Semi-acoustic showdown: Top 14 face judges

Season 5 of the annual Next Ma
 /Gaisa Star competition is officially underway – and the stakes have never been higher.

Hosted by SAN Welwitschia Music Productions (WMP), Namibia’s favourite talent search recently brought 14 contestants to Studio 4 at NBC TV for the intense semi-acoustic round.

The round usually consists of 16 contestants, but this time two of them absconded and were subsequently disqualified.

This was the first time in months the contestants were performing live in front of the judges. No more video auditions. No more hiding behind a screen.