April 27, Kenya National Theatre - It had been four grueling monthly appearances for the competitors – auditions in January, workshops in February, more auditions in March and ultimately, the finals on 26^th April. Finally, it was time to know who had emerged victorious in the 7^th edition of Talentmania Awards. Understandably, then, the gala event at the Kenya National Theatre was high on expectation, not just for the competitors but their supporters as well.

 
Music Winners; Coban, Duet Delivered & Christine

Although the event started (almost an hour) late, that was soon put aside as the day’s MCs, Anthony and (Mwafrika.com features writer) Sam Kithika got things going. Performances came in various forms and shapes; dances from ICED and Ignitaz, hip-hop sounds from the likes of Hey-z and Coban, melodious efforts by Christine Wangui, D’frent and Duet Delivered among others. It was not difficult to see, and the audience agreed in cheers, why Talentmania is easily a bed-rock for explosive future careers.

The afternoon had its special moments, with some of the acts making a strong case for their presence on stage. One such was Pammy, whose outstanding presentation of the R-Kay produced Faithful and True earned her thunderous applause. St. Phillip’s Brigade, the event’s youngest competitors, stole the hearts of many with a medley of African dances. Not to be left behind, the awards’ dance judges, Dashy Dancers, got a chance to display their head-spinning, body-rocking skills, while music judge Chief’s Dunco brought life to the party with a ragga freestyle.

On the drama front, the Thespian Brothers tickled the audience no end with their ‘pencil’ narrative, warning against promiscuity. This was easily the day’s best set, and the drama judges had apparently been just as impressed, as this group bagged three of the four awards available for drama. Finally, there’s no doubting that dance group Saints can bust some serious moves. With tight formations and creative jigs, their curtain closing performance brought the afternoon to a worthy close.

But even with determined performers and a highly co-operative audience, the Talentmania Awards gala was not without its drawbacks. Technical glitches threw the programme into disarray severally, while late starts and dead spaces pointed to quite a bit of disorganization. For an event that’s in its seventh annual edition, these shortcomings just served to highlight the fact that Talentmania Awards are certainly not at the level they ought to be.

That said, it will be interesting to see how the careers of this year’s winners pan out – judging by history, we have not heard the last of these amazingly talented individuals. Oh, and we do need to mention that Mwafrika.com picked up the director’s award this year for significant contributions to the industry. 

To view the full list of winners, CLICK HERE.

D’frent Get On The Mic 

MC Sam Kithika & Talentmania’s Charles Kimathi 

Hey Z Drops Mazeh 

Ignitaz Get On Stage 

Don’t Try This At Home 

Pammy Wows With Faithful & True 

As Does Duet Delivered  

And Songwriting Winner Christine 

Dunco (Chiefs) Gets His Chance 

These Guys Love It 

The St. Philip’s Brigade 

They Do Learn Rather Early 

Posing With Their Trophy 

Saints Get Their Costume Award 

R-Kay Awards Coban 

Thespian Brothers On The Narrative 

They Get Awarded For It 

Dashy Dancers 

Free For All Session 

Saints Show The Moves… 

Look Up To The Sky… 

And Bag The Trophies!

Email (will not be published)

Name

Title

Comment
 remaining characters

Post