art-ist Lize after Song Night
F
or Song Night’s final trick, Lize Ehlers invites fans and former Song Night singers into her beautiful home. It’s one of those delightful days where the sky hangs heavy, grey, teasing much needed rain as Lize tries to predict the future.
The rain came, mingling with the tears of the platform’s artists and ardent audience and though the farewell was bittersweet, 10 years of “nurturing the Namibian sound” is nothing to sniff at.
“We put the whole house outside and inside five times because we thought it would rain,” says the award-winning singer, actress and playwright, gorgeous in a floral blazer and sheer black number at Livega, a low-key and stylish eatery on Luther Street.
Founded in 2011 by a then 22-year-old Lize, Song Night was created in the mould of platforms like Free Your Mind Comedy and Spoken Word. Singers of various levels were invited to audition. Each singer would need to undergo a little voice training before revelling in the thrill of singing, mostly covers, to a paying audience.
As she sips serenely on a tumbler of freshly-squeezed carrot juice, Lize can’t quite believe Song Night’s last show is behind her.
Back then, Lize didn’t know of many regularly performing live music stars beyond Erna Chimu and Ras Sheehama and wanted to see who was waiting in the wings.
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