Africa.com Launches Weekly Music Contest 'Africa.com TOP 20'

Former Goldman Sachs Exec Teresa Clarke Appeals to Global On-Line Music Audience

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Mar 15, 2010, 11:38 ET

NEW YORK, March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly re-launched on-line portal to information about all 53 countries on the African continent, Africa.com, is appealing to a global music audience with its new weekly music contest, Africa.com TOP 20. Africa.com's listeners vote for their favorite songs and send in new ones. The results are posted every Monday at 12am EDT.

Said Africa.com Chairman and CEO, Teresa Clarke, "Our goal is to give a taste of home to African ex-pats as well as to give North and South Americans, Europeans and Asians the chance to hear Africa's heart beat just a little louder."

Each week, on-line disc jockey Chaka Ngwenya, born in Zimbabwe, provides the commentary as he counts down the top 20 songs selected by Africa.com's audience. In a weekly blog, music journalist Prudence Chauke, born in South Africa, explains the background and musical influences of the artist whom listeners selected as number one.

In its premiere, Africa.com TOP 20 showcased greats like Salif Keita from Mali and Lucky Dube, a reggae musician from South Africa. Although Yolela by Baaba Maal and Luciano was in the number one spot, on-line listeners had different tastes. Their new number one is Thandiswa Mazwai with "Nizalwa Ngobani (Do You Know Where You Come From?)".

As Prudence Chauke explained, the listeners' choice is from Thandiswa Maswai's 2005 debut album "ZABALAZA" and it layers a string of questions in an attempt to remind the faces of Africa where they come from. The mid-tempo tune is infused by Thandiswa's soulful Xhosa (known as the "click" language) trademark singing, occasionally accompanied by a hint of English. After shooting to fame as part of one of Southern Africa's most legendary groups, Bongo Maffin, Thandiswa has proven to be an important and enduring performer in the South African music scene.

About Africa.com :

Africa.com is a newly launched on-line portal for news, maps, videos, travel, investment and cultural information about all 53 countries on the African continent. Africa.com 's Chairman and CEO, Teresa Clarke, was formerly a managing director with the global investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs.