Top10 Guma Guma finalists are here

On Saturday night at Kigali Serena Hotel, Bralirwa, Rwanda’s brewers and soft drink manufacturers, live on RTV officially unveilled the 10 finalists of Primus Guma Guma Superstar. The hopefuls who were voted to continue in the competition by the public are: Knowles, King James, Riderman, Dany, Emmy, Young Grace, Bull Dog, Jay Polly, Just Family and Dream Boyz. Before the show started, the jam-packed crowd at Kigali Serena’s conference hall enjoyed a cocktail (Bralirwa’s products and snacks), to perk up the mood of the evening. Tom Close hits the stageLet’s say, though some people were not happy for Tom Close, after winning the Primus Guma Guma Superstar Season One (PGGSS 1), he presented a thrilling performance, and did not fail to impress the crowd with his new track “Komeza utsinde.”Even the impressive live band entertained the revellers with great performances ,including Beyonce’s rendition of “If I Were A Boy.” And now the show had begun; Dany was the first contestant finally – to be announced. He was seen stretching out his arms to probably remove the tension cramps that crept on him in his anxiety. Dany was followed by aspiring Hip-hop artiste Bull Dog.Young Grace, the little country girl from Rubavu District in the Western Province, could not believe it when the night’s host, Lion Imanzi, called her on stage as a finalist. Jay Polly, who tumbled out of “Primus Guma Guma Superstar” last year, surely could not get enough words to thank Rwanda for voting him. Last year’s first-runner up, King James, also secured a place in the competition, and promised to win it. Imanzi declared we would now pause for a commercial break and when we returned, there was a performance by Frankie Joe.The Canada- based Rwandan singer/model wowed the crowd with his rendition of ‘Kipenda Roho’ featuring Kidumu.So we were left with only two places.Dream Boyz and Knowles were the last contestants to be announced – and soon Imanzi declared the end of the show: “The show has ended but you can still stay and enjoy the music and drinks,” he said.“I came for the show without any idea that I would be among the Top 10 finalists. I am so excited and thank all my fans for voting for me,” Knowles says.“As the competition kicks off, I promise not to let you down – but to work hard and become the next Primus Guma Guma Superstar,” she promises.As the last 10 fortunate souls were chosen to be part of the ‘Primus Guma Guma Superstar’ last night, money might have been on their minds. And indeed each walked away with a cheque of Rwf 500,000 as a welcome gesture into the competition.Primus Guma Guma Superstar is a big and unique competition that brings together all local big artistes. “Rwanda, you’re on fire, because this is an amazing Top 10 brew,” screamed one reveller, as the host had declared the end to the show.“I don’t know the criteria which were used to select the finalists but fact is, it’s a competition, and in a competition there is always a winner and a loser – so that was it,” said Frankie Joe. The first edition was held in 2011 and the winner was Tom Close.The 10 finalists were chosen among 20 contestants by the public through vote via SMS and Internet.Twists as Top 10 hopefuls are announced Saturday night left the audience hanging on a cliff, as the contest moved on to one of the highly anticipated episodes of Rwanda’s music competition. Many people could not hide the disapproval on their faces, wondering what happened to the big names such as Rafiki, Kamichi and Urban Boyz, who were among the 20 contestants; and considerably among the most popular contestants for this season of Primus Guma Guma Superstar.“For sure I don’t know what they considered because some of these artistes selected are not very good,” Jean Baptiste Habimana, a student at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) laments.“Seriously I don’t understand why Kamichi didn’t make it to the Top 10. He is a great musician and his music is very popular. I am still in a shock,” says, Claude Ntali, a resident of Kigali.Hip-hop has dominated this season, as most finalists are Hip-hop artistes.“Hip-hop is alive and I am glad to know that Rwandans like it. Let’s develop it,” Jay Polly, notes.

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Top10 Guma Guma finalists are here