Auditions: Are they real or for show?

By STEVENS MUENDO and DAVID ODONGO

With bated breath, the finalists of the inaugural Mombasa Got Talent await the great clash next week when the winner will walk away with Sh100,000 cash award and a recording deal with Kenya’s top recording stable.

Following the footsteps of other reality shows such as Tusker Project Fame and Idols, the search has seen aspiring artists sweat it out for the last two months with stardom, fame and fortune in their mind.

The stakes are high and there have been tears and laughter, heartbreaks and joy through the six weekly elimination hits as hopefuls got knocked out while lucky others soldiered on towards victory.

With it comes critics who are already questioning if the cash awards and recording deal will be honoured after a series of broken promises by bigger brands.

"We are not one of those. This is our inaugural talent search show. We will honour all our pledges," reiterates Delph Macharia and Dominic Maina, the brains behind the Mombasa Got Talent search.

Talent search

Each year, thousands of Pulsers throng talent search audition venues hoping to get a shot at the chance of getting rich and famous. Aspiring models, singers, dancers and comedians who participate in such events always believe the promises of the event organisers only for the winners to get a shock when the organisers go under once the curtains come down.

It is almost a year after Alpha Rwirangira won the coveted Tusker Project Fame 3 (TPF 3) taking home a whopping Sh5 million, the highest amount any talent show in East Africa has ever offered.

He also got a one-year recording deal with South Africa-based Gallo Records. Ten months down the line, little has been heard about Alpha’s record deal with Gallo records.

The issues surrounding this controversy remains one of Nairobi’s hazy topics.

It was a heavenly promise that never was but Alpha’s dream remains undeterred as he hustles through showbiz murk to become the star he dreamed of becoming when he beat thousands to become a regional big name.

Giving scanty details about the flopped Gallo Records deal and careful not to point fingers, Alpha says. "I never signed with Gallo Records. The terms were not favourable. I opted to go on my own."

These revelations can only be construed to mean the recording contract was flawed.

Admittedly, his predecessors Valerie Kimani and Esther Mugizi got their Gallo Records deals. The new development on Alpha brings in a twist on the otherwise reputable reality TV show and leaves a big cloud on the future of the Rwandese singer.

"Even without Gallo, I have already finished my album and I am just putting the final touches. All I can say is I am strong, firm and happy with the choice I made," he adds without divulging more details.

Even the reigning Pilsner Mfalme King DJ Nelly has his own laments.

"Comparing what I got and what last year’s winner got, I would say my expectations were much higher," he says. "Besides the speakers, amplifiers and the decks which I got soon after the competition, the organisers called me on Monday this week after the media started asking them if they gave me everything they had promised," says DJ Nelly on phone from Mombasa on Wednesday.

Interestingly, he claims that some equipment cannot handle his kind of work.

"They gave me a Compaq laptop whose memory has no capacity to store and mix music with those turntables. I expected a Macintosh, the professional machine to mix music," he states.

He further laments, "I feel downcast winning such a national competition and ending up being left without exposure or publicity. I have been left alone to hassle just like the other finalists."

Nelly, however, says he has no regrets and thanks the Pilsner Mfalme organisers for giving him a chance at stardom.

Beauty pageants

Even in beauty pageants, the litany continues. In the past, beauties representing Kenya in international pageants have come back grumbling about their promoters. Some have cried foul over unfulfilled promises.

Sheila Kwamboka, the former Big Brother star and representative in Miss World event, parted ways with her mentors barely after getting back home after participating in the international Miss World competition.

Not too long ago, a pageant organiser unashamedly issued winners with bouncing cheques. At the Mr & Miss Colleges beauty pageant held earlier this year in a Nairobi hotel,the organiser,a Fred Owiti issued — without bating an eye — bad cheques to the jubilant winners. It has been several months and the winners are yet to hear from him.

You would hope this is an isolated case but its not.In yet another beuty pagent, Jessy, a model, recounts her ordeal when she first ventured into modelling.

Business magnate

"The promoter, a well known youthful business magnate, organised a beauty pageant. It was all hyped and over 200 girls turned out," Jessy says. "He spared no expense and the event was held at a top city hotel. I come second. I remember the top three were to be given cash prizes ranging from Sh50,000 to Sh30,000. This was 18 months ago and up to date, I have never received a shilling from him," she laments.

Jessy goes on to recount how whenever she called him, he offered to meet her in secluded hotels then hinted that she do more to get her money.

"He eventually stopped picking my calls," Jessy says. "What hurts most is the amount of time and money I spent preparing for the event."

Unfortunately Jessy is not the last model to have suffered under unscrupulous organisers. More Pulsers will continue to fall into the trap.