They came, they saw and they finally conquered. It was all fun and excitement on Saturday as Dream Boys emerged the winners of Primus GumaGuma Super Star Season 7 (PGGSS7), walking away with the grand prize of Rwf24m.

There were not many complaints really from the public and fellow contestants, except a few who were not happy with their own results.

The duo of Platini Nemeye and Claude ‘TMC’ Mujyanama has attempted their luck on the coveted prize on four occasions but fell short of winning it.

"Hard work pays. We have never given up,” said TMC, shortly after the two were declared the winner, adding that their commitment has finally paid off. The two were over the moon after results compiled by the auditors of the show came in.

Indeed the results from the audit firm PWC showed that Dream Boys won by a bigger margin, garnering 15.8 percent of the total vote, from the jury and public, while RnB singer Christopher, who finished second, scored 10.7 percent.

The results also show that it was a tight race between Christopher and Bulldogg, who finished 3rd as well as Mico the Best who finished an impressive fourth, despite being his first time in the competition.

Bulldogg scored 10.4 percent while Mico the Best got 9.7 percent of the total vote. The Judge’s vote accounted for 90 percent while SMS voting accounted for 10 percent.

"It was not an easy task. All the artistes did their best to prove that they know what they are doing and the public appreciated everyone but eventually we had to follow the rules,” said Aimable Twahirwa, who spoke on behalf of the judges.

The results were surprising to some, particularly the position of Danny Nanone, who during the road shows seemed to be popular with the public but only managed to finish 9th.

One of the Judge’s told The New Times that some artistes were reprimanded, including Danny Nanone, for engaging in "unethical acts” but did not reveal what exactly happened.

The Ikirori rapper walked off the stage in protest and did not wait to shake hands with officials and fellow artistes.

It seemed like most artistes were not content with how they finished, including Bulldogg, who was seemingly not happy with the 3rd place finish.

Performances

As expected, the finale, at Amahoro National Stadium parking attracted a mammoth crowd mainly of young people who came to cheer their favourite artistes. The MCs as usual were Kate Gustave and Buryohe while Dj Ira fired up the crowd with wonderful mixes.

At about 6:45pm, Oda Paccy kicked off the performances with her songs Rendezvous and Umusirimu, backed up by her dancers. The eventual winners Dream Boys came on second and performed Bucece and TujyaneIwacu as they displayed ecstatic dance moves.

Davis D followed and performed MariyaKaliza and Biryogo before Danny Nanone came on and performed Soldier and Ikirori. He paved way for Christopher, who received huge support as he performed UwoMunsi and Birahagije.

Active as usual came on with their electric dance moves as they performed Slow down and Final. The crowd loved the performance. It was time for Social Mula to come on stage and the Kundunduro singer was appreciated. He performed Kundunduro and Amahitamo.

Looking sassy, Queen Cha then came on stage to perform UmweRukumbi and Kizimyamoto before she relinquished the stage for Bulldogg who performed Nkumusaza and Cinema with so much energy.

When he was done, Mico the Best closed the show with an impressive performance of Umugati and Akabisous.

As judges deliberated, Sebeya Band, a band composed of pioneers of Nyundo Music School, took over the stage and mesmerised the crowd with a wonderful performance.

Then the time everyone was waiting for came-the envelopes containing the names of artistes and how they finished. There was tension as artistes waited to know how they performed.

Starting with the 10th going down, it eventually dawned on all that Dream Boys would be the ones to walk away with the grand prize of Rwf24m.

Christopher for the second year running emerged second, walking away with a prize of Rwf4.5m. Rapper Bulldogg finished 3rd, taking home a reward of Rwf4m.

Dream Boys emerged winners of the annual music competition sponsored by BRALIRWA, through its premier beer brand Primus, on their fourth attempt. Previous winners include Urban Boys, Knowless Butera, Riderman, Jay Polly, King James and Tom Close.

How they ranked

10. Davis D

9. Dany Nanone

8. Active

7. Social Mula

6. Oda Paccy

5. Queen Cha

4. Mico The Best

3. Bull Dogg- 2nd Runner Up

2. Christopher 1st Runner Up

1. Dream Boys- WINNERS

editorial@newtimes.co.rw