By Our Editor
First and foremost, Rated Next of this season was super mediocre. With the exception of the great host, Mosha Danze, we didn’t have much talent that awed us on this season. But even among a tribe of the ugly ones, there’s always that one person who’s exceptionally beautiful. In a season of very acidic voices, we had this one exceptionally talented guy who deserved more than just ending up in second place.
That one person for Cocacola Rated Next was Charles. Now I certainly have nothing against Ruth Grace, but sometimes, we can’t let people to ride on the steroids of age. That’s setting a dangerous precedent for talent shows in Uganda. Yes for a 14 year old, her voice is commendable but with the exception of her performance at the Finale, I still thought Ruth Grace ought to have gone home earlier than usual.
For a girl who found herself on probation after probation, it’s unrealistic that out of nowhere she ends up as the winner.
This speaks volumes about the aims of the talent shows in Uganda. Do advertisers impose the winner on the organizers? Could it be that Charles for his ‘gay-looks’ did not represent the brand that Coca Cola wished to project to the public? Or did Ruth Grace serve a better winner for the bigger picture of the Coca Cola brand.
It certainly evokes memories of David the Doc during the Inspire Africa competition where he lost to a Rwandese girl, a one Iribangiza Clarise simply because Rwandese companies had made a bigger investment in the venture.
But at the end of it all, if we organize talent shows with pre-determined winners, with the very best being rewarded with second place, then we end up hitting a nail in our foot. Why should we cruelly snatch away the victory of the actual winners? Perhaps I am wrong, perhaps the actual winners don’t deserve to win.
Or perhaps, Charles fell short when it came to voting by SMS. We could say, Ruth Grace having featured on the probation list for some good time, had a good number of voters via SMS so the probation had actually prepared her for the final voting spree. But what percentage does this voting constitute of the final results?
Certainly, I watched the whole season of Rated Next and never at one moment did Charles get a negative comment let alone a neutral one from the judges. Or should we say, the first become last, and the last become first?
Then we could consider better alternatives in future. We could separate the final spots into two; “the crowd’s favourite” and “the judge’s favourite”. May be with such a differentiation of winners, we could break less hearts. Because what’s the point of competing in a singing competition if your voice doesn’t determine your winning chances?
Once in a while, we should turn the singing and talent shows into popularity contests, if that’s what it takes to make it clear to the very best. But for now, we speak for the dejected fans who knew deep down that Charles, did deserve a win, or at least a share of the big prize. All the same, congrats to Ruth Grace, you have shown the kids out there, that age is just but a number.