Low turn up at Kiss Daniel's show

If the success of Kiss Daniel’s first show in Kigali was to be measured by the turn up, then the show did not meet expectations. Despite being held at a popular venue, the Kigali Serena Hotel, few people turned up for the show. One could assume that the Miss Rwanda beauty pageant that was taking place next door at Camp Kigali drew the crowd that could have otherwise graced the Nigerian performer’s show. Other than the low turn up, another low moment was the three-hour delay in starting the show. Kiss Daniel, best known for his chart-topping single Woju arrived at the airport at around 6pm, about an hour before the scheduled time of the event. The event, however, which was supposed to start at 7pm, started at 10pm. Many of the seats at the show were empty. Comedian Arthur Nkusi hosted the show, which featured local artistes Charlie & Nina and Bruce Melody. The latter performed with his band for over 40 minutes. Melody sang songs like Inshwi, Ntundize, Ntujy’uhinduka, Ntujya Unyinisha, and Mba Nikinira, among others. After performances from local artistes, a fashion show followed. Designer Francis Zahabu showcased his work till midnight. After that, revelers waited and formed groups, trying to pass time till the Nigerian artiste made it to the stage. The Woju singer, who was expected to come with his band and perform live, hit the stage around 1:40am. He didn’t perform live as people expected; among the songs were Raba and Good Time and then he left the stage. He performed for only 18 minutes. After he left the stage, many people assumed he’d taken a short break and that he’d return for another performance. But that was not the case leaving patrons disappointed. Bruce Melody put on a good performance. (All photos by Julius Bizimungu) Emmanuella Gasaro, a reveler, expressed her disappointment. “How does a person fly all the way from Nigeria to do playbacks? And then you don’t even perform for 20 minutes yet people have paid their money. This is total disappointment,” she said angrily. Denise Gakire, one of the owners of Royal Entertainment, the company that hosted Kiss Daniel, said that the show delayed because of unexpected issues. “First of all we apologise for everything that happened; the show started late because people themselves delayed to get to the venue. We knew people had already bought tickets, and we couldn’t start until they arrived. However, we realised that there were other big events which were going on,” she said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw