2019 has been a year of quite a number of highs and lows on Rwanda’s social calendar. While some celebrities are celebrating the success they enjoyed in the past 12 months, others are feeling like they can’t wait to see it coming to an end. As the year comes to a close, The New Times takes you back to key moments that transpired on the local entertainment scene in 2019. Big international musicians hit Kigali’s stage Rwanda is increasingly becoming home of entertainment and the country continues to attract a number of big musicians who perform before thousands of music lovers. The year 2019 was a blessing for Rwandans who had an opportunity to see the likes of American singers Ne-Yo, Don Moen and Jidenna. Nigerian music superstar Burna Boy and British worship choir, Hillsong London all brought soulful performances in Kigali while Tanzanians; Diamond and Harmonize have made Rwanda their second home. Miss Josiane tops Miss Rwanda 2019 headlines Shall we, by any chance, find another girl with daily trending stories in Rwanda’s media like Josiane Mwiseneza did during Miss Rwanda 2019? Probably not! The Karongi-born girl became a hot topic in the media and social media ever since she turned up for the Western Province auditions in Rubavu town where she travelled about ten miles to make it to the auditions venue, a ‘determined’ journey which she ended crowned Miss Popularity. Like it or not, the most popular girl at last year’s beauty contestant has had a hand in boosting the contest’s popularity compared to the previous editions, having attracted over six million people on Instagram during the contest. The support she had from the public, in Rwanda and from the diaspora, boosted her confidence to establish herself as potential contender for the crown, which was eventually won by reigning Miss Rwanda, Meghan Nimwiza. The Salax Awards saga A huge number of local artistes, players in the music industry and music enthusiasts in general were in awe when Ahupa announced the return of Salax Awards just days after taking over the awards from previous organisers, Ikirezi Group, earlier in February. The awards giving gala at the end of March, happened for the first time since they were last held in 2016. The winner in each category was supposed to walk away with Rwf 700 000 besides the accolade, while the awards overall winner had to pocket Rwf 1, 000, 000. However, what followed the award-giving ceremony just a total scandal as awards winners lost faith in organisers for failure to honor promises several months after they scooped the accolades. Organisers were heard saying that the payments have been delayed by the awards sponsors, Star Times, a statement that was reversed by the sponsor, who threatened to take organisers to court in September in case they failed to hand over the money to the winners, an exercise done a month later. The Aline Gahongayire- media beef ‘War’ arose between Aline Gahongayire and local media in the showbiz section following the gospel singer’s ‘harsh’ and ‘arrogant’ comments, in April. This was after she broke news of her divorce with ex-husband Gabriel Gahima to high-profile news agencies like Voice of America and rather than sharing the news with local media which are not at her level. Gahongayire’s comments were not received lightly by local showbiz journalists with the Rwanda Showbiz Journalist Forum (RSJF), a platform of showbiz journalists, condemning the singer for looking down on local media, which promoted her to becoming one of the most known gospel singers in the country to date. Some showbiz journalists said the singer might be holding a grudge against some local media outlets, for the stories they might have published about her private life. Till now, the beef has been on and only God knows how it will end. The quick rise of Igisupusupu Despite being 40, 2019 has understandably the best moment of François Nsengiyumva’s music career, having quickly established himself among the most popular artistes, if not the most popular, on Rwandan music scene. The ‘Mariya Jeanne’ singer’s music has had an unrivalled dominance via local media airwaves. His quick rise to the local music industry made the singer earn plenty of big deals to perform at big music events through the year. He performed alongside Diamond Platnumz during a concert concluding the Iwacu Muzika Festival back in August. Not quite a good year for Meddy! You cannot deny that US-based singer Medard Ngabo Jobert, as known as Meddy, is living the best moments of his music career. However, he will want to put behind all the bad moments went through in 2019. It might have been a situation hard for a singer of Meddy’s caliber to digest the time he was hurriedly got off the stage to pave way for the performance of American RnB singer Ne-Yo during the Kwita Izina Concert back in September at the Kigali Arena. And, as he tried to overcome the situation, the ‘Slowly’ singer found himself in jail a month later (October) when police arrested him for driving while he was drunk. He spent five days behind the bars and was released after paying fines worth Rwf 150 000. Tributes to fallen filmmaker Nsanzamahoro Rwanda’s film industry is still in shock following the loss of great movie star Denis Nsanzamahoro who passed on in September days after long time battle with diabetes. Nsanzamahoro had established himself as one of the most celebrated actors the local film industry has ever had since he launched his professional career in filmmaking 20 years ago, having starred in popular local films, like Rwasa [where he derived his nickname] and Ay’Urukundo, among others, as well as several commercials. He will be remembered by his unrivaled acting creativity in every single film he acted in during his 20-year career. His talent earned him acting roles in a number of high-profile movies like Sometimes in April, which features filmmaker Idris Elba in 2003, and 100 Days, produced in 2003 by British film director Jack Hughes while he also starred in Petit Pays, produced by Gael Faye. His death shocked not only members of the film industry but also a number of celebrities, his friends and fans.
