Alyn Sano’s dream to win The Voice Afrique Francophone music contest came to an end last night after she was eliminated from the semi-finals of the contest which saw four contestants progress to the grand finale slated for May 1. The contest, which is in its third edition, resumed on Saturday, April 23, after a year-long hiatus due to the Covid-19 crisis that prompted organisers to shift the music contest to Abidjan following a travel ban imposed on initial host nation, South Africa due to the new coronavirus variant. In a semi-final event held from 9.00 pm GMT at Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire, Abidjan, Sano beautifully performed Whitney Houston’s song “My Love Is Your Love”. Her live performance excited the four-member panel made up of four coaches namely Cameroonian Afro-pop singer Charlotte Dipanda, Congolese singer Lokua Kanza, Franco-Congolese pop singer Hiro Le Coq and French rapper Youssoupha Mabiki who took over Nayanka Bell’s team after the latter pulled out of the panel for her personal reasons. The four coaches train singers from across the continent and occasionally perform with them. Contestants were selected in auditions where the coaches listen to the auditioning contestant without watching them. In the semi-finals, each of the four coaches had three contestants from whom only one was guaranteed a spot in the final. Alyn Sano was the only Rwandan among the 12 finalists who were vying for an accolade of this year’s The Voice Afrique following a great performance during the competition’s battles held in January last year. Sano was part of Team Hiro alongside Miss Auddy and Foganne Atsou but failure to gather enough votes from her supporters ruined Sano’s chances of securing a place in the final which was booked by Foganne. “Thank you for voting! We did not make it to the finals but I am forever grateful for your support,” the singer said after being eliminated from the contest. The four finalists from whom one will take home The Voice Afrique prize in May are Carina Sen, Lady Shine, Gyovanni and Foganne Atsou (Team Hiro). The winner of The Voice Afrique will receive a cash prize (Grand Prix), as well as the release of a debut single and music video.
