For the first time, there were no protests when the winner of Primus Guma Guma Superstar music competition was announced.

When the Minister for Sports and Culture Protais Mitali announced that Emery Gatsinzi aka Riderman was the winner of PGGSS season three, the whole Amahoro national stadium erupted into celebrations.

Previous announcements of winners were marred with protests and ugly scenes.

Even though there were fears of surprises, the audience was convinced that rapper Riderman, would win this year’s music contest.

Before the winner was announced, there was tension following rumours that Urban Boys were neck and neck with Riderman in the competition.

But to the judges and the sponsors Bralirwa, the public had spoken during the voting period and any other outcome against their wish would have been catastrophic.

The performances of the other four finalists namely Urban Boys, Mico Prosper, Knowless and Dream Boys were nothing but mild.

It was as if everyone was waiting for Riderman to step on the stage. When he stepped on the stage, his performance did not only light up the crowd but also tempted the VIP wing.

The stadium vibrated from the foot thumping as Riderman sang his popular hits Horo, Abanyabirori and Bombori bombori.

Riderman took the stage by storm well aware that he an advantage against other contestants throughout the competition that spanned over three months.

The popularity of Riderman had been growing and his music career reached its apex when he was crowned the winner of Guma Guma season three.

He not only commands huge following among the audiences that attended his shows, but also on social networks.

The rise of Riderman has been gradual. While he played second fiddle in the first and second Primus Guma Guma contests, Riderman had been a force to reckon with behind winners — Tom Close and King James.

With humility, Riderman steadily grew from being an ordinary rapper to a musician who sets trends. Some of his popular hits include Umwana uhiye, Kurya ikirori and bombori bombori.

His ability to appeal to both the middle class and ordinary citizens characterised by a life free of scandals also made him outstanding and adorable at the same time.

In 2008 when Riderman released Rutenderi, his breakthrough hit, no one knew he would be where he is today.

On August 10, Riderman’s dream came to pass when he was announced the winner, beating Urban Boys to claim Rwf24m and a trophy.

“I could not have made it without God and the support of my fans,” Riderman said, adding that the “people had spoken,” he said.

“He was the best of all. The people’s choice has been honoured. This has been the most impressive Guma Guma and I would like to thank the organisers for promoting Rwandan music,” Mr Mitali told Rwanda Today.

For the first time Bralirwa hired judges to award marks to the contestants instead of relying on the public votes as was the case in the first two seasons of Guma Guma.
The judges votes accounted for 70 per cent with public taking the remaining 30 per cent.

The judges included Kenya-based Burundian singer Kidumu, Canada-based Rwandan musician Mighty Popo Murigande, Aaron Niyitunga and Aimable Twahirwa, who also did a collabo with the finalists dubbed Imara Icyaka-a song about Primus beer.

The organisers also introduced upcountry live shows to test the pedigree of the artistes in the contests.

There was no disapproval from the public on the winner as was the case with the winner of the first season when the public claimed that Jay Polly was cheated to the advantage of Tom Close who was declared the winner.

The announcement of Close triggered outrage from the audience who pelted the organisers with stones.

The subsequent season also saw King James edge Jay Polly again to the chagrin of the audience.

Bralirwa did not spend thousands of dollars on an international artiste to grace the grand finale as was the case with the first season when they brought Sean Kingston only for him to put up a below par performance.

The second season brought in Jason Derulo who lived up to expectations but some argued that it was not ideal for Bralirwa to splash money on international stars while the contestants went home empty handed.

This time round, Mico who left in the 5th position went home with Rwf1.5m, Dream Boys who were fourth took home Rwf2.5m, second runner up Knowless scooped Rwf3m while first runner-ups Urban Boys walked away with Rwf4m.

Born in Bujumbura, Burundi 26 years ago, Riderman started off rapping at an early age but it was not until 2008 that he broke out of his shells, a move which made him a household name.

He has never looked back since then until 2011 when he was voted to be among the contestants in the first edition of PGGSS. This was his third shot on the prestigious music contest.

He put a temporary stop on his studies at Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC) with one year to go to focus on music.

Now that he has won, Riderman says he will be going back to school to complete his degree.

The inaugural Primus Guma Guma Superstar Music competition was in 2011 but it was marred with controversy with some claiming that the winner Tom Close had been handpicked.