The final auditions to select Cape Town’s World Cup emerging stars will take place on Saturday and Sunday 8 and 9 May at the Grand West Arena in Goodwood. Both events start at 09:00 and end at 22:00.

The audition is open to the public, who can view the imbongis, jugglers, magicians, rappers, bands, opera singers, drummers and dancers who have come through the first round of auditions. Entrance is free.

2010 Project Coordinator at the City of Cape Town, Pam Naidoo, says that the audition concert gives finalists the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. “Over the past five weeks approximately 3 000 artists went through a grueling audition process at five venues across the metropole. The aim was to identify Cape Town’s best emerging artists to perform at the City’s official World Cup events from 11 June to 11 July 2010."

“A total of 246 acts, consisting of 1 280 performers have been selected for the final adjudication on Saturday. The successful artists attended a ‘boot camp’ training programme last weekend to polish their skills in choreography, song writing, styling, marketing, and business skills,” she said.

The panel of judges is headed by well-known performing arts developer Kurt Egelhof and includes theatre experts such as Theo Ndindwa, Thoko Ntshinga, Marianne Thamm, Lara Bye and Philip de Villiers. The Western Cape Musicians’ Association (WCMA) is also represented, while the Performing Arts Network of South Africa (PANSA) has been appointed by the City to manage the process.

“The final round of auditions this weekend offers Capetonians a unique opportunity to support the best new talent that will be selected to perform at the Fan Fest, the four World Cup Public Viewing Areas (PVAs) and the fan walk. It will also assist in building excitement for a soccer extravaganza – the likes of which have never seen before,” says Naidoo.

This production is a partnership between the City and Grand West Entertainment World which, together with Worldsport, will be staging the City’s 2010 Fan Fest. This process is also part of the City’s socio-economic legacy plan which promotes skills-development, shaping the creativity of local residents, and the establishment of income-generating opportunities.