Usher turns it on for SA fans
AMERICAN R&B musician Usher Raymond IV surprised thousands of fans when he performed a popular South African dance, gwaragwara, at the Global Citizen Festival at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg yesterday.
In a one-song set with South Africa-born and internationally renowned DJ Black Coffee, Usher performed an African drum-inspired remixed version of Black Coffee’s
We Dance Again and impressed his fans with many slick South African dance moves, including the gwaragwara.
A dance veteran in his own right, Usher made the knee-and shoulder-twisting dance look natural with his local dance crew, who complimented his performance on stage, and left fans calling for an encore.
Black Coffee, who is back in South Africa for the summer from his Ibiza residency, confirmed on Friday on his social media accounts that he would be collaborating with Usher at the festival, and posted a photo of them together at his house in Joburg.
Thousands of music fans from across the country packed the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg for the “Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100”, featuring local and international musicians, including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, to celebrate the legacy and the centenary of former president Nelson Mandela and Struggle icon Albertina Sisulu.
Among the attendees spotted at the stadium was supermodel Naomi Campbell, American radio presenter and TV personality Lenard Larry McKelvey, aka Charlamagne tha God, and American TV personality Reverend Al Sharpton.
South African-born comedian Trevor Noah was the host.
The show started with performances by Nigerian musicians Wizkid and Femi Kuti, South African entertainers Sho Madjozi and the Soweto Gospel Choir, while Ed Sheeran, D’banj and Cassper Nyovest performed later.
Major roads around the FNB Stadium in Nasrec in Johannesburg were closed to traffic as security was heightened for the world-class event.
It took at least four security checkpoints for music revellers to enter the stadium, with no water bottles or weapons allowed.
The live audience was expected to comprise about 200000 people, and millions more watched the concert through global broadcasts and live streaming.
Over the past six months, anticipation has been building up to the Global Citizen Festival because the international human rights advocacy organisation asked South Africans to participate in various actions in an attempt to end poverty in their communities.
The organisation said global citizens had taken close to five million actions, with more than four million in South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland alone.
The organisation called on leaders to commit to tackling systemic issues affecting the world’s most vulnerable people, such as ending malnutrition, reducing HIV transmission, and improving sanitation across the continent, among others.
Global Citizen worked in partnership with a number of organisations to bring the festival to South Africa, including the Motsepe Foundation, House of Mandela, a number of partners and 25 local NGOs and other organisations.