Moyo’s rise, fall, resurrection

 Then came the mother of all singing contests in popular culture today, Idols East & Central Africa 2008.
With bated breath, the country waited for the result in a competition which had pitted Eric against some of East, Southern and Central Africa’s premier singing talent. The big night came in 2008 and yes, as Africa was now certain, the tally came in and confirmed this Zimbabwean singer winner of the stupendous US$80 000 prize money alongside a recording contract with Sony BMG and other goodies.
Eric Moyo (EM) was set for global stardom and who could doubt that his star was on the ascendant considering the golden voice which could belt with the finest. Hailing from a musical family of pastors and like most popular singers, from a church crucible, where music was an integral part of life. He had the pedigree to lift him up to the very summits of the music industry and scale them he did.
But like a highly priced car that stalls its engine after a few kilometres, Eric’s career stalled. The euphoria surrounding his win pettered out and after an unfruitful stint in South Africa, Eric returned home with the weight of expectation hanging like an albatross upon his shoulders and the vultures ready to surmise doom for the youngster.
What really happened? Up until now, not many really knew. Now the story behind the story of the vocal juggernaut’s journey to fame and back is revealed in this exclusive painstaking interview. Eric is still standing tall though and clawing his way back. He is considered to be one of the finest singers this country has ever produced and this writer would even contend that his voice belongs alongside the likes of Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston!
Excerpts from the interview:
AK: Fans and those that rooted for you want to know what happened after the competition , why you seemed to sort of run out of steam ?
EM: Sony BMG went quiet somehow. I wanted to start (recording) but I couldn’t sign with anyone else as I had a contract with them. Nobody wanted to tussle with Sony. Even SelaeloSelota, (of the Judith Sephuma fame) I spoke to him at one point…that made life difficult for me.
AK: But why would Sony behave this way? It’s mystifying considering that you do indeed have a lot of talent and you had won the contract?
EM: I really don’t know to this day. You have to understand that though I was supposed to record an album, there was no particular person I was dealing with from Sony. I never sat with anyone from Sony BMG.
AK: But you did in fact record a video and a single called ‘This is my everything’?
EM: Yes I was taken to Cape Town by the producer of Idols. So that was the idols team. I thought that I was yet to work with Sony BMG.
AK: The video garnered a lot of attention and of course controversy because you appeared to be cavorting with a number of half-clad girls in it and you are a Christian. The image was incongruous with your faith. Whose concept was the video ?
EM: It was theirs (the video producer). When it came to scripting they had an idea and they knew what sells.We clashed a lot on some of the things .
AK: Such as?
EM: Well in the video I was supposed       to kiss the girl but that I totally refused.      They knew how conservative we were (Zimbabweans at the talent show). At first I didn’t mind. I told myself that I would do what they asked of me and that in three months I would make a gospel album.
AK: Is that maybe why Sony  couldn’t work with you in the end ?
EM: I can’t say man. When you go to a competition like this one, it’s a short cut to the top. They give you a certain packaging you’d not have bargained for.
AK: Tell us about the night after you had won Idols? What’s that world like ?
EM: There was a huge party withlimousines, people taking photos, beautiful girls andbodyguards. You couldn’t approach me if I didn’t beckon you to. Anything I wanted I could get. It was surreal. Everyone wants a piece of you to take pictures with or sign something. It was so much man that even people I admire would come to me and say I know you! I would think to myself and say, “No I know you!” I have only been here like, for two days but you have been a while in the music industry! They create a fantasy and they invite people to live in it. They package you to sell you and they will sell you for that time. Next morning you have to use the same toothbrush and that’s when it kicks in that you are in a fantasy. At the end you don’t know how they pay for it all or how much.
AK: How did you cope in the aftermath ?
EM: That reality has to set in. When you get back, people want you to drive in a limousine.
AK: Which people ?
EM: The people back home. They want you to live the fantasy as projected on telly or in videos.You can be slave to that. The reality has to set in.When I begin to live the lifeI am a real person, an ordinary person. It becomes a work thing.
AK: Would you get back to that experience and would you do it again?
EM:I think I would.It took me places and I bought a house.I learnt a lot. You think you are a brilliant singer when you are singing in church. But when you go out there you see that we need a lot of help. Over there it’s all work that one has to put in that gets you somewhere. You begin to appreciate the brilliance of the likes of Marvin Gaye and Stevie and what they had to go through. I got an overview of the industry.
AK: Fans want to know why the long silence. It’s been a couple of years now since winning ?
EM: The silence was necessary for me as a musician. I had to learn to know what works for me like how to interpret songs my way. I had to find out how Eric does his thing e.g. write, sing. It was painful having been out there. I had to learn that I am not a total package that though I can write songs I am not brilliant. It takes a lot of ability to get that brilliance.
For example, Michael Jackson started doing covers by the likes of Smokey Robinson before he could do his own material. But I wasn’t silent. I have done several concerts in Bulawayo. I have worked with the Sound Of Inspiration, a gospel music project, and also with the likes of top Bulawayo soloists Asaph, Thabo Mlotshwa, Velaphi Gumbo and Kira to name but a few.
I also recorded material with overseas folk about which I can’t give details now. A song written by Asaph called ‘Stand Up For Love’ made the semi-finals of the UK Songwriting Contest last year and I sung on it. So I have not been dormant. My album is coming.
AK: I see. So what brings you out now?
EM: I am holding a concert in November at the Bulawayo Theatre and it’s my coming out show. I will say that fans can expect to see me live on stage on my own with a full band and covering a lot of exciting material from gospel standards to some not so familiar songs.