Blu*3: The ultimate throwback concert

But above all that, the most important piece of history was that the Blu*3 story initially started at the Sheraton Hotel Kampala.
In 2004, Coca-Cola announced that it would launch an East African talent search for the next pop stars in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The show aptly called Coca-Cola Pop Stars had already been a hit in South Africa where they had already aired a season.
The Ugandan audition for the show took place at Sheraton Kampala where judges Christine Mawadri, Zwai Bala, and Steve Jean selected Cinderella Sanyu, Lilian Mbabazi, and Jackie Chandiru, among others as Uganda's representatives.

On Saturday, for the first time, the songstresses returned to Sheraton Hotel Kampala for their reunion concert and the second overall concert by Blu*3 since the one that launched their debut album Hitaji at the end of 2004.
The Saturday concert had many things working for it; for instance, the trio have long lists of songs they been performing and for the first time, Ugandans had a chance to see them at least try to complete what they didn't when they unceremoniously split.
The concert was a closure of sorts, it helped the public appreciate what Blu*3 was and what it could have become and probably some chances of becoming that.
The show thus was a major throwback from the songs DJs selected, you had them playing from Mic Ya Ziggy Dee to Empeta.

Blu*3 served their journey from Frisky to Woman, one of the final songs Cindy recorded with the trio, then Together to Kakana, the other half of the songs the group released without Cindy.
That's to remind you that in between, Cindy was replaced by Mya Baganda. However, even when Mya's era spawned several hit songs, most Ugandans don't recognize her time with the group. Of course, the concert did not help things, you could think she never existed.

Blu*3 represents a refined generation of Ugandan music, a generation that is becoming extinct every day that goes by. Yet Cindy, Lillian, and Jackie represent a dying culture of Ugandan music, one that still sings with their voices, one that can dress up and still entertain effectively.
Together, they sang and reminded us about old times, when competition was among bonafide vocalists. Juliana Kanyomozi could worry about Iryn Namubiru and what she could do, Steve Jean and Ngoni were both testing their production styles with experimental sounds while Brian Sabiti McKenzie was a student that later became a radio personality to TV and later a rapper who went back to radio.

McKenzie alongside Deddan hosted the Blu*3 reunion concert, a hot mess that turned out just fine.
The girls entered with Hitaji, their second single and the title single off their debut album and later progressed into Frisky, the song that launched them.
From one song to the next, they launched into the realm of nostalgia, you could imagine the music reminded the audience and the singers of something deeper.
 
When Cindy, Jackie and Lilian performed Mutima Gwange, it was different. The song didn't receive a lot of airplay but was somehow popular in salons, boutiques and CD corners. At the time of its release, their Sanyuka Nawe was already out and popular. None of their other songs was as popular.
Probably it was the reason Mutima Gwange kind of remained under the radar.

The difference on Saturday was that when the songstresses released Mutima Gwange, they were living the lyrics of Titi Tabel and Silver Kyagulanyi; they sang the song with a bit of experience. 

Their hearts have probably seen it all, given that they have been through a lot over the years with most of it being publicized.
Most of these things have had something to do with their hearts---matter of fact, it's the heart that led to Cindy's expulsion or leaving.
But the most important thing is that on Saturday, Mutima Gwange was performed by women which meant what they were singing about.
But what made the show outstanding was their delivery, even when Talent Africa did not provide the best sound for the day or even when some people entirely watched the show on a screen, every fault was drowned in the performance.
It's the first show where the overwhelming talent of those on stage outdoes all the organisers' mistakes, and those were many. From the venue, and time management to production, Talent Africa handed us a hot mess that saved itself.