In the series of the Stars of the Future since its inception some years back, one contestant has always stand out as the ‘Show Stopper’ in each year of the competition. This year’s show stopper which the judges concurred was a man with a girlish mannerism; Emmanuel Yawson.

If I was a gambler and had gone ahead to use my lifetime savings to place a bet on him to win the ultimate, I would have become a millionaire now. After witnessing the launch of SOF 5 at the GhOne Studios several months back, I knew and it was very glaring that Emmanuel Yawson was the favourite to win this year’s competition. Aside his ‘gay’ mannerism, he had something that most of the contestants didn’t have.

He is such a great singer. He has the right attitude, good gestures and good stage presence. He is an entertainer as well as a performer. During the launch, the contestants performed R. Kelly’s ‘World Greatest’, Emmanuel on his turn made the needed impression that one needed to commence such a competition.

On the road to the grand finale, the following contestants were evicted from the competition; Abigail Bih, Asantewaah Essel, David De-Graft Crentsil, Elizabeth Joseph, Grace Ocansey, Henry Nuamah, Rauhel Halidou Yacouba and Reynolds Kwame Addow to make way for the remaining 4 finalist Emmanuel Yawson,, Daniella Dankwah-Coffie, Wiyaala Noela and Kwame Wiredu to battle each other for the grand prize.

The four opened the night with ‘Sign of Victory’ a song composed by R. Kelly for the World Cup in South Africa. Bertha, winner of the season four of the same competition was next, she performed ‘I’m A Star’, a song she performed to win the crown in 2009. She did another song of hers.

Now, the stage was set for the contestants to convince the judges why each of them deserves to win the competition and hoping the votes comes in to aid them win eventually. 19 years old Daniella officially opened the contest. She performed Beyonce Knowles’ ‘Halo’. She made the needed impression, the judges couldn’t agree more. They were impressed.

Second contestant to perform was 1987 born Emmanuel Yawson. He performed a rendition of Enrique Iglesias’ ‘Hero’. After this performance, it was obvious; Emmanuel had sent a strong signal of his readiness to win the competition. He relied heavily on his powerful voice, his creativity and command on stage. He received a standing ovation, when he sang the lyrics of the song in ‘Twi’ and in pidgin.

Sitting close to the judges, I overheard one of them say to the rest “This guy has raised the bar”. The judges were bereft of words to describe his performance. They agreed it was a winning performance. One could see the admiration on their faces as they utter those words.

If you are superstitious, you can say Emmanuel’s superb performance casted a spell on the next contestant Kwame, whose performance was nothing to write home about as he did Chris Brown’s ‘Crawl’. His performance was the weakest on the night and most people wondered how he managed to get to the finals.

If thunderous applauses and noise was something used to determine the winner, Kwame would have won. Though his vocal abilities cannot be contested, he failed to live up to the expectation. It wasn’t so clear what was worrying him but he looked nervous and tensed up.

The twenty five years old student of the Accra based Zenith University College disappointed hundreds of fans who had besieged the venue to support him. He was next to boring. He made the judges’ job easy as they made him know how badly and boring his performance was. It was hell sitting through the entire duration to listen to him.

Followed after Kwame’s abysmal performance was that of twenty two year old Wiyaala Noella who is a former footballer from Upper West Region. He performed the official World Cup 2010 song, ‘Waka Waka’ by Columbia singer Shakira. Yes, it was a party song but some songs are not cut for competitions and that song is an example. In as much as she performed well, the song didn’t bring out her vocal abilities. One of the judges pointed this boldly to her face.

Noella’s performance means, the competition was between her, Daniella and Emmanuel. Kwame needed to redeem himself in the second round if he is to win the competition or get a respectable position.

He failed again to convince the judges and his fans when he performed his own song ‘She De Go’ produced by Jayso. Kwame needs to up his game if he wants to be a musician and a song writer.

Noella performed her own song “Yoola”, another song I felt not cut out for a competition.  The song s in her local dialect, though the tempo is too high, it’s not too bad to the ears. It was produced by Appietus.

Daniella on the other hand did ‘Love Note’, produced by Kaywa. It’s a song she wrote shortly after meeting her boyfriend. A song needs to be good to attract someone like Doreen Andoh, Joy FM presenter who promised to have the song on rotation on her show.

“It’s My Time” is the title of Emmanuel’s own song produced by Richie of Lynx Entertainment. The song has a catchy chorus which made it easier for the audience to join him, though it was the first time performing the song.

After the second rounds, Creative Efya, another product of the series mounted the stage and melted the hearts of the audience. She is the only vibrant product of the competition and continues to prove herself whenever she performs. She was on point and her creativity was at its peak. She brings one thing in mind; originality pays.

Emmanuel Yawon was deservedly crowned shortly as the winner of the Stars of the Future season 5 by MC Sedem Ofori with Daniella Dankwah-Coffie, Wiyaala Noela and Kwame Wiredu placing second, third and fourth respectively.

The contestants were judged by Joy FM presenter Doreen Andoh, music producer Zapp Mallet and CEO of EKB records, Kiki Banson.

D-Cryme, Zigi and Eazzy also treated the audience to some wonderful songs from their respective albums.

By Ebenezer Anangfio Jnr./GhanaCelebrities.Com

 

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