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Ugandan talent Desire Tusiimire has made it to the knockout phase of the Voice Africa competition after defeating Rinah Arifenitra from Madagascar in a duet performance. The ultimate prize for the winner includes $100,000, Airtel swag, and a recording deal with Universal Studios.

Ugandan talent Desire Tusiimire advanced to the knockout phase of the Voice Africa competition after a thrilling performance in the 17th episode that aired on Sunday, June 18 where she battled Rinah Arifenitra from Madagascar.

Desire was able to advance to the knockout phase after beating Madagascar’s Rinah Arifenitra in their duet performance ‘You are beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera. Desire was saved by Coach Awilo.

The Airtel-sponsored competition’s episode from last week included Coach Awilo Logombas’ squad competing against teams from Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Niger, Malawi, and Gabon for a spot in the vocal competition’s next round. Coach Awilo is a well-known and renowned Congolese musician who performs Soukous music in both Africa and Europe. Like the other coaches, he created seven duets and selected a song for each pair to perform as they competed for a position in the elimination round.

Other contests pitted Madagascar’s Fanoela Manantsoa against Congo Brazzaville’s Capricia Koumba, who sang “I Want It That Way” by the Back Street Boys. Coach Awilo selected Manantsoa to move on to the next round.

Kesia Ruth from Malawi was chosen by Rwanda’s Belinda Uwase, who personified the hit song “We Found Love” by Rihanna. Kitary Coulibaly from Niger and Dapo Zaccheus from Nigeria gave performances fit for a “boy band,” but Kitary was spared by Awilo and moved on to the next round. Cilia Jules from Congo Brazzaville won Bessitbaye Togasra following her performance of “Belia” by Gims.

Unfortunately, after performing “Flashlight” by Jesse J, Uganda’s Charles Ssekitoleko lost to Esther Chitheka from Malawi, while Ronny Ssemujju lost to Solene Ada from Gabon following their performance of “Panic! at the Disco.”

In contrast to episode 16, where Coach Yemi Alade saved Rwanda’s Linda Montez from elimination after Coach Locko dropped her, there were no coach rescues in this week’s program, which resulted in 7 talents being eliminated from the competition. In the event that a talent is discarded by their original Coach, coaches have the option of saving it. By giving Ugandan talent a platform to present their skills on a global stage, Airtel as a brand continues to give Ugandans a reason to fantasize.

Sharon Kyolinakyo, another Ugandan, has a chance to make it to the knockout rounds in the upcoming episode because she will be competing against other members of Coach Lady Jaydee’s team. This will be the final round of duet matches before the contestants move on to the elimination rounds and live shows, when the judges’ decisions will be final. This Sunday at 8 p.m., the race for the 100,000 US dollar big prize, Airtel swag, and a recording deal with Universal Studios, the top music producer in the world, continues.