TV3 has taken upon itself an uphill task; attempting to be in the
forefront of the quest of re-introduce live band music, especially
among the youth.

In an area of hiplife, that’s a lot to bite. At least, that is what everybody thought.

But, either as a result of the personality of effervescent Kwasi Kyei Darkwa or the format (a competition), the station’s latest programme, BANDS ALIVE, aired on Fridays at 8.30 p.m., is fast turning into a must — watch. The youth are watching. The programme entered its fifth week yesterday, Friday.

Perhaps another reason for the rising popularity is the opportunity given to viewers to watch live rehearsals of the competing bands on Tuesdays from 3.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 2.30 p.m. to 3.30p.m.

Mr George Arcton-Tettey, Manager, Production Services of GAMA Film Company, said the programme is a joint production between GAMA Films and TV3 which are sister companies.

He said BANDS ALIVE is a competition aimed at reviving live band music especially within the youth so that what we have had over the years would not be lost completely, considering the current upsurge of hiplife and other forms of music which really do not need much handling of musical instruments.

Mr Arcton-Tettey said it is the hope of the station that the bands would stick together after the competition to be able to produce very good music for the patrons and thereby creating employment for themselves as well.

At the auditioning stage there were 50 bands, out of which 12 were selected to compete.

Asked how eviction is done, Mr Arcton-Tettey said the bands are tasked to do so many things and as they perform, the judges look out for the "Total Band", thus a band which plays together.

"We look out for the band that has every team member — the vocalists and the instrumentalists — all playing their part well and come out as one unit sound," he said.

There are two permanent judges and one guest judge for every live show. The permanent judges are Rex Omar and Mac Tonto of Osibisa Fame. The guest judges who have been involved so far are Mrs Diana Hopson, president of MUSIGA and Mr Isaac Amoo, conductor, national symphony orchestra.

Eviction is done by 30 per cent marks awarded by judges and 70 per cent by texts received from viewers.

According to Mr Arcton-Tettey, it is expected that viewers watching the programme will select the band they think is performing best.

He said for the sake of maintaining standards, TV3 has a permanent set of instruments which all competing bands use.

At the end of the competition, the bands that would be adjudged first and second best would receive a full set of musical instruments plus cash each, while the third and fourth would be given cash prizes.

The rest of the eight bands who took part in the competition would also receive cash consolation prizes.

Response to this maiden edition of Bands Alive is very encouraging as the studio is always full, while viewers also keep texting in for their favourite bands.

MTN is the main sponsor of Bands Alive.