Is Blu3 back or it is just showbiz?

I still remember the first time I, or anyone else, saw the then Blu*3. It was a cold night at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel poolside sometime in 2004 (was it April? It is surprising how Google knows so little about the group) and the Coca-Cola Popstars talent search was over.

Three groups (one each from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania) were created from the thousands of hopeful singers who had taken part. That night, we would see the three groups: Blu*3 from Uganda, Sema from Kenya and Wakilisha from Tanzania.

We were biased, of course, but we thought Blu*3 were better than them all. And they proved it by going from strength to strength, while the other two groups quickly broke up. It was the first girl group we had ever seen (the Spice Girls did not count), they were brilliant and the country fell in love with them.

But they were young, barely out of their teens and the fairy tale would not last. Four years after that earth-shaking entry into showbiz, the group had the most acrimonious breakup.

And the real story of what happened has never been told, even though the no-longer girls seemed to have put that behind them, and they have had a few reunion shows recently.

In fact, I had watched them in January at the Rotary Africa Peace Concert.

Baring it all

Then came news that the three — Cindy, Jackie and Lillian — had bared it all during a session of Tusker Malt Conversessions. And I was curious, would we finally know who was responsible for the break-up? Or have the three finally put all that behind them? I remember interviewing both Cindy, on one side, and Lillian and Jackie on the other about what had really happened. Their manager, Aly Alibhai, had also pitched in and, at one time, showed me texts supposedly shared between the girls, to prove who was at fault. So, yeah, I was eager to hear what they would say.

But then, I watched the recording and I felt a bit silly. These were not the young bloods of almost 20 years ago, with egos the size of Kampala. These were mature women who had seen the not-so-good and bright side of life and had come through it, maybe some better than others. Each had faced trials and tribulations but had survived them.

The recording, interspersed with them singing some of their popular songs, is about 40 minutes-long. But it is an amazing 40 minutes. I may not agree with the format of the ‘conversations’ (who does the interviewing? And there is a sneaking suspicion that some answers were edited out, making it feel a bit too sanitised), but it is really worth watching. So, here is my take.

Hearing the three (trying very hard not to call them girls) candidly talk about the early days and the dynamics of the group made me realise that the group would have broken up, no matter what happened or who was to blame.

Each of the three is a strong personality in her own right and the struggle for dominance was inevitable.

It is a tricky act managing a group, one has to balance the needs of the individuals with those of the group. The girls had got together at a young age and had not explored what they wanted to be or do as individuals. They are all extremely talented so that exploration of individual options was bound to happen.

The only difference was the way it happened, maybe they could have agreed amicably to take a break from each other.

But they were young and their managers were not that much older or more experienced and did not know how to deal with it.

To their credit, the three do not go too much into who did what or who was to blame.

They have gone through too much since 2007 to start throwing bricks at each other, although they tacitly admitted that they could have done better.

Another thing that struck me is that they are genuinely friends. That, or they are some of the greatest actors in the country. I have interviewed and photographed them dozens of times over the last 20 years, and this is the most candid I have ever seen them. It really speaks to the strengths of their characters that they can put the past behind them; not forget it, of course, but forge on, regardless. They come off as friends who had major disagreements but are strong enough to move on. There is a big lesson in there for many in Uganda’s entertainment industry.

Can Blu3 (they lost the asterix before they broke up) really resurrect? I think it can, although not as a permanent group. The three are now in their 40s, have different lives and I do not see being fulltime in a group as working for them.

But they still create magic when they are together, whoever put them together in the first place must have been some sort of a magician.

With some great song writing behind them, they can still produce hit songs.

I also see them as being one of the hottest in-demand-for-gigs acts, and to, once in a while, hold concerts. If the likes of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross can still tour, why not Cindy, Jackie and Lillian? In any case, the Millennials and Generation X will be there to appreciate what they are doing, away from the bubble-gum of afro-pop and Amapiano.

So yeah, they are for real, and not just showbiz.