The next episode of the popular television magazine on the Cable News Network (CNN), African Voices, will be showcasing three beautiful ladies who have carved niches for themselves in the vocal arts.
The three are dance choreographer, actress, creative director and philanthropist from Rwanda, Sherrie Silver; Shifa Amankwah-Gabbey, a spelling bee winner from Ghana and Pretty Yende, a singer from Mpumalanga, South Africa.
The first guest celebrated in the edition is Silver, a 24-year-old beauty, who says she is on “a mission to educate the world about African cultures through the art of dance”. She is the mastermind of American singer Childish Gambino’s provocative video, This is America, which has so far attracted more than 540 million views on YouTube.
Silver has been actively involved in a social media campaign to promote investments among young people in rural Africa.
This week edition of CNN African Voices also celebrates the 13-year-old Shifa Amankwah-Gabbey, the winner of 2018 National Spelling Bee competition in Ghana. It was not a mean feat as she beat over 150 other spellers from various schools across the country to clinch the ultimate prize. She subsequently represented the country in the 91st Scripps Spelling Bee in the United States of America.
The next guest features in the edition is Yende, described as a ‘modern fairy-tale’. Yende was born in 1985 in the small town of Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, South Africa. A soprano, her ascendancy to the top of the opera world is supersonic. She has performed leading roles at international opera houses including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera.
Yende was inspired to learn opera at age 16 after seeing a British Airways TV advertisement that made a heavy impression on her young mind. Afterwards, she enrolled at the South African College of Music from where she graduated cum laude. She also attended the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy.
Television viewers can catch CNN African Voices on DSTV from 9.30 a.m on Friday with repeats on Saturday at 12.30 a.m, 4.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. Other repeat broadcasts come up on Sunday, 5.00 a.m., 9.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. with more repeats on Monday and Tuesday at 5.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. respectively.