Upcountry Primus Guma Guma 2 road shows wind up in Rubavu

THE penultimate leg of the upcountry road shows in the ongoing second season of the Primus Guma Guma Superstar 2 took place on Sunday evening in the resort town of Rubavu, Western Province.

Monday, June 11, 2012
R&B queen Knowles wows the crowd.

THE penultimate leg of the upcountry road shows in the ongoing second season of the Primus Guma Guma Superstar 2 took place on Sunday evening in the resort town of Rubavu, Western Province.The turn up was massive as security personnel struggled to contain a mushrooming crowd eager to catch a glimpse of the 10 stars battling it out for the top honours.The show started off at 4pm with last year’s first runner up and crowd favourite King James first on the stage.The R&B crooner performed his hit songs ‘Ikirori’, ‘Buhoro Buhoro’ before belting out his latest hit ‘Palapara’. Just Family performed well but emotions reached fever-pitch when they performed their hit track ‘Nyorohereza’. Young and upcoming rapper Danny Nanone also proved to be gradually capturing a following. When he performed his ‘Irijoro’ and ‘Ijanisha’ tracks, sections of the crowd rapped along before he winded up with his own version of ‘Ikirori’, a fast paced party song that is currently receiving massive airplay among local radio stations. Urban Boys were their sprightly selves, performing ‘Mpfukame’, ‘Umfatiye Runini’, ‘Sipiriyani’, before winding up with ‘Take it off’. Young Grace received a warm welcome in her hometown of Rubavu. When the 19 year old rapper hit the stage, a stampede almost erupted as her placard waving fans offered a huge show of support to the "Ikimenyane” star, who was clad in a bright pair of yellow shorts and a green jacket.When Riderman hit the stage, the crowd went wild as the singer danced along with MC Anita to add more spice to an already good show.Riderman performed his popular ‘Mwitende’ hit and ‘Igihano’ before lighting up the crowd with his biggest hit to date, ‘Bombori Bombori’. Songstress Knowles also proved that she would not be bullied to submission by her male contestants. Her strategy of inviting fans to the stage to help her sing out her ‘sensual’ songs seems to be serving her quite well.She also sang ‘Byemere’ with another male fan, who seemed more into dancing than singing.Bull Dog was next on stage. The rapper’s edge hinges on the fact that he raps so passionately about real life issues that rhyme well with the crowd.His ‘Bye Bye Nyakatsi’ hit and ‘Customer Care’ are quite popular. The rapper, who is backed by fellow Tuff Gangs member, Fireman, sporadically broke to give the fans some ‘free style’, and samples of his new songs.The other member of Tuff Gang, Jay Polly, who came third in last year’s contest, was also at hand to entertain the Rubavu fans. Together with his Tuff Gangs crew, Jay Polly performed ‘Umwami Uganje’ and his new song ‘Hisha munda’, before beckoning Young Grace on the stage to briefly introduce their collabo track ‘Umusada’.Dreamboys were the last to perform, crowning an evening of fun with their latest hit ‘No one like me’ that features Ugandan singer Eddy Kenzo. The group also performed their tracks ‘Iteka ni teka’ and ‘Isano’.TMC who had missed a couple of road shows due to sickness also performed."I am now feeling much better. It was such a difficult time for me but thank God I am now back and feeling stronger than ever before,” the singer who had a bout of  malaria earlier, said.This weekend, the road shows end in Kigali before the dreaded elimination phase takes centre-stage in two weeks. The winner of the contest is slated to take home a package worth Rwf24m at the grand final that would be graced by American R&B star Jason Derulo.