NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 22 - The third edition of East Africa music reality show ‘Tusker Project Fame’ starts on March 17 and this time Rwanda and Burundi will be taking part.

The dramatic battle of talent and intrigue, says Tusker Regional Manager Carol Ndungu, will be a six month contest to search for the best musical faculty in the region.

“This time we are looking to the larger East African region as we know it, so we will be looking into how we can get artists from those countries (Burundi, Rwanda) to participate in TPF, opening up the opportunities that Tusker presents,” she said.

“At this stage we are not clear on how that will manifest whether we will go there for auditions or whether we will invite them to attend an audition in a place near them,” the Tusker Manager enthused.

Contestants who pass the auditions will be short listed in readiness for the Tusker Project Fame (TPF) Academy. These, Ms Ndungu said, would be 30 housemates in a music school.

The show is being produced by Endemol East Africa on behalf of East African Breweries Limited.

“We are going to be investing over Sh300 million in Tusker Project Fame 3 - that is in the East Africa region -, and the commitment that we have got from Endemol is that they will have 95 percent local crew. The reason that is important is that we want to transfer technology and creative capacity from the Endemol world into our people here.”

Ms Ndungu said the winner of the event would walk away with Sh5 million, plus a recording contract from South African music company Gallo Records.

Meanwhile, the shows organisers said that last year’s winner Ugandan Esther Nabaasa was working on her debut album contrary to media reports that she’d walked out on a recording contract.

Ugandan media had reported that Ms Nabaasa had cancelled studio plans to first settle family issues, and that she’d planned to use her money to start a recording studio.

Ms Ndungu however said that Ms Nabaasa was in South Africa where she was working with her producers to ‘try and find herself in the music world’.

“She is currently recording in SA with Gallo records after signing her record deal in July last year, but between then and now she had been writing her music. So that she can be clear on what she wants to write, which direction she wants to go, who does she want to co-produce with; so that took a bit of time.”