WHEN STARS DESCENDED ON NAIROBI

Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the press conference

Starting Tuesday this week, top panafrican stars and international stars jetted into Nairobi for various shows scheduled for this weekend.
South African Grammy Award winners Ladysmith Blck Mambazo were first to arrive in the afternoon. Later that day, Angolan rapper Cabbo Snoop followed suit.

Then today morning, Mr Lover Lover, Shaggy jetted in. Enjoy the snap shots. More dets on the way...

Photos/ Chris Wekesa

ALPHA, DAVIS AND MSECHU TO JAM WITH CABO, SHAGGY AND EVE ARE COMING

So word on the street is that the promoters who have been contracted to sign up acts for the Tusker All Stars finale concert are from Tanzania. Crying shame. After Kenyan promoters, Homeboyz failed in their bid to get Usher and Keri Hilson to sign on the dotted line, Clouds FM people have been contracted to get acts for the Tusker All Star concert.







Though it has not been confirmed by EABL, the acts signed for the October concert are American rapper Eve, ragga star Shaggy and Angolan Cabo Snoop – famed for his hit Windek.







This means that the winner for the Tusker All Stars reality television show will be jamming the stage with the three international stars. The winners of the concluded show were Alpha, Davis and Msechu.







Meet the all-star finalists



Alpha Rwirangira

Alpha has been on a roll and busy with music and performances since he won the 3rd edition of Tusker Project Fame.

The soft spoken but charismatic young man recently won the Pan African Music awards for best male artist with his song featuring Bebe Cool, Come To Me. He was also nominated for a Kilimanjaro Award in the best male artist category, for his song, Songa Mbele featuring AY.

Alpha has toured the region giving live musical performances and most notably he had the chance to represent Rwanda in the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa at the Fan Fests that were set up for fan entertainment.

The talented performer has also managed to catch his President’s eye and is feted by many Rwandese as a role model for the youth. He has obtained the President’s scholarship to study Music and Business at Fulbright University in Ohio, in the United States.







Peter Msechu

The Tanzanian who is known to be a bag of laughs has definitely been busy since he left at the end of the third season as first runner up.

Msechu has recorded songs with a number of producers back home in Tanzania. He has recorded Unaniumiza Roho with renowned music producer and Tusker Project Fame judge Hermes Bariki at his B Hits Studio and Majaribu with renowned producer Marco Chali of MJ Records.

He cites Tusker Project Fame 3’s Ngangalito as his favorite contestant since the inception of Tusker Project Fame. He says that he admires his fellow musician due to his humorous streak and his superb stage performances.

Msechu has had the opportunity to meet the president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete and other notable leaders in Tanzania because of his new found fame.







Davis Ntare

Tusker Project Fame Four’s golden boy, winner of Season 4 and energetic performer, has relocated to Kenya and has been in studio with R Kay working on his debut album.

He recently released his first single Sheka Sheka on Sound Cloud and the video is currently doing the rounds on You Tube as well.

He writes his own music and therefore promises to deliver fresh and original content in his album debut.

UMBRELLAS, DUETS AND LOVE AT TUSKER ALL STARS REALITY SHOW

Tusker All Stars entered its fifth week with Rwanda’s Alpha Rwirangira still at the top of the charts with Msechu and Davies coming in second and third respectively.
This weekend’s performances saw the 8 stars pair up to perform duets with partners of their choice.







First on the stage were All Star giants, Alpha and Davis, performing one of African Reggae King, Lucky Dube and the Mighty Slaves’ greatest hits Usizi. The two gave a highly energized performance and proved to be a winning combination by delivering a worthy reworking of the popular reggae hit.









Caroline and Hemedi performed an East African hit from the popular Tanzanian songstress Ray C, Mama Ntilie. The chemistry between the two was unmistakable as they thrilled the audience with their lingala dance finale.
Patricia and Davis performed a rendition of one of East Africa’s most memorable hits, Haturudi Nyuma by Juliana Kanyomozi and Kidum. The two stars’ vocals blended perfectly to bring out the angst of the hit song.









Sultry songbird, Patricia, was up on stage again with Amileena, performing Beyonce’s If I Was A Boy. The divas complimented each other well as they sang about being on the converse side of the gender divide.






