Category: Entertainment

By Dianah Mutimura

At a Blissful moments witnessed by a full packed Amahoro stadium, Tom Close emerged the overall winner among the ten competitors on Saturday night and walked away with a Frw 6 Million majestic prize.

The young musician beat his fellow citizens with whom he had remained in the competition included King James, Jay Polly and Dream Boyz after the three-month battle.

The Prize he worn also included a one year contract with Bralirwa as a Primus Beer representative and to record a song and its video with famous singer Sean Kingston.

There was noticeable tension when the host Lion Imanzi was smiling on stage set to make the big declaration of the winner of the night.

When Tom Close was declared a winner, he flashed a big smile, to his admirers as King James walked away sure that his chance had ended.

Tom Close ended the night by thanking his fans for making it possible for him to win, but his speech was disturbed by furious fans of the winner’s opponents, who started throwing stones at him and the star at once was taken away by security staff.

Dream Boyz, despite their popularity in Rwanda only managed a fourth position as Jay Polly took the second runners-up position.

The battle continued among the two famous King James and Tom Close who were fighting for the popular position as Tom Close stroked him.

All the 10 Primus Guma Guma Superstar contestants, including those who were eliminated during the first and second eviction put an eye catching performance to show their fans that despite the fact they lost, they can still put a sizzling performance.

Mani Martin had a lovely performance which overwhelmed the audience when he sang Enrique Iglesias’s “hero”, and his popular “amazi magari” track.

Rafiki jammed his Coga style and impressed the audience with his “bigambo” hit and followed it with Jose Chameleon’s “kipepewo”. The energetic young star move down on the stage to adhere his fans not be discouraged with what happened to him.

Riderman did not miss the opportunity of shining to his fans where he performed his version of “umwana w’umuhanda” and “bombori bombori”.

Urban Boyz sang a love song “mbabarira” and went off on stage after making the audience yearn for more of their songs after singing “ishamba”. , Dr. Claude performed “Contre succes” and only a chorus line of “baramujyanye.”

The four contestants who were fighting for the big prize were not left behind to impress the crowd with their excellent performances.

“I wanted urban boys to win from the first and when they were evicted I felt bad but had nothing to do,” uwamaho Janet of Kigali institute of science and technology (KIST) lamented.

As the Rwanda film industry continues to gain international recognition, the few filmmakers in the country ought to have professional skills backed by sophisticated equipments.

It is in this respect that a delegation of eight renowned film professionals from the American Academy of Motion Pictures are in the country to conduct a one week training to local filmmakers under the Rwanda Cinema Centre. (R.C.C).

In an exclusive interview with igihe.com, Ellen Harrington, a film director noted that the weeklong training will cover subjects related to film writing, directing, producing, acting and cinematograph amongst others.

She explained that though Rwandan films have exited many, the talent would manifest itself well if the filmmakers had professional skills since they wouldn’t only compete internationally but also their films would have a higher demand.

The weeklong training also marks the opening of the Kwetu Film Institute (KFI) that will be conducted by RCC with the aim of promoting professionalism in the film industry.

Pierre Kayitana, the director of the Rwanda Cinema Centre noted that enrollment of students is underway. “So far we have 100 applicants but it would be better if interested people first showed us their interest through a short footage they have made”.

He further said that one ought to have a minimum academic qualification of a high school certificate, explaining that its an institute of higher learning.Those that have completed a three year course will be entitled to a university degree.

Kayitana adds that the institute has a film master’s program for those who have both average skills and long time experience.

The visiting US professionals will focus more on the skilled filmmakers since there’re able to handle some sophisticated equipments which they might later acquire through donations.

Currently acquiring the right machines is still a major challenge to the Rwandese film industry.

“Getting better equipment is the main problem, the cameras for instance are highly expensive and even those imported are highly taxed; that’s why we don’t have a choice but to use some of the traditional cameras,” said Chrisitan Gakombe RCC cameraman.

He pointed out that he is disappointed to use low quality equipment because they’re not fit for modern production which frustrates him given the skills he has acquired from several trainings abroad on how to use professional cameras.

Reacting to that assertion, Redempter Batete, the Director of Planning and Policy at the ministry of youth noted that the ministry has the will to promote local film industry if the filmmakers unite and consolidate their ideas.

“If only they would unite and send us a credible proposal, who knows the advantages they would get? She wondered, adding that financing their activities would be followed by easing taxes on necessary equipment for film industry which is making a commendable progress.

She further revealed that the ministry has a project to promote film talent at the Kimisagara Youth Centre which is open to interested people.
Yet lack of sophisticated tools is not the only challenge.

Joseph Njanti, a screen writer at RCC noted that though he has acquired most of his skills through experience, getting a mentor to guide him in the profession is still a constraint for him since even the ones available are either expensive or inaccessible.

