Joe Kellz Sunday night elevated the country’s flag when he was crowned the winner of My Booth reality show season one in Lusaka, Zambia.
The former Zathu Band member nearly shed tears of joy when one of the judges, Sokwani Chilembo, popularly known as Soxx, declared that Joe Kellz was the winner, beating Zambia’s Evans Ndalama, who was the runner-up.
Joe Kellz and Ndalama were the remaining top two from the five finalists that included another of the country’s representatives Chisomo Chimoto, Roy-The Songster from Zambia and Kudzie from Zimbabwe, who earned a spot for his nation following a wild card.
Despite kicking off the competition involving three countries, namely Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, slowly, Joe Kellz improved with every episode and went on to pan out outstanding performances to finish the race on a high.
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Beamed on DStv on Power TV and GOtv since May, the Lilongwe-based artist won the hearts of the judges and people to come out top during the grand finale and claim $10,000 and $50,000 recording deal courtesy of Elation Entertainment, which is the pan African label behind the signature of the country’s celebrated musician Patience Namadingo, who was also one of the judges.
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The grand finale yesterday started with the finalists, backed by a band that also featured talents from the three countries including Malawi’s keyboardist Chisomo Ngondo, performing a song live together led by Joe Kellz and Chisomo.
The finalists then went into individual performances where they dished out covers with Joe Kellz offering late George Mkandawire’s ‘Thanthwe’ while Chisomo went for Lawi’s song.
Their second outing were their own compositions with Joe Kellz presenting ‘Viduswa’ while Chisomo performed ‘Dekhani’.
Earlier before the contestants’ second showdowns, the audience was treated to surprise performances from judges Maureen Lilanda and Namadingo.
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After the performances from the finalists, it was time for evictions which started with Roy-The Songster followed by Kudzie and then Chisomo, who was the only female contestant to make it to the grand finale.
A strong contender to win the contest, having opened the chapter in the competition well, Chisomo, a sister to renowned musician Skeffa, saw her journey come to an end with Lilanda praising her for giving out exceptional performances but that she was let down by a lethargic act during the grand finale.
However, some of the people objected to her eviction as they settled for her to go all the way.
“I wanted to win the money, that was my target but I am happy that a fellow Malawian has won,” she said.
Joe Kellz and Ndalama, who performed as a duet during one of the episodes drilled by Lilanda, went on to make the top two before the Malawian star was announced winner.
“I am happy that I have made my country proud and I am looking forward to bringing out more, in terms of good music,” he said.
On what he will do with $10,000, the youthful artist said: “I am a family man and, so, I will have to use it by sorting out a few things.”
He said despite the contest being hectic, he learned a lot and attributed his slow start to it being the first time to participate in a competition.
Ndalama said he was disappointed to miss the prize.
“It has been a great experience and congratulations to Joe Kellz,” he said.
Chilembo, who is Elation Entertainment Chief Executive Officer, said they were happy that finally they have a regional star.
“We enjoyed 15 weeks of great music and talents from the three countries, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. It was not easy to come up with the winner but, at the end of it all, it came down to how the finalists carried and packaged themselves tonight,” he said.
Chilembo said next up would be the second season and also hinted that they would be releasing My Booth volume under Elation Entertainment for people to sample music from the finalists and other contestants.
The night also saw James Sakala, who mentored the contestants, perform as well as one of the evicted contestants Rock Peter.
Fifteen contestants, five each from the three countries, kicked off the competition in May, sharing one house, one band and one microphone.
