Title sponsors, Vodafone, appear to be full of surprises. First, it was the announcement of an unprecendented grand prize of a Nissan Qashqai SUV and GH¢ 100,000 recording package that go to the ultimate winner of the Vodafone Icons Remix Edition.
Second surprise was the offer of a recording deal for the two runners-up who would emerge at the end of the competition on November 26.
And only last weekend, host Chris Attoh, disclosed on the programme that the top five Icons will be undertaking a tour of Johannesburg, South Afrca.
This was confirmed by Mrs Ruth Maafo, Events and Sponsorship Manager of Vodafone on the fringes of last Wednesday's recording show at the National Theatre.
"The tour has all been arranged", she told this reporter.
" You may already know that as a global brand, Vodafone has always been a pacesetter", she said, raising her voice to be heard over the live music from the loudspeakers.
Mrs Maafo explained that the trip of the top five Icons has been designed as an experiential tour that will enable the young musicians to have a taste of what is best practice in a foreign environment where the music industry is well developed.
She disclosed that while there, they will visit world class studios as well as meet iconic music figures and also look out for collaboration opportunities.
The enhanced prize package of the Vodafone Icons Mixed Edition may or may not be related to the significant impetus that has beeen observed lately in the competition but this writer can mention three developments that suggest that the forte has been raised significantly.
Firstly, last weekend's edition telecast on selected platforms showed how for the second time, the three judges, Gena West, Miss Naa and Manifest, who has just returned from a music related trip to Europe, openly disagreed over which contestant was to be awarded the Best Act prize for the evening.
Torn between Titi, who did a top-notch performance of Bette Midler’s From A Distance and Ratty who did a rap version of Franklin Edwards' You Too Dey Bless, the judges had to vote to break the deadlock in favour of Ratty.
Secondly, throughout the five episodes that have ran so far, no one contestant has been so consistent to win the Best Act prize twice. Each episode has come up with a different winner which demonstrates how uncertain and how competitive the series have been.
Thirdly, this writer has observed that no contestant has been guaranteed a regular place in the upper section of the voter rung. For example, Naya, who won Best Act only a couple of weeks ago, was evicted last weekend. Again, Cina, the darling girl of the judges, found herself in the bottom five last week!
While at it, the costumes that the contestants have been wearing for the show say a good lot about Royal Dennis and Aya Morrison who have been designing their clothes. Not only have the costumes looked well on the young musicians but they have also been very appropriate for the music types that the clothes have been used for week after week.