Trying to give a solution to Njanti’s concern, Kayitana was quick to note that lack of mentors was a major problem both for Rwanda and region but insisted that the film institute will try to deliver better studies.

“Our director who is a professional from German has assured us that he will avail more mentors through his network with some of the renowned film training centers,” he stressed.

Eric Kabera the RCC Chief Executive Officer says the rationale for the film school is simple: “We have over the past seven years trained over 200 young people, with the assistance of partners in Sweden, the USA and elsewhere”
Kabera explained that at first they invited similar professional trainers to assist those in post graduate classes which covers all aspects of film-making and in the end, Rwanda needs a real film school.

Moreover the school will not focus on Rwanda only because the institute aims at serving the whole region and that is why it was called it Kwetu , a Swahili word meaning home of the East Africa Community according to Kabera.

“A cinema is a social and cultural tool that can promote cohesion and integration within the region. We want to create a form of cultural expression from this part of the world – apart from the Nigerian film industry- Nollywood, there isn’t much.”

By Diana Mutimura

If you complain that Rwandan artists do not play live music, you must have got the satisfaction over the weekend at Gikondo Expo show ground- the Primus Guma Guma live concert.

Being one of the first evictions among the competitors, every performer had to give it their greatest, and give their chances of taking home the top spot.

However, in the Saturday’s concert the first three had to leave the competition because they had received few votes from the public, though they walked out with Frw200,000 consolation each.

Mani Martin Faycal and Dr. Claude were the ones whose luck of continuing the battle ended last night but this did not mean that they don’t qualify to be the among the famous artists we have in our country.

During the show the first top seven artists; Tom Close, Dream Boyz, Urban Boyz, Rafiki, Jay Polly, Rider man and King James were first announced before they started their second show.

The three artists who were evicted because of getting few votes from the public were given the microphone to have few words to tell their fans. And all grateful to their supporters and even promised them to continue doing their best.

“What I can tell my fans is that I will continue working hard and give my best to you all my fans and I don’t think it is the end of it.”

“Through you I am optimistic that I will reach very far,” Mani Martin said after being announced among the evicted competitors.

Faycal said, “I came in this competition when I was hardly known to the public and being out of it first, hasn’t surprised me because of lack of enough public support.

“But I am very grateful to Bralirwa that organized the competition because I have managed to capture some public support though I were unable get enough votes”.

Dr. Claude said he does not regret being in Primus guma guma super star. “Even if I am out, it does not stop me from singing and going high. Besides, it was not my chance to win but I’ll continue with my career of singing”.

Even if these famous artists did not manage to complete the competition, they were very happy for other candidates that remained in the completion and they did this by putting a stunning performance to wish them good luck.

July 14 among the seven participants that qualified, three will be eliminated paving way for the best four that will perform at grand finals with the international artist Sean Kingston on July 30, at Amahoro National Stadium.

Mushyoma Joseph aka Boubou, managing director of East African Promoters said that the winner on July 30 will record a song in USA and scoop Frw 6 million Prize.

The East African Promoters in partnership with Brarirwa sponsored the Guma Guma Primus super star concert.

Mighty Popo has a dream. The Ottawa-based musician is organizing an outdoor music festival in Rwanda that he hopes will bring the spirit of a Canadian music festival to his Central African homeland.

KigaliUp will be a family-friendly event that takes place in a park in Kigali, the capital, in September. The lineup includes the Juno-winning Canadian hiphop artist Shad, blues singer Shakura S’Aida, Popo and other musicians from Canada and Africa.

The festival has been in the works for years, inspired by the folk festivals that have had such a strong influence on Jacques “Popo” Murigande, who was born in Burundi to Tutsi refugees from Rwanda. He immigrated to Canada as a teenager and settled in Ottawa, where he was welcomed in the music scene. He released his first album in 1997; the latest, Gakonda, was nominated for a Juno Award.

“To me, the Canadian music festivals made me who I am, really,” said the singer-songwriter-guitarist during a backstage interview last weekend at Westfest. “They made me realize how healthy it is to do workshops with other musicians and to learn from them. If you’re open enough, you end up developing this art form that you really weren’t expecting.”

What’s more, Murigande has always been concerned about African children losing touch with their musical roots. The youngsters tend to idolize American rappers and stay away from learning to play instruments.

For many, their notion of making music is limited to singing or rapping along to a computer- generated track.

Murigande, who has a two-yearold son in Rwanda, wants to change the culture to bring back an awareness of creating music on instruments. The young people he meets at Canadian festivals talk about seeing him play when they were children, and how it made them want to learn an instrument and become involved in community events.

