Ezekiel and Esther Mutesasira are EAGT champions.
The 2019 East Africa’s Got Talent (EAGT) winner has officially been announced, and this year the champions are Uganda’s Ezekiel and Esther Mutesasira.
Each and every performer upped their game to impress the judges, live audience and (especially) viewers watching at home, but there could be only one winner tonight, October 6th, 2019.
As is tradition with TV competitions, the result was agonizingly dragged out by comedian Ann Kansiime, who eventually revealed that the Children to celebrated gospel musician Julie Mutesasira had won the show.
They performed a Whitney Houston/Mariah Carey hit during the final round of the competition.
“God, I thank you, I thank you, I thank you. Thank you every body that voted for Ezekiel and Esther I don’t know how to say thank you to you I really don’t know,” singer Julie Mutesasira observed.
“My children you have made Uganda so proud and East Africa at large. Thank you everyone for your support. You have made me a proud mother,” she added.
Their father, Pastor Steven Mutesasira remarked: “Glory be to God the most High, I will [live] to serve you always.”
Soon enough the Twitter and Facebook community were jumping in to celebrate the lads’ victory, which includes a grand cash prize of $50,000.
Sunday night finalists were Kenya’s young songbird Jannell Tamara and Spellcast, Rwandan cultural troupe Intayoberana and then Uganda’s Jehovah Shalom Acappella, DNA and Esther & Ezekiel.
When earlier asked by media what he plans to use the money for upon winning East Africa’s Got Talent, this is what Ezekiel said: “I will first give tithe to God, build a home for the disabled and orphaned children and use the remaining money to process the required travel documents to Canada. I want to visit my mother.”
Ezekiel is an 11-year-old pupil currently in Primary Four at Hormisdallen School, Kamwokya, a location within the city of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest metropolitan area.
“I have not had any trainer or vocal training, I just listen to different musicians singing and then practice with my sister,” he said.
“I sing Gospel and inspirational music. I want to be a professional musician, whose music impacts lives,”
In 2017, Ezekiel emerged winner at Uganda Has Got Talent competitions at Club Obligato. He won a trip to USA and performed at Uganda North American Association (UNAA) convention.
How did the siblings get to know about EAGT?
“I did not know anything about the competition until my aunt Babirye mentioned it to my sister and I. By the time she saw the advert, it was one week to the end of registrations. Aunt Babirye recorded us singing and sent the video to the organisers. The next day which was May 19, she took us to Pearl of Africa Hotel for auditions. On June 2, we received a phone call confirming that my sister and I were among the 30 Ugandans who had been nominated for the competition,” Ezekiel earlier told Daily Monitor’s Sqoop.
About the competition
East Africa’s Got Talent is a talent show competition that is part of the Got Talent franchise owned by Simon Cowell. Season one was produced by South African film production company Rapid Blue, and was broadcast simultaneously across four countries in East Africa; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
The programme showcases a variety of talents from people of all ages from East Africa, with acts ranging from singing, dancing, comedy, magic, juggling, stunts and other variety genres.
Each participant who auditioned was hoping to secure a place in the live television finale by impressing a panel of judges and the viewers at home.
Season 1 judges were unveiled on the 13th July 2019 and they are; Jeff Koinange a Kenyan TV show host at Citizen TV, former Big Brother Africa contestant and 91.3 Capital FM presenter Gaetano Kagwa from Uganda, Tanzanian singer-songwriter Vanessa Mdee and DJ Contact Makeda from Rwanda.
