Chameleone wins as East Africa dominates the AFRIMA awards

By Awards can be surprising in Africa, who knew the AFRIMA awards even had a song writers category or that Chameleone would once win for penning songs?
Well the awards that took place over the weekend were good for the Leone Island boss being the sole Ugandan artist that walked away with a gong despite Bebe Cool and Lilian Mbabazi's nominations in other categories.
It was an historical night as for the first time East African artists won most of the award categories.

Diamond Platnumz was the biggest winner of the night as he took home 3 awards notably the Artiste of the Year and Song of the year award, while Kenyan group singers, Sauti sol notched 2 awards.
See the winners list below:
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Diamond Platnumz
SONG OF THE YEAR
Diamond Platnumz – “Nasema Nawe”, featuring Khadijo Kopa
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Charlotte Dipanda – “Elle n’a pas vu”
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICA (RnB & Soul)Praiz Adejo – Nigeria
BEST AFRICAN REGGAE, RAGGA & DANCEHALL
Stonebwoy – Ghana
BEST MALE ARTISTE: INSPIRATIONAL CATEGORY
Darey – Nigeria
BEST FEMALE ARTISTE: INSPIRATIONAL CATEGORY
Betty Akna- Equatorial Guinea
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Wiyaala – Ghana
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICAN POP
Vanessa Mdee – Tanzania
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICAN HIP HOP
Casper Nyovest – South Africa
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICAN ELECTRO
Flavour – Nigeria
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Sauti Sol and Cedric Kadenyi – Kenya
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR IN AFRICA
Joseph Chameleone – Uganda
REVELATION OF THE YEAR IN AFRICA
Adekunle Gold – Nigeria
MOST PROMISING ARTISTE IN AFRICA
Kiss Daniel – Nigeria
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY
Charlotte Dipanda
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICAN JAZZ
Kunle Ayo – Nigeria
BEST MALE ARTISTE IN WESTERN AFRICA
Olamide – Nigeria
BEST FEMALE ARTISTE IN WESTERN AFRICA
Yemi Alade – Nigeria
BEST ARTISTE IN AFRICAN ROCK
M’vula – Kenya
BEST AFRICAN GROUP
Sauti Sol- Kenya
BEST AFRICAN COLLABORATION
AKA(South Africa) and Burna Boy(Nigeria)
BEST FEMALE ARTISTE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Busiswa Ngoku- South Africa
BEST MALE ARTISTE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Casper Nyovest- South Africa
BEST FEMALE ARTISTE IN NORTHERN AFRICA
Manal- Morocco
BEST MALE ARTISTE IN NORTHERN AFRICA
Ahmed Soultan- Morocco
BEST FEMALE ARTISTE IN EASTERN AFRICA
Tsedenia Gebremarkos- Ethiopia
BEST MALE ARTISTE IN EASTERN AFRICA
Diamond Platnumz- Tanzania
PILLAR OF CULTURE IN AFRICA
Bola Ahmed Tinubu (Jagaban)

Additional reporting by YNaija www.ynaija.com

Press Release: Kampala International Theater Festival back for second edition

Bayimba Cultural Foundation and Sundance Institute East Africa proudly announce the second edition of the Kampala International Theatre Festival to take place from 25th to 29th November 2015 at the National Theatre that will host an array of readings and productions by celebrated playwrights, directors, and actors.

The Kampala International Theatre Festival aims to provide a platform where presentations of the best and relevant theatre productions are shown, where work of risk-taking artists that aims at contributing to a meaningful and engaging dialogue is experienced. The festival is also a platform to develop professionalism among East African theatre practitioners and connect the East African theatre-making community as well as broaden the access to theatre, develop new audiences, and connect the East African theatre community with their counterparts from elsewhere. Programming is focused on showcasing alternative presentations, in alternative formats and alternative spaces, giving theatre artists and audiences multiple and alternative lenses through which to present and consume theatrical performances.


While last year’s festival predominantly focused on performances from across the East African region, with the second edition we are expanding our horizon. Not only are there performances from East Africa (Uganda, Kenya) on the programme, but this time we are bringing artists and theatre performances from Iraq/Belgium, Kosovo and a guest performance from Senegal!

