IT will get tougher — that was the message from the judges to the 12 participants that advanced from the second elimination round of the Na Domo singing competition on Tuesday night at Downtown Boulevard in Suva.
Fifteen participants vied for the 12 spots and two soloists and one group had to be dropped.
"The level of competition is really high now, the participants know that semi finals is just one elimination round away," competition co-ordinator, Epi Fong said.
One of the solo acts did not show up on Tuesday night and was automatically booted out of the competition.
"It will only get tougher from now. The judges are getting very particular with what they want seen and heard. There will no longer be easy songs, the judges will put in harder songs to try to get these competitors out of their comfort zone," Mr Fong said.
He said the judges were not impressed with the lack of creativity shown in the second elimination round.
"How they make that song their own makes the biggest difference. They have been told from day one to explore their creative side, do it in such a way that when people hear them sing they do not think of the original singer but of them because they made that song their own.
"That is the challenge for them now. The 12 competitors left need to up the ante from where it is now and focus on bringing something different to the stage in the third and final elimination before the semi final."
The last elimination round will be held at Downtown Boulevard next Tuesday at 6:30pm.