Vocals meet creativity as Guma Guma goes live

The first live performance of the third season of Primus Guma Guma Superstar music competition on Saturday evening went well with the 11 contestants doing their best to impress the crowd and the judges.Apart from attempting to be at their vocal best, some of the contestants out-competed each other on stage presence and creativity as the panel of judges consisting of Canada-based Rwandan musician Mighty Popo Murigande, Aaron Niyitunga and Aimable Twahirwa carefully observed.Perched in front of the stage, the judges are able to see the contestants perform, observe their stage presence, vocal abilities and public reaction. At the end of the live shows, they will submit their verdict, which will carry 70 percent while the public vote is 30 percent.It was an evening of fun and surprises and one can ably conclude that for the first time, the contestants are going to compete on the basis of their music abilities as well as public influence.Those who were not creative enough or did not give it 100 percent will have to think twice for the upcoming shows. At this stage, they all know the real competition has begun.The turn up was massive. Some people had to be turned away as the parking lot of Amahoro National Stadium filled up to the brim. Security struggled to contain the crowd as they threatened to break the metallic barriers.Christopher opened the evening performances at about 6:30 pm, followed by Bulldog. Each of the artistes did two songs. Christopher sung ‘Habona’ and ‘Uwo munsi’ while Bulldog went with ‘Cinema’ and ‘Icyuki’.Bulldog pleaded to the fans of Tuff Gang to support him for the love of hip hop. After Bulldog, Knowless hit the stage in a massive way, supported by Inganzo Ngari, the renowned traditional dance troupe.If creativity is anything to go by, Knowless beat them all, having arrived on stage in a boat and later on sitting on a spinning chair. Knowless invested heavily in the costumes and dancers and it paid off.Knowless managed to sway the crowd with her rendition of ‘Nzabampari’ which she fused in with Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’, before concluding her performance with her latest single ‘Follow you’.It was then time for Eric Senderi, or rather ‘International Hit’ as he prefers to call himself, to hit the stage.Clad in a traditional leopard print attire complete with the traditional sisal mane commonly known as ‘Umugara’, Senderi started off with his old song ‘Jalousie’ and completed his performance with ‘Nsomyaho’.Senderi has turned out to be a strong competitor and he was well received by the crowd. After Senderi, it was mayhem as Riderman’s turn came. Clad in a red jacket and shorts, Riderman arrived on stage with a crate of his favourite drink Primus, opening one of the bottles with his teeth before taking a sip.A stampede almost ensued as the rapper started his performance. His fans or rather ‘Ibisumizi’ as they call themselves could be seen waving paper flags and huge banners with their hero. Girls could be heard screaming as he performed ‘Horo’ and ‘Abanyabirori’, two of his songs which are greatly loved. Security at some point had to hold the metallic rails to keep his crazy fans at bay.The ‘Bombori bombori’ singer is a force to reckon with in this year’s competition and he knows it. His performances exude confidence and power. He is a cult hero among his fans.Shortly after Riderman, the MC Lion Imanzi called on stage Mico ‘The Best’ Prosper who was accompanied by his dancers. The ‘Umutaka’ singer spotting a Mohawk sang his latest ‘Akabizu’ concluding with his collabo with Diamond ‘Sinakwibagiwe’.“I am confident that I can go all the way,” the Afrobeat singer said after his performance. Despite appearing in the competition for the first time, Mico is beaming with confidence.Mico was followed by Urban Boys, who were clad in caricature ceremonial military uniforms. The boys were accompanied by their Congolese dancers.Urban Boys started off with ‘Bibaye’ before concluding with their danceable single ‘Sipiriyani’. If anything, the popularity of the ‘Super Level’ boys indicates that they are among the top contenders.After Urban Boys, Danny Nanone claimed the stage, putting behind his trouble to perform his latest ‘Mbikubwire’ with the support of his right hand man Tity.The ‘Amanyarwanda’ singer was hit by paternity claims last week and a stand-off with his former producer but he managed to put all that behind to impress his diehard fans. Danny concluded his performance with ‘Narya dance’ where he was joined by dancers who wowed the crowd.It was then time for the other member of Tuff Gangs, Fireman to impress the judges and public. Fireman, who survived an accident a few weeks ago, performed ‘Mama Rwanda’ and ‘Itangishaka’ to the delight of his fans.“I am not 100 percent fit but I think I have what it takes to challenge my colleagues,” the rapper said, adding that doctors are still observing his gum and mouth following the accident which left him two missing teeth.One of the new rules of PGGSS is that the artistes are not allowed to come along with other artistes they collaborated with during the ‘live’ phase; otherwise Fireman would have brought King James for ‘Itangishaka’.It was then time for Dream Boys, the other group in the competition to perform. The boys clad in lovely Tuxedo’s and boots performed their single with Eddy Kenzo ‘No one like me’ and ‘Jugu Jugu’. They too had dancers and were showed love by the crowd.Kamichi then performed last, singing ‘Byacitse’ and ‘Warambeshye’ supported by his back up man Gisa. The Afrobeat singer who has been down with a cold managed to sway the crowd.“I can’t say I performed well. I will do better perhaps in the next live performance,” said Kamichi, adding that he is also working around hiring dancers to back him up. The birthday boy also got his cake from his mother shortly before going on stage.By 10pm, the concert was done. The evening was crowned by the judges handing over their decisions to PriceWaterHouseCoopers, the audit firm running the competition. This coming weekend the contestants will perform in Muhanga before heading north to Musanze on July 13. On July 20, Guma Guma will head to Rubavu to wind up the countryside live shows.From July 20 to 26, the remaining contestants will be undergoing intensive rehearsals and radio campaigns before the last eviction set for July 27 at Kigali Serena Hotel. The winner will be crowned on August 10.The winner will take home an ultimate prize of Rwf24m given out in different instalments and a trophy among other things.

Leisure

Vocals meet creativity as Guma Guma goes live