“How great it would be to create something like that in Rwanda, where the kids can grow up having some kind of reference to music, and somewhere they can really look forward to going to every year,” he says. “With this festival I’m copying (Bluesfest’s) Blues in the Schools program. Eventually we will go the schools and present music to them, and show the kids live musicians. ‘This is how the music is made: First there are the humans, the players of instruments. Not machines.’ ”

Not surprisingly, the biggest challenge is funding. Murigande has raised about $40,000 toward the $150,000 required to put on a oneday event, but it’s a slow process and he’s had to scale it back from the three-day festival he originally envisioned. The volunteer organizing team includes well-connected Canadians such as former CBC Radio broadcaster Tom Metuzals and the Calgary Folk Festival’s artistic director Kerry Clarke, who accompanied Popo to Rwanda in February to check out the site.

“It’s beautiful,” Clarke said in a phone interview. “It’s everything we’d want in a folk festival site. It’s lush, central and there’s lots of room for growth. I had heard that Rwanda was quite beautiful but I had no idea.”

Clarke first met Murigande several years ago when they were both serving on a Canada Council jury. They’ve been talking seriously about the Kigali festival for three years. The Calgary folkfest has already contributed more than $5,000 to the effort, while another $5,000 has come from the Edmonton Folk Festival. Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest has pledged $1,000, and an IndieGoGo. com campaign has raised almost $10,000 so far. Murigande is also performing benefit concerts to raise money, including one in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Clarke believes Popo not only has the initiative to make it happen, but also the connections in Canada and Rwanda. “He’s not just some Canadian landing in the country,” she says. “He has a long history in Rwanda. Popo has had such a good experience living in Canada and he loves Rwanda so I think it’s to meld the two experiences. Really, it’s just to give back.

“I think we all see that music festivals can be a very positive thing to bring to a country, and they can have a lot of other spinoffs in terms of education and gathering people together.”

The reaction in Kigali has been one of surprise. When Murigande went to the city for permission to use the site for a concert, officials thought the request was a mistake. Most public events in Kigali are held in the stadium. A music festival in a park aimed at families is a foreign concept.

“When I went to rent the park, they said, ‘Are you crazy? Music in here?’ ” Murigande says.

“But music should happen there, not in the stadium, where it’s VIP over there and soccer poles everywhere. I want your kids to be safe in the park and I want them to feel comfortable and feel like they belong to this Rwanda that we’re trying to build.”
source, Ottawa Citizen

A man has admitted to being involved in the attack on rap star Tupac Shakur in 1994, inside Manhattan’s Quad Studios in November of 1994, after allegedly being paid $2,500 dollars by James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond.

Dexter Isaac, a former friend of Rosemond, is an inmate currently serving life in prison for murder, robbery and other offenses. Isaac came forward Wednesday (June 15th) with the information on the eve of what would be Tupac’s 40th birthday.

He confessed to his involvement in the November 30th, 1994 robbery of Tupac Shakur after Jimmy Henchman identified him in a statement, relating to Henchman’s indictment for dealing numerous kilos of cocaine.

“I want to apologize to his family [Tupac Shakur] and for the mistake I did for that sucker [Jimmy Henchman],” Dexter Isaac from prison. “I am trying to clean it up to give [Tupac and Biggie’s] mothers some closure.”

Henchman, who’s is currently on the run from federal officials, claimed that Dexter Isaac, along with other incarcerated inmates were cooperating with the government in an investigation of his alleged drug dealing activities.

“If the government is relying on informants like Winston “Winnie” Harris, a convicted drug dealer and Jamaican deportee, who came to me and motioned via hand signal that he was forced to wear a wire and begged me to skip town or Dexter Isaac who is serving life in prison plus 30 years, then I’m sure I will not be offered a fair trial,” Henchman remarked.

Dexter Isaac highlighted that he decided to confess to the robbery to prove Jimmy Henchman’s involvement, in addition to clearing his conscience for his role in the robbery.

Isaac said he was comfortable going on record relating to the robbery and shooting which resulted in Pac being reportedly shot, five times.

Since the statute of limitations had expired, legally, no one can be prosecuted for the assault at this time.
Isaac was a lifelong friend of Jimmy Hechmen, who helped the former mogul set up his first company, Henchman Entertainment, in 1989.

Isaac claims he never cooperated with the government in any investigation, and Jimmy Henchman’s allegations infuriated him.

Isaac, who is also from Brooklyn, has long been suspected of being involved in the Quad shooting of Tupac Shakur, along with an associate name Spencer “Scooter” Bowens, who is also serving a life sentence and another man named George Roland Campbell.

According to the confession Dexter Isaac not only knows what happened to Tupac Shakur’s jewelry, but he claims he is also in possession of the Hip-Hop star’s chain that was taken during the altercation on that infamous night on November 7, 1994.

The shooting on November 30th, was the start of a deadly feud that resulted in the murders of both Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
Their murders have never been solved.

Isaac was indicted by the government in 1998 and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for murder, robbery, fraud and witness intimidation charges.