When Tusker Project Fame (TPF) debuted in 2006, organisers of the reality show promised their East African viewers the next big regional music superstar.
But after six seasons, very few people recall the names or music of the winners.

All, with the exception of Kenya’s Valerie Kimani, seem to have disappeared into not such illustrious careers after leaving the academy. Kimani has since produced two albums and has performed live in Las Vegas in the US.

The other winners, Uganda’s Esther Mugizi, Rwanda’s Alpha Rwirangira, Uganda’s Davis Ntare, Kenya’s Ruth Matete and Burundi’s Hope Irakoze, despite winning East Africa’s biggest reality singing contest, have given us so little in terms of lasting talent, and perhaps this could be the reason for the cancellation of this year’s edition.

For a show with the buzz and regional status that TPF enjoyed, it is yet to give the region a music star worth talking about in any of the participating countries.

Take Rwanda’s Alpha Rwirangira, for example. After winning TPF Season III and Season V (All Stars), the singer declined a recording deal with South Africa’s Universal Music Group. The recording deal was part of the prize and was expected to catapult the singer onto the continental if not world stage. He turned down the deal, saying it was not fair.

“Signing a contract with Universal Music Group would have barred me from recording collabos with regional artistes, which to me would have been a major setback in my nascent music career,” he said, adding that collaborating with regional music stars was the only way he could become the regional star he wanted to be when he decided to take part in TPF.

Rwirangira went on to record with Uganda’s Bebe Cool (Come to Me), Burundi’s Kidum (Birakaze), Kenya’s LaMyia (Good Heaven), and Tanzania’s AY (Songa Mbele).

Still, these collabos didn’t help him when he recently organised a gig dubbed Alpha Band VIP Concert at the Kigali Serena Hotel. The hotel’s 1,000-seater auditorium attracted just a handful of fans, and the singer’s vulnerable side was exposed when he took to the stage and said sadly, “It’s absurd that I came here ready to perform for Rwandans but they have not turned up to support me.”

However, as he warmed up with the ferocious Come to Me, the reggae-tinged Birakaze, the low tempo Beautiful, the much popular Swaga and a cover of Lucky Dube’s Remember Me, Rwirangira became more comfortable with the small crowd and performed with a passion and vigour that swayed the audience.

READ: The night Alpha Rwirangira thrilled fans at Kigali Serena

One of the night’s acts during Rwirangira’s concert was last year’s TPF winner, Burundi’s Hope Irakoze — another TPF product who is also still struggling to find his feet in the music game.

But unlike Rwirangira, Irakoze accepted TPF’s recording deal and went on to record his debut album with South Africa’s Sony Music.

He is however still waiting to benefit from the TPF win. “The record label are taking a long time to release the album yet my star is slowly fading away. It would be better if the winner were given a chance to work with a record label of their choice,” he said, adding, “People tend to think that you get it all once you take part in the competition. But contestants only matter to TPF when they are still part of the show, after the show one is on their own.”

It is clear that Irakoze is still trying to build a music career. He is currently based in Kigali and occasionally performs with little-known bands at different hotels in the city, especially at the Hotel Des Mille Collines.