By Ishmael Sallieu Koroma
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leonean gospel recording artist Midas Max-Conton, popularly known as King Midas, has launched a singing challenge aimed at giving aspiring vocalists an opportunity to showcase their talent, reach wider audiences and compete for cash prizes.
The King Midas Singing Challenge, which began on August 26, will run until October 26, 2026.
Participants are invited to choose between two of King Midas’ songs — “Nothing Without You,” featuring TJ Onoja, and “Overcomer,” featuring Wiseonejoe — and submit their own interpretations of either song.
The winner will receive $150, while the second- and third-place contestants will receive $100 and $50, respectively.
Beyond the cash prizes, however, the initiative represents something larger: an effort by an artist whose own journey into music was unexpected to create an opportunity for other emerging voices to be heard.
A journey that began behind the microphone
Before becoming known as King Midas, Max-Conton had already built a background in communication, broadcasting and community engagement.
He studied Mass Communications at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, graduating with first-class honours, before pursuing a career in broadcasting.
His media journey included working with Cotton Tree News and Radio Mount Aureol FM 107.3, experiences that helped shape his understanding of communication and the power of the human voice to inform, educate and connect communities.
He later worked as a continuity announcer at Radio Maria FM 101.1, where his voice became familiar to radio audiences.
But Max-Conton’s engagement with communities extended beyond the newsroom and radio studio.
He also served as a Volunteer Peer Educator with Restless Development Sierra Leone in Masumana Village, Tonkolili District, contributing to community-based engagement and youth-focused development initiatives.
Those experiences — from working in the media to engaging communities at the grassroots level — formed part of a journey centred on communication and service long before music became his public calling.
A different chapter behind the microphone
Max-Conton’s journey into gospel music was not originally part of his career plans.
While broadcasting and communication occupied much of his professional life, his relationship with music had begun much earlier through church choirs, worship and family devotion.
The decision to begin recording professionally came unexpectedly.
In an earlier interview with Pan African Visions, Max-Conton explained that his first songs emerged during deeply personal moments of prayer and worship. He said he began singing while worshipping and immediately recorded the songs on his phone.
“There was no challenge in creating both songs. In fact, both songs were birthed in prayer.”
One of those songs became “Nothing Without You,” his debut single.
Nigerian gospel producer and minister Pastor Timothy Joseph Onoja subsequently produced the track and collaborated with him on the song.
His second single, “I Will Pray,” continued in the same faith-centred direction.
What began as private moments of worship gradually developed into a public musical ministry.
Turning an unexpected calling into music
For Max-Conton, the transition from broadcasting to gospel music has represented more than simply changing careers.
Both paths, in different ways, have been about communication.
In broadcasting, his voice helped connect audiences with information, programmes and stories. Through gospel music, he now uses that same instrument to communicate messages of faith, hope and spiritual encouragement.
He has described music as a platform for sharing what he believes to be God’s word with others.
His transition into the music industry has not been without challenges.
In his earlier interview, he spoke about the financial demands of studio production, promotion and social-media engagement, as well as the difficulty of building an audience when an artist is not already known as a singer.
For many emerging musicians, these obstacles remain familiar.
Recording music requires resources. Promoting it requires networks. And reaching audiences can often depend on access to platforms that are not equally available to everyone.
It is against this background that the new singing challenge takes on greater significance.
An opportunity for emerging singers
Rather than keeping the spotlight solely on his own music, King Midas is inviting other singers to interpret his songs and place their voices before a wider audience.
The competition reflects the growing role of digital and social-media platforms in discovering and promoting new musical talent.
For singers who may not have access to professional recording studios, established record labels or major promotional networks, online platforms can provide an accessible opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.
The King Midas Singing Challenge gives contestants a specific repertoire to work with while allowing them to bring their own voices, styles and interpretations to the music.
The prize structure is straightforward:
- First Place: $150
- Second Place: $100
- Third Place: $50
But the value of the competition may extend beyond the money.
For an emerging singer, participation can provide exposure, build confidence and create an opportunity to be discovered by audiences beyond their immediate communities.
A performance shared online can travel far beyond the place where it was recorded.
For young and aspiring artists, that possibility can sometimes be the beginning of a much larger journey.
From announcing voices to creating a platform
There is a notable connection between Max-Conton’s past and his present.
For years, his voice was used in broadcasting to introduce programmes, communicate information and connect audiences with other people’s stories and work.
Today, his voice carries his own music.
And through the singing challenge, he is now helping create space for other voices to emerge.
His earlier experience as a peer educator with Restless Development Sierra Leone also reflects a similar commitment to engaging and empowering people at the community level.
Whether through broadcasting, community work or music, communication has remained a central thread running through his journey.
His own entry into music did not come through a traditional music-industry launch.
There was no established recording career waiting for him when he first began singing songs that came to him during moments of prayer.
Instead, there was worship, a phone, a microphone and a growing conviction that the songs had a purpose.
What began privately eventually became public.
And now, several years into his musical journey, King Midas is opening another door — this time for aspiring singers who may be waiting for an opportunity to be heard.
The challenge also gives his selected songs a life beyond their original recordings, allowing different singers to reinterpret them, bring their own styles to the music and introduce the songs to new audiences.
For an artist whose own journey into gospel music began unexpectedly, the decision to create a platform for others represents a natural extension of that story.
From the radio studio to the recording studio, from community engagement in rural Tonkolili to a growing gospel music platform, Max-Conton’s journey has been defined by the power of voice.
Today, as King Midas, he is using that platform not only to sing — but to invite others to sing too.
The King Midas Singing Challenge runs from August 26 to October 26, 2026, with winners set to receive cash prizes for their performances.
For aspiring singers across Sierra Leone and beyond, the message is simple: the platform is open, and a new voice could be the next one heard.
