Saturday 7^th May 2011 saw the residents of Nyeri treated to a rare occurrence, when the  lawns of Green Hills Hotel played host to the auditions of the first ever gospel reality show. Crowds thronged the well –trimmed lawns as they filled the air with gospel tunes rehearsing before going in for the auditions .The participants, drawn from across all age brackets exuded confidence in their abilities.

The show dubbed Exodus to Stardom is the first of its kind in Africa and is expected to air on KBC Television starting June this year running for thirteen episodes. The qualifying contestants who will be picked from all over the country will be housed in an academy where they will be trained on music skills, voice coaching among others .Nyeri was the first town to host the auditions and they will later head to Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu and Nairobi. Once the contestants get through the academy the winner will walk away with a Nissan X-trail brand new vehicle. A music recording deal will be among other benefits that the winners will get. Among the contestants who qualified to join the next level are Mike Murimi, Steve Njoroge, Grace Mwai and a host of other talented upcoming gospel artistes.

The worthy venture is a partnership between KBC Television, Lampstand Records and Amplify Limited, the latter being the event managing company.Nyerionline.com managed to speak to some of the organizers like Rufftone of the mwikulu fame and also the C.E.O of Lamp stand Records and Joe the C.E.O  of Amplify Limited who both exuded confidence in the maiden show and promised the viewers a great show ahead.

By Isaac Mwangi.