Blu 3 was a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

n all-female band formed in April 2004 after winning the TV show Coca Cola ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, '' Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gr ...

''. The name is contrived to mean 3 Beautiful (or Black) Ladies from Uganda. Original members were Jackie Chandiru,

Lilian Mbabazi Lillian Mbabazi is a Rwandan-Ugandan recording artist and entertainer. She was born in Uganda to Rwandan Parents. According to a Ugandan publicist at Bryan Morel Publications, Lilian's music style is neo-soul associated with R&B Band tendencies ...

and

Cinderella Sanyu Cinderella Sanyu (professionally known as Cindy or Cindy Sanyu) is a Ugandan musician. She was one of the original members of Blu*3 which also consisted of Lilian Mbabazi and Jackie Chandiru. She has performed with P-Square, Wahu, Beenie Man, ...

. After winning the contest, they went on to record the albums ''Hitaji'' (2004) and ''Burrn'' (2007). The ''Hitaji'' album spawned the hit singles "Hitaji", "Frisky" and the afro beat "Tomalaako". The girls launched ''Hitaji'' at lugogo

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

stadium in December 2004 with thousands of fans. The "Hitaji" video went on to win the Pearl of Africa Music Award for Video of the Year. Sanyu left to pursue other projects and was replaced by Mya Baganda. The group's name was changed to Blu 3 having dropped the star. In 2006 Blu 3 got back in the studio with their longtime producer and manager Steve Jean and recorded the full-length album ''Burrn''. The title track featured Navio from hip hop group

Klear Kut Klear Kut is a five-member Ugandan ensemble consisting of Navio, Papito, Abba Lang, JB, and The mith. History Klear Kut was formed in August 2000. The group started by performing at karaokes around Kampala and quickly gained a reputation for th ...

. Other hits on the album were the Sylver Kyagulanyi penned songs "Nsanyuka Nawe", "Ndibeera Nawe" and "Nkoye". "Burrn" won the Video of the Year award at the 2006 Pearl of Africa Music Awards (PAM Awards). They have also been nominated for

Kora Awards The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President Ha ...

, Channel O Music Video Awards and have won two Kisima Awards, three PAM Awards and numerous others. The group has toured many countries including

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, Rwanda,

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, UK and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. A new album had been planned for late 2008 with a slew of international producers like Charlie King and Aydee of Goodenuff coming in on the project. The working title of the project is ''B3'' and is expected to wrap production in October 2009. The first single off the new album is the Latin flavored "Together" produced by Steve Jean.

Awards

Won

* 2005 Kisima Music Awards — Best Artist/Group from Uganda & Best Music Video from Uganda *2005

Pearl of Africa Music Awards The Pearl of Africa Music Awards (also known as the PAM Awards) was an annual national music award event held in Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan ...

— Video of the Year ("Hitaji") *2007

— Video of the Year ("Burrn")

Nominations

*2005

— Best East African Group *2005

Tanzania Music Awards Tanzania Music Awards are national music awards held annually in Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes r ...

— Best East African Album (''Hitaji'') *2006 Channel O Music Video Awards — Best East African video ("Frisky") * 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards — Best Group & Best Performer Museke
MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs) 2009 nominees
*

2010 Tanzania music awards The 11th edition of the Tanzania Music Awards took place at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam, on Friday 14 May 2010. The event was anchored by Jokate Mwegelo.The CitizenNewcomers ruling the roost 21 May 2010 Bongo Flava singer Diamond wa ...

— Best East African Song ('Where you are' with

Radio & Weasel Radio & Weasel is a Ugandan dynamic Duo under Goodlyfe Crew a Ugandan music group with lead performers being singers Moses Radio (born Moses Nakintije Ssekibogo) and easel Manizo(born Douglas Mayanja). Moses Radio provided smooth RnB vocals wh ...

References

External links

Blu 3 - Exclusive interview with UGPulse.com

MTV review

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blu3 Musical groups established in 2004 2004 establishments in Uganda Popstars winners Girl groups Ugandan musical groups Ugandan women singers Musical trios