Nigerian star disc jockey and record producer Patrick Imohiosen, professionally known as DJ Neptune, on Wednesday arrived in Kigali to watch Rwandan DJs showcase their talent during the highly-anticipated grand finale of the inaugural ‘Battle of the DJs’ contest slated for Saturday, August 27, at Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village (former Camp Kigali). The DJ, who last performed for Rwandans during the ‘ChopLife’ concert held at BK Arena in June, this time around returns to the Rwandan capital as a member of the board that will decide the winner of the contest which has been going on for the past three weekends. He will be joined by DJ Khathu who arrives on Friday, all the way from South Africa. Other judges on the panel are Rwanda’s premier DJ Shariff, DJ Pius and DJ Khadir. The Rwandan trio were on the jury from the beginning until the top five finalists were announced during the semi-finals held Saturday, August 20, at Norrsken, Kigali. The contest started with the selection of 20 entrants during opening auditions held at Onomo Hotel three weeks ago. DJ Brianne, the only prominent female DJ, was dropped in the early stages as she missed out on the top 20 who were later reduced to 10 the following weekend. A tightly-contested semi-final battle only left five finalists, plus two females, who have been rehearsing over the past few days as they have big prizes on their radar including a brand new Mercedes Benz car worth Rwf25 million. Seven DJs, including DJs Selekta Dany, Kiss, Selekta Gomez, Beast and Trapboy who progressed to the final after making it to the top five and DJ Ira and Roxy who were selected in the women’s category will be up against each other ahead of Saturday’s show. Besides the top prize, organisers will also recognise the best upcoming DJ with a cash prize of Rwf2 million while the best female DJ will be awarded equipment worth Rwf5 million. Dubbed ‘Taking Music to another Level’, the contest is organised by M&K, an entertainment company that exclusively organises DJ Toxxyk’s music treat ‘Sunday Churche’ which takes place every Sunday at Pegase Resort, Rebero. The idea to organise the DJs contest, organisers explained, was inspired by their passion and will to promote DJs and create public awareness of the talent and quality music in Rwanda, as well as provide business opportunities, networking, and leisure activities through competitions. Judging standards include originality (40%), skills (20%), music selection (20%), crowd response (10%) and public voting (10%). DJ Ira is one of the female finalists who has been tipped by many as the frontrunner for the top prize of the inaugural edition of the contest following the ecstatic performances she has brought on the deck so far. Tickets to the finale are now available via http://gahunda.palmkash.com or *939#, at Rwf5,000 for regular, Rwf10,000 for VIP and Rwf100,000 for a table of six. Doors will be open from 4pm with DJ Toxxyk on the spin while Kivumbi is expected to entertain as the main headliner.
