It is a mixed grill at Serengeti Fiesta 2013

They were road trips that took artistes to over 14 regions in Tanzania including Zanzibar and finally the Serengeti Fiesta tomorrow winds up with a mega show at the grand finale in Dar es Salaam.

The season scaled regions that in the past had never tasted the festival and some that had long been left out of the schedule due to different reasons.

Kigoma and Mtwara were fired venues with record attendances as the festival went there for the first time, and the festival finally returned to Zanzibar after a hiatus.

Dar has been quite a busy place in the past one week or so as organisers delayed the announcement of the lead act of the show which was last year graced by rapper Rick Ross.

For the first time in a long time the festival is breaking tradition of bringing one international artiste and instead Dar revellers and others who will come for the show will see five artistes, each with a distinctive flavour in what promises to be a mixed grill of entertainment.

Three artistes from West Africa, One from Jamaica and another from Europe, these will be joined by a strong local presence of 48 home-based artistes, with most of them having performed in the regional tours.

Leading the pack of artistes is Swedish national Mohombi, Jamaican Alaine, West Africans J Martins, Iyanya, and Davido.

The local team too features an interesting line-up with chart toppers such as Diamond, AY, MwanaFA, Ommy Dimpoz and many others who have thrilled audiences during the regional tours.

This will be the second time that J Martins performs at the festival this year after he was hired for gigs in Moshi and Tanga.

The hype is on, and the organisers PrimeTime Promotions and sponsors Serengeti Breweries have promised a great show this time round.

 Word from sources privy to the organisers say revellers will for the first time witness a multiple stage organisation with state-of-the-art sound and lighting.

“It is something that you have not seen before in the entertainment industry here as it gives a vantage view to almost everyone wherever they are,” says the source.

Owing to past experiences where there has been commotion as fans made 11th hour rush for the tickets, they have issued an early call for revellers to buy their tickets on time.

“This will allow us to ensure everything runs smoothly and besides even the security personnel.

There is every reason to believe them especially after delivering on their promise in last couple of occasions when they flew in artistes for the final of the popular extravaganza.

It is still not clear of who will be the main act but all the artistes signed are of international pedigree with some chart topping hits across the continent and beyond.

But who are these artistes that have got the city abuzz with all sorts of activity?

Alaine 

Alaine Laughton is famously known by her first name, is a Jamaican American reggae singer and songwriter. She was born in New Jersey, but moved to Jamaica at the age of three.

 She first came to the limelight in 1988 when she featured in a movie Clara’s Heart alongside Whoopi Goldberg. Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, Alaine lived in the US and wrote songs and sang as a back up for Rocafella artistes such as Cam’ron and Freeway.

 She moved back to Jamaica in 2004 to focus on her own music after working as an investment banker for JPMorgan Chase. Alaine later met with Craig “Serani” Marsh of Daseca. Their immediate chemistry provided Alaine with her first song on the radio within days of her arrival back to Jamaica.

In 2005 her single “No Ordinary Love” on Don Corleon’s Seasons Riddim (Sean Paul, T.O.K.) was a breakthrough single on the reggae scene, and Alaine was quickly praised for her special talents.

Her other singles such as “Deeper”, “Chaka Chaka Love”, “Heavenly”, “Wine” and “Love Sound”, a duet with Beres Hammond have equally been great hits.

Her debut album,’Sacrifice’, was released in early 2008 with Luv A Dub, following in 2009.

 In Tanzania and East Africa in general she is known for her collabo with Kenyan singer Wyre in a song called ‘Nakupenda Pia’.

Mohombi

His single ‘Under the Coconut Tree’ featuring Nicole Scherzinger is quite popular locally but little did his fans ever imagine that he had a Congolese ancestry.

Mohombi was born to a Swedish mother and a Congolese father in DRC (then known as Zaire). At the age of 13 Mohombi and his family left Congo for Stockholm, Sweden in 1999.

His development as a musician is owed to his parents who exposed him to a variety of musical influences from early on in his childhood.

He made his stage debut at 17 in the Swedish revival production of the cult show Wild Side Story. He is a gifted speaker who is fluent in Swedish, French, English, Swahili and Lingala. His breakthrough in music was collaboration with his brother Djo Moupondo, a local club DJ when they formed a group called Avalon combining the dance hall and hip hop with distinctive African beats. Between 2004 and 2008 the group sold over half a million records and won the All African Kora Awards as Mohombi continue his growth as a prolific songwriter.

Ironically at this point music was only a part-time job, and looking for something more Mohombi left Stockholm for Los Angeles. In Los Angeles Mohombi was introduced to producer RedOne. The singer’s debut single, “Bumpy Ride” was the first release on RedOne’s label 2101 Records, a joint venture with Universal.

Mohombi’s debut album, MoveMeant was released in Europe and the US in 2011. Mohombi  has also featured on tracks such as “Hula hoop” of the 2011 release of Stella Mwangi’s album “Kinanda”.

With a strong line up like this one revellers definitely look forward to a great evening that will be spiced with some Naija tunes.