Koffi Olomide disappoints Congolese rhumba artiste Koffi Olomidetakes to the dancer with a female fan during his show in Harare on Saturday. Picture by Innocent Makawa

Godwin Muzari Arts Editor
Congolese musician Koffie Olomide came and performed, but he did not impress. Expectations were high and fans were looking for the best act, but Koffi decided to go for a lukewarm act at the Harare International Conference Centre on Saturday night.

Whether it had something to do with the change of concert day from Friday to Saturday or an average crowd that turned up for the concert, the rhumba star was not in his best form.

The act was worsened by the team that he came with. His dancing ladies were pathetic. Rhumba is traditionally known as a genre associated with waist-shaking and gyrations, but Koffi came with a team of apparently tired ladies that struggled to shake their bulging tummies.

And they proudly displayed the tummies like they were on a “fat-mummy” contest. It was indeed pathetic.
It was not surprising when Koffi drooled at the sight of well-equipped local ladies that he called to the stage for freestyles. They outclassed a team that flew in with the mega-star of rhumba music.

If he had picked a team of dancers from the crowd to be his backers, they would have put in a coordinated impromptu act that would have made the show lively.

He chose good songs and belted out hits with his usual roaring voice, but the choreography was disappointing.
If he had come with a different team, Koffi would have made a spectacular night for local merrymakers. His dancing boys did not get much time on stage to prove themselves.

They came in with a fantastic introduction and later left the stage to the bulging tummies that were proudly displayed for the better part of the show.

Some of the ladies had screaming tattoos that, unfortunately, failed to make up for their lack of activity. Their massively-revealing outfits worked more to their disadvantage than the purported motive of being attractive.

Koffi remained calm on stage as he has done during most of his shows and he was composed as usual, save for scenes when he openly confronted his dancers for different reasons.

He displayed his well-known rude character when he snatched spectacles from one of his dancers and harshly threw them away. After a short break, the dancer came back in the same spectacles and Koffi took them again, and put them in his pocket. She did not get them back for the rest of the show.

Local dancers from the crowd stole the show and the visitors, and their leader, evidently liked the flexibility of local waists.
However, Koffi still got cheers of approval from rhumba lovers for a good playlist when he ended his show and bowed in salutation with his team around 3.30am yesterday.

He had come up to a stage that had been warmed up by several local acts that included Alick Macheso, Suluman Chimbetu, Winky D and Leonard Zhakata.

Macheso performed early because he had another assignment elsewhere. He performed before a small crowd and did well as he exhibited rejuvenated exuberance that now characterise his shows since the release of his highly-popular latest album “Dzinosvitsa Kure”.

Zhakata was next on stage and he also did his best. He belted out most of his popular hits to wild cheers from the crowd.
Sulu also did a good job. He performed his songs and his late father’s hits that went with good choreography.

His team did well and left fans marvelling at good and well-coordinated dance moves. They were smartly dressed as usual and would have scooped the best-dressed outfit for the night if such a contest was done at the concert.
Winky D did his best, but this time around he failed to send the crowd into frenzy as he usually does.

The dancehall musician has a history of stealing the show when he shares the stage with several musicians, but his performance fell below the high bar that he has set before.

He did most of his hits and some fans sang along, still, it was not the usual outstanding Winky D. He tried his best. It was just not his best night.

However, show promoters should be commended for being able to send the word about change of day of concert well on social media.

Most people anticipated a flop at the Koffi concert, but the attendance was higher than expected. It had the potential of being a full house if the timing had been well.

Doing the sh0w a few days after the harmonised elections perhaps worked negatively for the promoters.

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