A Lesson from the CBZ A Academy

A Academy judges 2008

When I walked into the HICC at around 1100hrs on Saturday (4th October 2008) the first sight that caught my eye was a teenage girl sitting on one of the sofas in the foyer, her head buried in her hands, sobbing loudly. I immediately understood.

She had wanted to make it through to the next round of A Academy but had been unsuccessful.

^ The judges Albert Nyathi, Imelda Mahaka, Willis Wa-Taffy (all this time I thought it was Wataffibut someone told me it was spelt that way. Thanks Sharon- I hope you’re right because ka…) and Admire Taderera

A hopeful A Academy contestant

She was one of hundreds who turned up that day to have a go at going through to the next stage. After talking to a few people I was permitted into the audition room to take some photos.

Singing for glory

One by one, I saw young people come in get told by the judges that they were just not up to scratch.

But what really got my attention was that so many of them- after waiting for so long (one guy told me he had waited for five hours) to get their turn- would come into the room almost energyles, seeming very unexcited about the process and unphased. Yes, many of them were understandably nervous, but the jitters are one thing- lack of passion is another.

I couldn’t help thinking that this was VERY bad for business. One young man came in with lots of energy and I could tell that even before he started singing, the judges had warmed up to him. He greeted them cheerfully, cracked a joke and then began to sing. Whether or not he made it through is not the point. I was struck by his demeanour.

Waiting their turn