Resident comedians, Msechu and Ng’ang’a were up next as they performed a Westlife classic, Somebody Loves Me and they gave a performance which was highly energized as is characteristic of this crop of Tusker All Stars.






Viewers can vote for their favorite artist by sending a text message with the star’s Tusker number to 8009 for persons in Kenya and Uganda. Individuals in Rwanda can vote by sending a text message with the star’s Tusker number to 7333 while for those in Tanzania the number is 15324. SMS voting lines close on every Saturday morning at 8 am and re-open at 8pm on Sunday evening.

TUSKER ALL STARS COMPETITION HEATS UP

After Tusker All Stars performances in the first week, fans across East Africa have voted for a trio of charismatic male performers as their top favorites so far.
Heart-throb Alpha of Rwanda stood tall at the top with charming Tanzanian Msechu and sensational Ugandan Davis taking up the second and third slots respectively.
Show host Gaetano released the week one voting results during the Tusker All Stars second show that was screened across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The second show featured four of the eight Tusker All Stars, Msechu, Patricia, Ameleena and Alpha.
Each of the four Tusker All Stars performed two songs - a popular hit single and an original composition. Their fans also got to discover the personalities behind the music at the Tusker Pub where they were interviewed by Eve D’Souza.
Viewers were in for a surprise when the straight-talking Tusker Project Fame Judge Ian Mbugua appeared as a guest. Judge Ian, who has been involved in the formation and shaping of the Stars into who they are today, was at hand to give viewers an insight into the artistes’ performance.







The show started with a bang when Msechu took to the stage with Samba Mapangala's Vunja Mifupa hit song. He gave us a peek into what he had been up to when he sang a moving tribute titled Mama to his late mother.





Patricia performed Foreigner's I Want to Know What Love Is and her own composition, Nakupenda What Not; while Ameleena performed Carol Atemi’s Simama and her up-beat composition, Dance.










Alpha was the last Tusker All Star to take to the stage with a cover of the popular Phil Collins' hit song, Another Day in Paradise, before he closed the show with his bubbly song Love.





Davis, Ngangalito, Caroline and Hemedi will feature in the third show performing two songs each.
Viewers can vote for their favourite artist by sending a text message with the star’s Tusker number to 8009 for persons in Kenya and Uganda. Individuals in Rwanda can vote by sending a text message with the star’s Tusker number to 7333 while for those in Tanzania the number is 15324.

JUST INCASE YOU MISSED IT

The Tusker All Stars TV show debut on Sunday night saw the reunion of eight former Tusker Project Fame stars on stage.
This is what went down: Hemedi, Ng’ang’alito, Patricia, Alpha, Msechu, Amileena, Davies and Carolyne, performed songs by music icons such as Brenda Fassie, Kidum, Eric Wainaina and Sauti Sol.



Hemedi, Tusker Project Fame season two's “casanova”, performed J- Boog's Let's Do It Again while Season 3's Patricia performed a soulful rendition of Sauti Sol's I'm Coming Home off their sophomore album, Sol Filisofia.



Carolyne, the dancing queen from Uganda, sang Nakupenda by the late musical Icon, Brenda Fassie.



Ng'ang'alito was another pleasant surprise as he broke the mould and performed legendary neo soul track, No Other Love by John Legend.



Amileena performed one of Africa's best loved and renowned songs Jabulani by PJ Powers while Msechu did his own version of Kidum’s Mapenzi.



Alpha showed his versatility by performing Eric Wainaina's runaway hit, Ritwa Riaku . Davis was the last on stage with his energetic rendition of Papa Wemba's Yollele.



Viewers were also introduced to two Tusker All Stars Super Fans; Arjun, popularly known as Vipul and radio presenter Joey Mathenge.



The super fans, both avid followers of previous editions of Tusker Project Fame and keen music fans, shared their views on each of the stars performances while offering support to the stars.
Viewers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda will vote for the top 3 stars during the 8 week reality TV show.



The show’s hosts, Gaetano Kagwa & Eve D’Souza will reveal a weekly score-card that will keep track of what acts or performers came out tops in the popularity polls.