Denis Mawanda (above), who was voted Kampala’s best television presenter for three years in a row, still wants some more attention. Mawanda has ventured onto music and now has a new single If, which has received tremendous airplay since its release last month.
Asked whether he can still give his fans the fat chunk of fun, Mawanda says: “That is no problem, really. All my fans fantasise about me because I never lose the sense of bonhomie; be it on screen or off. I make sure that they are always having a good time.”
So, he had no qualms about borrowing a Mitsubishi EVO and participating in the Sebuguzi sprint at Garuga. Never mind that he had never driven a rally car before. But you should have seen hundreds of his TV fans who had turned up at the course to cheer him on. Mawanda rounded up some of them and went in for all the muchomo and the beer till sunset.
“I just cannot wait to get that feeling of being airborne while behind the steering wheel again,” Mawanda is fond of saying these days. He is raising money for a Subaru to participate in the next national rally championships.
Back to the entertainment side, sometime, he showed up at a concert at Kati Kati Restaurant with the Maisha dancers and set the crowd on ‘fire’. At first everyone was dumbstruck; but midway through the performance, tongues begun wagging. Was it Mawanda dancing so vigorously upstage with the girls, and simultaneously churning out the vibes?
About his passion for entertainment, Mawanda said he was brought up in showbiz and has lived within it. He grew up in the neighbourhood of Club Aurelia, that famous haunt of the Afrigo band.
“I know what it takes to capture a crowd’s attention,” he says. Right.
Many remember him for having hosted rowdy parties at DV8 in the late 1990’s. Soon, he was hired to publicise movie premieres for Cineplex Cinema. He also hosted the Face of Cineplex beauty pageant, at which the notorious Eva Mbabazi was crowned. The pageant was the talk of the town For the next week.
“The best moment in my life came when I was recruited to be a presenter on Star FM alongside Sheila Nvannungi. I had a lot of music at my disposal-oldies, R ‘n’ B, kidaandali, kwaito-and I just lost myself in the CD racks.”
Mawanda’s new single, If, fuses together all these genres. The lyrics come out of ordinary flirtatious chitchat. But you will surely move the subtle bouncy beats in this song. ‘If’ is vivacious dance music, but with a tremendous touch of Kwaito. So, if you are partial to Mafikizolo or Brenda Fassie (RIP) you will love this one too. Mawanda has hosted the latter artistes on the African rhythms show on WBS and has perhaps picked a cue from them. However, he has had some disappointments. Radio presenters at Simba FM first threw out his original recording of If. “It was poor sound,” Mawanda admits, “But the presenters actually gave me a challenge to go back to the studio, hone my voice and make something that listeners would appreciate. Today, If is getting tremendous airplay.
