Tears of joy as Kaweesa bags sh50m

By George Wabweyo

Fifty freaking million shillings! That is the mother-load of money that 23-year-old Daniel Kaweesa from Arua deservedly walked away with last Sunday at the Coca-Cola Rated Next Sing It competition finale, held at Wonderworld in Kasanga.

He also got a record deal with Steve Jean’s Fenon Records and a Samsung Galaxy tab.

Kaweesa managed to fend off competition from first runner up Rebecca Nanziri and second runner up Comfort Asingwire (below, right); a duo who were also vocally charming and favourites with the voters and the audiences at the live shows.

They walked away with sh5m and sh2m respectively, plus a Samsung Galaxy tab each.

The culmination of four rigorous months of traversing Uganda, boot-camps and evictions, kicked off under the stewardship of host Charles Denzel Mwiyeretsi and a cool cutand- paste band, some of whom are remnants of the now disbanded Code 9 band.

Outside, the crowds of charged fans of the show surged against the gates and a good lot of them were unfortunately shut out because the auditorium was totally filled up. That was just how big a deal this event was!

The three finalists took turns to each sing two songs alternatively as part of the show.

Asingwire performed Judith Babirye’s Beera Nange and Juliana Kanyomozi’s Nabikoowa, while Nanziri stuck to her forte of amazing Luganda ballads, and performed Angella Kalule’s Kankwekumire, to massive applause and cheers.

It almost seemed like the night was going to be hers, if you were to judge by how she got to the crowd.

But Kaweesa was also at par with amazing vocals, stage owning and a great selection of songs. He performed Abakyala Bazira by Jamal and Agassi by Jackie Chandiru to a wild sea of hands and loud applause.

At that moment, critical assessment would suggest that this was a contest between Nanziri (below, right) and Kaweesa.

And indeed, after performances by former Blu3 member Cindy and Maurice Kirya, also judge of the competition, a pensive mood set in, followed by insanely wild applause when Daniel was declared winner.

And so, the boy who sang Julianna Kanyomozi’s Kanyimbe for his audition in Arua four months ago was now a millionaire and a signed artiste.

He was presented a dummy cheque by Vision Group CEO Robert Kabushenga and Century Bottling managing director, Norton Kingwill, who was flanked by Brandon Ssemanda, the Coca-Cola brand manager.

The tears of joy streamed down Kaweesa’s cheeks on realising his dream had come true!

This marks the end of the talent competition, which traversed major towns in Uganda and hosted over 5,000 hopefuls during its audition  stages.

The competition was chaperoned by Judges Siima Sabiti of XFM, muscians Maurice Kirya and screen writer Sharpe Ssewali. All the action was relayed on Vision Group’s Urban TV, Bukedde 1, 2 and TV West.