Afua Asantewaa Owusu Aduonum of Ghana is aiming to break four more records with her 126 hours and 52 minutes of singing marathon endeavor, which she attempted to set in December 2023.
Asantewaa Aduonum’s team submitted documentation of the attempt to the Guinness World Records last Saturday for the requisite examination and confirmation of the record following an absorbing attempt across five days.
She did, however, tell the Daily Graphic that the team would also be applying for other records, such as the longest-running musical event in Ghana and Africa, the first musical show to draw eight DJs for a continuous performance over five days, and the first female to attempt a singing marathon, in addition to the record for singing.
“I think the current attempt I did captures four records, but many haven’t paid attention.
“There are many records that I have broken, but you have to apply for them separately.
Currently, we are doing for the longest singing marathon, but it applies for four or five records on their platforms.
“We have submitted the current one, but we are now going to look into the others.
We will submit them separately,” she said.
Following the December 24-29 singing marathon, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture named Mrs. Owusu Aduonum, Chief Executive Officer of ASKOF Productions Limited, the organizers of the Ghana Outstanding Women Awards, Miss Kidi Ghana, Teen Queen Ghana, and Pose for Africa, a Tourism Ambassador.
As she made the bold endeavor at the Akwaaba Village at the Accra International Airport, she attracted the Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and a number of celebrities and media figures who in person showed their support. In fact, the event had the entire country enthralled.
Read also:Ras Kuuku’s Puomfest comes off tomorrow
Team
Throughout the day and night, Asantewaa Aduonum maintained vigil, involving eight disc jockeys (DJs), twenty medical personnel, a vocal coach, a team of timers, attorneys, and personal aides.
Asantewaa Aduonum, however, disclosed that her team had harbored concerns on the second day of the effort since she had trouble speaking, raising doubts about her ability to surpass Indian Sunil Waghmare’s 105-hour record set in 2012 on social media and local entertainment channels.
Her “miraculous recovery” and self-belief, she claimed, were bolstered by various therapies during the breaks. However, it was the growing group of fans who pushed her to attempt a seven-day record until the medical team intervened over seven hours into the sixth day.
Before it was all said and done, she had gone through two successful rehearsals and a nervous third during which she could hardly stay awake.
“It was my biggest fear; whether I could do it without feeling sleepy,” she said.
She said she had considered other Guinness World Record attempts before settling on the sing-a-thon.
Passion
“I remember I chose one record attempt, which was the fastest 100 metres run in heels by a woman.
That was the first record attempt I wanted to take.
Our conversations ended there, but my husband kept saying, “No, no, no, don’t go for that one.”
You therefore know that you hardly ever give up on something you are passionate about.
“I’m a very passionate person, I love music, so I chose the longest singing marathon, and I linked it with the fact that we’ve been hyping Ghanaian music, we’ve been having discussions, debates on how we can put Ghana music on the map, like how the Nigerians were doing.
“So that was my motivation, linking an action to a national agenda, which is to put Ghana music out there and making it fun and entertaining for every Ghanaian to associate with it, basically,” she added.
The sing-a-thon record attempt, the mother of three said, was inspired by Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci, whose successful attempt earlier in 2023 had yielded the longest cooking record of 93 hours and 11 minutes by an individual.
“I love everything women. I don’t know, but that’s what I believe in: supporting women and making sure that we are all elevated one way or the other.
So, I saw what the lady did in Nigeria, and I said that was a great achievement,” she said.
Asantewaa Aduonum said she had been overwhelmed by the public support, with local news channels reporting that the Guinness World Records had received over 350 applications from Ghanaians wanting to attempt different records.
“It was a concert that kept the society together and united. If it has inspired others to attempt other records, I’m happy about it,” she added.
