By William Butt

19^th Sept 2011:

Jamal: Flew the Ugandan flag

During the TV broadcast of the Crimea Song Contest in Yalta, Ukraine, about half a billion television viewers learned something about East Africa.

As the Ugandan born Jamal was leaving the stage after his incredible performance, the legendary ex Soviet singer Alla Pugachova proclaimed in Russian to the millions of viewers from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok – “…Now we all know where Uganda is and we can feel the love which has been brought to us from that country by this incredible artist!”.

And that was putting it quite mildly.  Jamal didn’t attend Eastern Europe’s biggest music festival and Song Contest as just another contestant.  He brought a piece of Uganda with him and shared it with not only his fellow participants, but also with the somewhat stiff necked ex soviet organizers; many of whom thawed out in the positive sunshine which this young Ugandan injected into the event.

The Crimea Song Contest was arranged by the tourist authorities in the Southern Region of the Ukraine. The event took place in the seaside holiday resort of Yalta, situated on a peninsula in the Black Sea. This is the place to which you were sent for a holiday during Soviet days if you were a famous cosmonaut or someone who the Kremlin wished to reward in some way.

Participants representing 20 countries from all over the world performed on two occasions. In the first performance the contestants sang a song which represented their own culture, and in the second performance two days later, each contestant sang a cover hit song.

Jamal began with the song “Abakyala Bazira” and you could almost hear a pin dropping as the 3,000 strong auditorium filled with Russians and Ukrainians were dazzled by this song in the Luganda language. In his second performance, Jamal sang the Bruno Mars cover hit called “Grenade”.

The prizes ranged from a third prize of $20,000 to the astronomical special award of $100,000. Unfortunately Jamal didn’t win any of these, but he was showered with one honorary prize after another. According to a music promoter from Switzerland, Jamal was the star and he should have won “…at least one of the cash prizes”. This sentiment was echoed by two Russian promoters and in the press room which was adjacent to the festival stage.  I could hear the words “Jamal” and “Uganda” coming from the lips of several Russian and Ukrainian journalists.

When Luos and Kikuyus dressed as Masai worriors

Amongst Jamal’s rival contestants were a group of Kenyans who performed wearing Masaii folk dresses. Naturally this was appreciated by the television viewers in Eastern Europe but anyone with an ounce of knowledge about East Africa would have raised their eyebrows when seeing Luos and Kikuyus dressed as Masai tribesmen!

Jamal on the other hand came on stage as a true Ugandan, representing his country and culture for what he is and wants to be taken as. I asked him what he would do if he won the big prize.  “…I will give at least 60% of the money to my NGO in the Northern province of Uganda so that it can contribute to the women there having easier lives”, Jamal said.

It was when he was touring Denmark that Jamal was contacted and asked to represent Uganda in the contest in Yalta. And represent Uganda is exactly what he did because just as I was leaving the auditorium on the last night of the contest, a Russian journalist who had seen me talking with Jamal looked at me and said:  “…Did you know that the River Nile starts at a place called Ninja?”

“No I didn’t”, I replied – and added that I knew that Africa’s longest river starts in a place called “Jinja” – to which the journalist asked:  “Is that in the Sudan?”.  No, I replied.  It’s in a country called Uganda which, according to Jamal, is the most beautiful country on the African continent.

If there is one thing that the Russians and Ukrainians learnt last week, it is that Uganda is a country rich with culture and that music is a big part of that culture.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.

William Butt is a freelance Journalist based in Stockholm – Sweden