 

FEATURED PRODUCTIONS

The Betrothal (Uganda)
A young woman whose mother is struggling to care for her younger sister because the government is not providing the medical assistance for children to get their injections, falls for a man deeply involved in the corruption within government, the same corruption that is causing her little sister not to get the proper care.
Body Revolution (Iraq/Belgium)
In December 2010, a Tunisian street vendor set fire to himself, resulting in a wave of widely reported (r)evolutions. What effects do these images have on performers with roots in the Middle-East? How as an expat do you process the information that comes to you from those who stayed behind? How does the body react to violence and fear?
Forged in Fire (Uganda)
An experimental piece dealing with both political and personal issues that arose as young men were dragged into war and families were torn apart, and in the midst of this a tour guide sarcastically takes a group of U.S. tourists through safari in Uganda and the relationship between a commander and his soldier is explored.
Grave Robber Services (Uganda)
A thought provoking piece that examines the great and horrible things that poverty and lack of employment can really force people to do in order to survive. The protagonist has went to school but is unable to find a job anywhere so he convinces his friend who works in the funeral home to help him steal a coffin and gold from a deceased rich man in order to gain money and approval from family and friends.
Marriage Chronicles (Uganda)
After ten years of marital bliss, Maggie and John are plagued by infidelity problems. When medical test prove that the fertility issues lye with John, the couple’s greatest challenge soon come when Maggie insists that John undergo an experimental therapy. But she soon realises that the treatment could have serious side effects for both their health and relationship.
Moi, Monsieur et Moi (Senegal)
The story of a little girl born in Senegal who, like many others and much like a puppet, has been given away, to an aunt, a cousin, an uncle. It is the story of girls in Africa that are mistreated and abused by their parents, guardians, teachers, and bosses. Through the eyes of a clown, the difficult story of a girl growing up into a woman is told, transcending both suffering and laughter.
Room of Lost Names (Kenya)
“M” is murdered and finds herself in Purgatory. To escape Purgatory she has a simple task: she must give the gods her name. But M’s violent murder by a powerful man and the subsequent cover-up means that M no longer has a name or knows her name. A vicious intentional and unintentional plot made up of rumours and innuendo has destroyed her name. To recover her name M embarks on the painful journey of retracing the steps and circumstances that led to her death.
We Won’t Forget (Kenya)
A fusion of various forms of theatre including spoken word/poetry, monologues, music, dance and fine art. The show focuses on terrorism and how it has recently plagued Kenya as a country. It reminds us that people lost their lives and their loved ones, and as much as we should move on and heal our wounds we should not forget the lost and the shattered. It also urges us to be vigilant in this war against terror and to stop solely relying on the government for protection because by the end of the day, it is not the government that the enemy kills; it is the innocent, ordinary, unsuspecting citizens.
Waiting For Train (Kosovo)
A play without text. In the train station there are two people waiting for the train. They are very different from one-another but they have the same intention to leave, tired of their country for not allowing them to fulfill their dream. But nothing proceeds according to plan.

Country singer Holly Tucker loves Ntale's music

You may have seen Holly Tucker's blind audition on the fourth season of American hit show The Voice! A powerful voice that got all the judges Usher, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Shakira press the red button to turn their chairs.

Well after the hit show, the former Team Blake contestant has been working thus releasing four laudable albums.

Holly talked to Ugandan site One Question about her forthcoming concert in Uganda and when asked about local music, she openned up about her love for Swangz Avenue's Irene Ntale's music; "I have heard of Irene Ntale and her voice is so beautiful! It would be really fun to work on a project with an artist from Uganda."

Born 22 years ago, Holly is from Waco Texas. She has been singing since she was 3 years old and the first time she got stage presence was at her home church in Waco, Texas when she was 7 years old. 

Read the rest of the interview here 

Italian Jazz music comes to Uganda

It is said that music knows no language, speaks to all cultures and most of the times has no sex.
This will be coming into play as the celebrations of the World Italian Week pick momentum.
The global celebrations that have existed for the past fourteen years will be coming back for the fifteenth edition though the first one in Uganda.
The past editions have all had a theme attached to them like visual arts, poetry, theater and dance among others, thus to mark the fifteenth series, the Italians will be looking at celebrating their versatile music.
It is because of this that the Italian Embassy is bringing Andrea Pagani with the Songs without Voices for a once in a lifetime performance at the National theater this Friday.
The show will also feature mashups and collaborations with local acts Baximba Waves and Roy Kasika.
Entrance is shs20,000/=  and gates open at 7pm.
The performances are being made possible under the patronage of the president of Italy and locally with the organisational support of Bayimba Foundation.