Ugandan artistes for Kenya music awards
Jun 08, 2006
Several Ugandan pop stars last Thursday entered into competition for the coveted Kisima music Awards, Kenya’s equivalent of Uganda’s Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) awards. Jose Chameleone, Maurice Kirya, Ngoni, The Obsessions, Benon and Vamposs, Oscar Muwonge and Bebe Cool are all vying for the awa
By Titus Serunjogi
Several Ugandan pop stars last Thursday entered into competition for the coveted Kisima music Awards, Kenya’s equivalent of Uganda’s Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) awards. Jose Chameleone, Maurice Kirya, Ngoni, The Obsessions, Benon and Vamposs, Oscar Muwonge and Bebe Cool are all vying for the awards slated for July 15 at Nairobi’s Carnivore Gardens.
The Kisima Music Awards Nomination Board in Nairobi nominated the artistes from the 20 Ugandans that submitted their videos and applications for consideration. The board looks out for creativity, originality and the quality of production of the music and video.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Ugandans are already voting for their favourite artistes via SMS. And the good news is, anyone who votes stands a chance to win lots of fabulous prizes.
These include holiday packages to Mombasa, air tickets, Apple ipods and VIP tickets to the gala night. All you have to do is text ‘KISIMA’ followed by your favourite artiste’s code then SMS to 5552.
Last year, the BLU*3 did us proud when they bagged two Kisima plaques for Best Ugandan Song and Best Ugandan Video. However, the sights this year are all set on the little-known Oscar Muwonge who has jumped out of Kampala’s karaoke pubs to stand in the Best Video category.
Muwonge’s latest R&B single Murembo scarcely got any airplay on local FM radios. It was a beautiful love song, but because it did not have the Kidandali hooks, many Ugandans ignored it. However, tongues began wagging when the video for Murembo entered the play lists on East African TV. You could easily mistake it for a motion picture from the likes of Joe and Craig David, Muwonge’s idols. Murembo was shot by Twisted Images, the company that also co-shot Ngoni’s chartbuster Nasiima Ggwe. Ngoni are two artistes, popular for Ddigi.
The Nasiima Ggwe video, shot by the poolside, features fascinating female dancers. Will Ngoni bag the Best Video Kisima award for Uganda? Time will tell.
Nasiima Ggwe has also been nominated for the Best Song-Uganda category at the Kisima awards and so has Maurice Kirya’s Beera N’abo. Remember the crooner who had hundreds of R&B fans anxious to hear his smooth vocals and skillful guitar-playing? Beera N’abo is a beautiful song. The lyrics drive home honest sentiments. The singer tells an ex-lover to stay with the rumourmongers that persuaded her to leave him. Beera N’abo was well received in Kampala that it was soon touched up with techno and taken into discotheques. Even the most notorious are yet to have enough of its rich and endearing melodies. Doubtless, Kirya is one of Uganda’s most loved R&B artistes and many cannot wait to see him bag one of those Kisima plaques.
Beera N’abo is also contending against Chameleone’s Mama Rhoda and the Obsessions’ Wekuume for the award. Benon and Vamposs, whose Mumuleete video had earlier hit it big on MTV, were nominated in the category of Best Video.
Talking of hitting it big, none has done it better than the Bashment Crew including Bebe Cool and Necessary Noize. Their Fire Anthem is, doubtless, the hottest dancehall track across East Africa, rocking play lists on radios and discotheques alike. Is it just that their song should be up for the best ragga Kisima Award? And party animals can cast their bet on that one.
To vote for your favourite artiste, you can get artistes’ codes and award updates from Juliet Nattabi, Uganda’s only representative on the Kisima Awards board who also runs the Music Uganda office on Mawanda Road.
Several Ugandan pop stars last Thursday entered into competition for the coveted Kisima music Awards, Kenya’s equivalent of Uganda’s Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) awards. Jose Chameleone, Maurice Kirya, Ngoni, The Obsessions, Benon and Vamposs, Oscar Muwonge and Bebe Cool are all vying for the awards slated for July 15 at Nairobi’s Carnivore Gardens.
The Kisima Music Awards Nomination Board in Nairobi nominated the artistes from the 20 Ugandans that submitted their videos and applications for consideration. The board looks out for creativity, originality and the quality of production of the music and video.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Ugandans are already voting for their favourite artistes via SMS. And the good news is, anyone who votes stands a chance to win lots of fabulous prizes.
These include holiday packages to Mombasa, air tickets, Apple ipods and VIP tickets to the gala night. All you have to do is text ‘KISIMA’ followed by your favourite artiste’s code then SMS to 5552.
Last year, the BLU*3 did us proud when they bagged two Kisima plaques for Best Ugandan Song and Best Ugandan Video. However, the sights this year are all set on the little-known Oscar Muwonge who has jumped out of Kampala’s karaoke pubs to stand in the Best Video category.
Muwonge’s latest R&B single Murembo scarcely got any airplay on local FM radios. It was a beautiful love song, but because it did not have the Kidandali hooks, many Ugandans ignored it. However, tongues began wagging when the video for Murembo entered the play lists on East African TV. You could easily mistake it for a motion picture from the likes of Joe and Craig David, Muwonge’s idols. Murembo was shot by Twisted Images, the company that also co-shot Ngoni’s chartbuster Nasiima Ggwe. Ngoni are two artistes, popular for Ddigi.
The Nasiima Ggwe video, shot by the poolside, features fascinating female dancers. Will Ngoni bag the Best Video Kisima award for Uganda? Time will tell.
Nasiima Ggwe has also been nominated for the Best Song-Uganda category at the Kisima awards and so has Maurice Kirya’s Beera N’abo. Remember the crooner who had hundreds of R&B fans anxious to hear his smooth vocals and skillful guitar-playing? Beera N’abo is a beautiful song. The lyrics drive home honest sentiments. The singer tells an ex-lover to stay with the rumourmongers that persuaded her to leave him. Beera N’abo was well received in Kampala that it was soon touched up with techno and taken into discotheques. Even the most notorious are yet to have enough of its rich and endearing melodies. Doubtless, Kirya is one of Uganda’s most loved R&B artistes and many cannot wait to see him bag one of those Kisima plaques.
Beera N’abo is also contending against Chameleone’s Mama Rhoda and the Obsessions’ Wekuume for the award. Benon and Vamposs, whose Mumuleete video had earlier hit it big on MTV, were nominated in the category of Best Video.
Talking of hitting it big, none has done it better than the Bashment Crew including Bebe Cool and Necessary Noize. Their Fire Anthem is, doubtless, the hottest dancehall track across East Africa, rocking play lists on radios and discotheques alike. Is it just that their song should be up for the best ragga Kisima Award? And party animals can cast their bet on that one.
To vote for your favourite artiste, you can get artistes’ codes and award updates from Juliet Nattabi, Uganda’s only representative on the Kisima Awards board who also runs the Music Uganda office on Mawanda Road.