Can Angel survive the TPF axe?

Her survival on the show will depend on votes cast by her fans from across the region

It is the third week since Tusker Project Fame Season 6 kicked off at the academy in Nairobi and some local fans’ worst fears finally kicked in after Angel was sent on probation.

This was despite the fact that she had put in a great performance that got the audience rocking with her silky vocals and charm.

Prior to that the first axe had already been swung after Kenya’s Mishel and the Under Cover Brothers became the first victims of the eviction.

The evictees went on to perform their last gigs with Mishel singing ‘L.O.V.E’ by Monique and the Under Cover Brothers singing ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ by Big Mountain as they bid farewell to the region.

And such moments of exasperation have become one too many for an average Tanzanian viewer who has watched the show for the last seven seasons.

As Angel began her quest for votes across the region to keep her in the Academy, there was perhaps one thing that has characterised Tanzanian contestants in the recent past.

On many occasions save for Msechu and Hemed, whoever was put on probation earned their immediate ticket home on the same week, the votes just didn’t add up!

The fact as statistics showed then was that Tanzanian fans just didn’t cast enough votes to keep their representatives in the contest, and even for the likes of Msechu and Hemed who survived, mainly made it  out of sympathy votes from elsewhere.

The question that many were left asking was whether Angel has what it takes to stay in the Academy in terms of talent.

The answer is obviously in the affirmative; Angel has the talent as she has already exhibited from the auditions through to her performances at the Academy so far show she has what it takes.

And as she put it in her own words: I have got 99 per cent chances of winning this contest because I am dynamic and I am open to learning.

These might have seemed to be very empty promises when she made them, but the ability she exhibited when she took on Adele’s Don’t You Remember was testimony of her versatility.

There was always going to be a danger in trying to cross through such a territory that not many have dared, and at the end of the day may be it proved to be her major undoing.

Talent search shows are won on different reasons; in fact some say looks contribute a great percentage to why fans have an affiliation with a particular contestant.

For example in 2010, during TPF4, Rwanda’s Gael stayed in the contest to the very last moment despite the fact that judges, especially Ian Mbugua, thought she didn’t deserve to be there.

The audience was just so much in love with her, therefore, they kept her going even with endless probation stints, her glowing beauty and charm were bewitching the fans such that they just couldn’t let her go.

It is in this vein that pundits think Angel who has a cover girl posture still has the chance to survive and stay on longer.  On Sunday night, spotting a red satin peplum dress highlighted with a matching kitenge waistband that accentuated her curves, she was quite at ease on the eyes even as she was being sent into ‘purgatory’.

Though this might sound like a cheap and simplistic bargain; however, as we all know in the world of showbiz where image matters, you are better off with a stunning celebrity than a dull one.

As Angel works on finding her perfect voice as advised by principal Eric Wainaina and Judge Hermes, it remains an open secret that she has to be kept in the contest by Tanzanian voters after the other two fell along the way.