Rwanda: Alyn Sano readies for The Voice Afrique finals

The Voice Afrique is the African Francophone version of the international reality TV singing contest. The show, which first aired in 2016, seeks to provide a platform for undiscovered singers from 17 French-speaking countries in Africa to showcase their talent. It will reward the winner with a cash prize and production of a debut single and music video.

Sano will compete against Lady Shine (Burkina Faso), Kessi (Togo), Christian Sarr (Chad), Diyane Adams (Senegal), Carina Sen (Benin), Mathilde Toussaint (Benin/Reunion), Myandri (Madagascar), Gyovanni (Benin), Harmonie Tears (Cameroon), Miss Audy (Ivory Coast) and Foganne Atsou (Togo). 

“Being named among the finalists in such a big continental music competition was an honour,” Sano told KT Press. “It is a huge step towards the success of my music career. As much as I believe in my talent, it is the public’s online votes that will determine how far I advance in the contest .”

Musicians Lokua Kanza, Charlotte Dipanda, Hiro and Nayanka Bell have been named as coaches, while RFI Journalist Claudy Siar will host the show.

The first two seasons of The Voice Afrique were produced in South Africa, with Pamela Baketana and Victoire Biaku named winners in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Season 3 was launched in 2019 and later postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show traditionally aired on British pan-African bilingual TV channel VoxAfrica but will now also air on RTI (Ivory Coast), Equinoxe TV (Cameroon), RTS (Senegal) and ORTB (Benin).

Meanwhile, the English version of The Voice premiered in Nigeria in March with musicians Darey, Yemi Alade, Waje and Falz as coaches.