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Seven Heello contestants lined up on the Astaan TV stage beside a host holding a purple Astaan microphone, with a conga drummer seated at the left and contestant portrait cards on the screens behind them

Astaan TV·Tartanka Heesaha ee

HEELLO

2021Talent Competition

A music competition created to discover, promote, and showcase emerging Somali artistic talent — more than 20 singers, ten head-to-head rounds, and an audience that decided the outcome.

Year

2021

Participants

20+ singers

Platform

YouTube & Facebook

Voting

3 days per round

01

Overview

Heello Talent Competition was a music competition created to discover, promote, and showcase emerging Somali artistic talent. The competition brought together more than 20 singers, giving them an opportunity to compete through performances of classic Somali songs and connect with audiences through social media voting.

The competition was published on YouTube in November 2021, with audience engagement and voting taking place through Facebook.

Contestant in a black shirt singing into a purple Astaan microphone in front of a red Tartanka Heesaha stage banner
Heello Talent Competition · Astaan TV02

02

Competition Format

The artists competed head-to-head in individual musical rounds. Each matchup featured two singers performing a selected Somali song, after which the audience participated in the outcome through Facebook voting over a three-day period.

The competition featured the following matchups

  1. 01Qeys Xasan vs. Falis Nuur
  2. 02Asli Axmed vs. Daa’uud Yuusuf
  3. 03Ilhaan Maxamed vs. Cabbaas Cabdi
  4. 04Ismaciil Nuur vs. Ifraax Xuseen
  5. 05Maxamed Xasan vs. Yaasiin Xasan
  6. 06Xuseen Aadan vs. Mowliid Aadan
  7. 07Nasiib Cali vs. Farxiyo Xasan
  8. 08Aadan Xuseen vs. Cabdi Maxamuud
  9. 09Mahad Cali vs. Yusuf Aaan
  10. 10C/fitaax Qorane vs. C/casiis Maxamed

The competition ultimately produced a winner, with Ismaciil Nuur emerging as the winner.

Heello Talent Competition · Astaan TV03

03

Audience Engagement

A key element of the Heello competition was its use of social media as part of the talent-discovery and audience-engagement process.

Rather than relying solely on a traditional judging panel, the format allowed audiences to participate by voting for their preferred performer. The three-day Facebook voting period helped generate public interest, interaction, and visibility for the participating artists.

This approach demonstrated how digital platforms could be integrated into Somali entertainment programming to:

Audience member in a gold hijab speaking into a purple Astaan microphone from the studio seats
Audience voices in the studio

01

Discover emerging artists

02

Give young performers a public platform

03

Engage audiences directly

04

Promote Somali music and heritage

05

Build online communities around entertainment content

06

Generate measurable audience participation

Elderly audience member in an embroidered cap speaking into a purple Astaan microphone from an orange-branded studio seat among the crowd
Wide studio view over audience silhouettes toward the stage screen showing contestant portrait cards on a blue graphic
Heello Talent Competition · Astaan TV04

Facebook vote · 3 days

Natiijada
Tartanka Heello

Xarir Xasan12%
Mahad Cali21%
Xusen Aadan15%
Ismaaciil Nuur56%
Presenters on the dark stage beside the big screen showing the Natiijada Tartanka Heello results graphic with four hexagonal contestant portraits and their vote percentages

04

Digital Publication

The Heello Talent Competition was published on YouTube in November 2021, extending the life of the competition beyond the original broadcast and social-media cycle.

The YouTube publication also created a permanent digital archive of the performances and allowed the participating artists to reach audiences beyond the immediate competition.

The Heello winner raising an arm while receiving the orange $700 prize card from an elder guest in front of the Natiijada Tartanka Heello results screen
The winning result revealed on stage
Heello Talent Competition · Astaan TV05
Ismaciil Nuur raising his arm in celebration while holding the orange $700 prize card in front of the Natiijada Tartanka Heello results screen
A woman in a red hijab holding a gold star trophy in front of a hand-painted Heello 2021 mural backdrop

05

Winner

Ismaciil Nuur — Winner of the Heello Talent Competition

The competition provided Ismaciil Nuur and the other participating artists with valuable exposure and helped demonstrate the potential of digital media as a platform for discovering and promoting Somali musical talent.

Significance

The Heello Talent Competition represents an early example of combining music, talent discovery, audience participation, and digital media in Somalia.

With more than 20 singers participating, the project went beyond a conventional music performance program. It created a competitive platform where emerging artists could showcase their voices, audiences could influence results, and Somali musical heritage could be presented to a wider digital audience.

Three Heello finalists lined up on the dark stage holding orange $300, $700 and $500 prize cards in front of the results screen

Year

2021

Publication

November 2021

Platform

YouTube & Facebook

Participants

20+ singers

Voting period

3 days per round

Winner

Ismaciil Nuur

Format

Head-to-head musical competition

Focus

Talent discovery, Somali music

Heello Talent Competition · Astaan TV06

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