|
|
Ethiopia: Teddy Afro Rocks Out Millennium in Jimma
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
17 September 2007
Posted to the web 18 September 2007
Wudineh Zenebe
Addis Ababa
When it became obvious for Jimma, located 347km southwest of Addis Abeba, to host one of the biggest music concerts taking place in the country on September 12, 2007, in honour of the new Millennium, many residents of the town went cheering late into the night of New Year's Eve.
Ethiopian celebrity singer, Tewodros Kassahun a.k.a Tedi Afro was in the company of other local singers such as Getachew Hailemariam, an Oromiffa singer and Tigist Woyiso, popularly known for her song Kochegn. Comedians Dereje Haile and Tilahun Elfineh as well as members of Circus Jimma entertained their audience in Jimma.
For people like Thomas Jenbere and his four companions who had to travel from Addis Abeba to attend this concert was altogether a special occasion. The occasion has more or less of similar specialty for Mahadi Ummar, an old man who resides in Jimma.
Thomas, 26, was born and brought up in Addis Abeba, Addis Ketema District. He makes a living selling consumer goods in Mesalemia. However, he scheduled his journey to the regional town as soon as the announcement of Tedi's concert.
Although, Thomas' family did not relish is absence for the holiday, he and his four friends were determined not to miss the event.
"My friends and I are passionate fans of Tedi's art of music; it takes devotion to make the journey when the opportunity to cheer on Tedi at the place of my residence did not happen," Thomas told Fortune.
Though the plan was to deploy 60 buses that would be transporting enthusiastic partygoers to the concert, only five buses materialised. Tewodros Teshome, owner and general manager of Tedi Studio Plc, told Fortune that the occasion went beyond his expectation though he could not get the number of people he desired.
The success of the Jimma concert has been visibly observed by Fortune to be a source of positive excitement not only for the organiser but also the residents of Jimma, particularly for the elder Mahadi of the five pals who came from Addis Abeba.
"Paying 50 Br, I came here to look for my grandson who has gone missing since the early part of the day whom I came looking for in downtown Jimma and I happened to seize the opportunity of this concert," Mahadi, who could not hide his impression of the concert, told Fortune.
For Mahadi, who has been living in Jimma for the past 40 years, the music concert he is so touched by was not seen before in that town.
It took place in the heart of the town where various sporting activities are normally held. The performers kept the audience cheering from 2:00pm to 10:00pm.
The programme commenced with circus performances, music and comical entertainment that continued until 6:00pm. For the next four hours until when the concert came to an end, Tedi entertained his audience with 23 songs almost non-stop with only four minutes' break to the amusement of the spectators.
His effort through singing and entertaining the audience, to create the spirit of reconciliation among the families of Beshasha township, 80km away from Jimma whose beloved ones lost their lives in religiously triggered sectarian violence last year, commanded him the respect and admiration of many in the town.
The audience's admiration toward Tedi's aspiration for reconciliation and coexistence among the residents of Beshasha, won the heart and mind of the city administrators.
"Sadly, last year in Beshasha Town, a number of people were victimised by religious conflict initiated by some radical religious groups of individuals who took the wrong course in the name of faith," Kefyalew Ayanna, deputy mayor of Jimma, told Fortune.
"Since the incident took place, the campaign to create the spirit of reconciliation among and between our people on our part has been underway. It is this belief that Tedi's musical art works would bring people together that led us to decide for Tedi's concert to take shape in Jimma," the Deputy Mayor praised Tedi's effort.
However, the 13-member cabinet had disagreements whether Tedi should be allowed to rock the city with his, what they consider are, sensational songs or not. Part of the cabinet was of the belief that the singer would wreck the celebration with his politicised songs while the others argued that his songs of religious tolerance would help people forget the scars of the recent past in their minds. However, the mayor had the final say in favour of the latter.
|
"Given the fact that Tedi is not without controversy, by allowing the concert to take place, the city cabinet has calculated some degree of political risk, in fact, somewhere else it would not have happened. Fortunately, we made the decision that now made us feel proud," Kefyalew described the positive outcome of the event.
|
i need all taddy music
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
