East Africa’s Got Talent has captured the attention of the entire region in just under two weeks. Ever since the season premiere, ardent fans have been glued to their screens every Sunday night, passionately rooting for participants irrespective of the countries they represented.
Episode Two matched the anticipation, and expectations raised by the first episode, serving up a tasty cocktail of thrills, chills and the occasional jaw-dropping performances.
Memories of some of the extraordinary talent on display, are still fresh in most minds, with one particular sibling duo, simply unforgettable.
The dynamic brother-sister pairing of Ezekiel & Esther Mutesasira left Kenyan judge, Jeff Koinange struggling to find his words.
Singing Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah, their two voices dove-tailed in perfect harmony, leading to a goosebump-inducing crescendo, that you'd simply have to watch in order to capture the magic of the moment in its entirety.
"Somebody say oh my!!! Those songs you sang take big lungs, huge lungs, and you pulled it off, it’s a yes from me," a visibly surprised Koinange stated.
Despite their relatively young age, the two were hitting notes that brought Tanzanian songstress, Vanessa Mdee to her feet.
Ugandan Judge, Gaetano Kagwa, briefly stunned the entire audience when he interrupted their performance midway, going on to challenge the gifted siblings to each sing on their own.
One could have easily mistaken them for seasoned veterans, as they both went on to belt out their favourite songs, punching well above their weight and bring the house down with a performance guaranteed them a spot in the next round in the competition.
Talent was in plenty at the colourful EAGT stage. Elvis Kirabo, a 7-year-old drummer from Kampala, also captured the attention of the vociferous audience.
The grace and energy he used while playing his set of drums got the judges grooving to the beat, and the crowd chanting igweee igweee, befitting the young maestro's gifted hands.
"I feel like we are seeing the beginning of the best drummer story ever, I am looking at a future rockstar," Rwandese judge, Contact Makeda remarked.
Needless to say, Elvis got 4 resounding yes votes from the star-struck judges' panel.
Mark Angachi, who was born with cataracts and had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia, had the most inspiring story of the night.
He walked up to the stage and serenaded the judges with a soulful rendition of a country song, Tennessee Whiskey, which connected well with country music enthusiast, Jeff Koinange.
Angachi’s story inspired Tanzanian judge, Vanessa Mdee, to open up about her illness as well.
“It's unusual for someone that young to sing that soulfully. I'm clinically blind in one eye as well but that hasn't stopped me from pursuing my biggest dreams.
"No matter what happens in this competition, to me you’re a winner and you’re going to continue winning," she conveyed amid cheers from the crowd.
Other notable performances were by The Warrior Acrobatics and Sub Zero, with Koinange finding some segments of their performances painful to watch, due to the risk involved in executing the stunts.
None of the contestants landed the highly coveted golden buzzer in last Sunday's episode but going by the level of talent on display, it most definitely won't be long before someone else gets a straight ticket to the live shows.
Tune in to #EAGTPoweredBySafaricom every Sunday at 8pm on Citizen TV.
You can also catch up with snippets of your favourite performances and even the full show on YouTube with Safaricom’s All In One Bundle for as low as Ksh1,000 that comes with free You Tube bundles that you can use for a month.
Simply dial *544# and rewatch your favourite acts and get to share them without any data limitation.
