’ve had notable people from the music industry – Tee-Y Mix, Shola Allyson, Gloria Rhodes, Blackky and Ade Bantu, Dupe Ige. We also had Matilda Duncan, GospelonDaBeat and others. With such an impressive lineup of judges, the audience can be assured of an unforgettable experience in MTN Project Fame this year.”

Now in its eighth season, the MTN Project Fame auditions were recently held across Nigeria in Port Harcout, Abuja, Ibadan and Lagos, while the Ghana auditions was held in Accra.

The next stage of auditions will see all regional finalists go head-to-head to determine who goes into the Project Fame Academy.

The winner of this eighth edition of MTN Project Fame will walk away with a brand new SUV, a recording contract worth millions of Naira and N5 million in cash. The first runner up will get a saloon car and N3 million in cash. The second runner up will also drive away a brand new saloon car along with N1 million in cash, while the third runner up gets N1 million in cash.