Cinderella Sanyu alias Cindy rose to the limelight as a contestant on Capital FM’s Talent Search show Coca Cola Real Stars.

It was at the time music in Uganda was trying to look for new faces for the then just mushrooming music establishment.

The competition that was won by the late Keefah Mwesigwa introduced mainstream media to Cindy, Dorothy Bukirwa and Sarah Zawedde among others.

Cindy had for some reason won over the audience that even when the public had eventually voted in Keefah’s favor, they still requested for her first single, Time to Say Goodbye.

But before she could be around for a year, producer Steve Jean, the guy that had produced her debut single encouraged her to join another singing competition, too sponsored by the same soft drink, the Coca Cola Pop Stars had a lot to be won.

The continental show saw talent searches go on in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda among other – in each of the countries, the judges were trying to create a music group of three individuals that could either sing or rap.

Cindy became part of the group after a grilling selection that ended in Nairobi, the group would later fly to South Africa to record and shoot the video for their debut single Frisky.

The group was then known as Blu*3 which is said to have stood for Three Black Ladies from Uganda, other members were Jackie Chandiru and   vocalist Lilian Mbabazi.

With Blu*3, the group was at its best producing songs Hitaji, Kakyakyakye, Burn, Mutima Gwange, Strong Woman and Nsanyuka Nawe before her relationship with the group became messy.

In 2008, news broke that Cindy was no longer part of Blu*3 and she had been replaced by former Obsessions member Mya Baganda.

Much as Mya received a lot of backlash from the public, especially those that thought she couldn’t sing; the real controversy was about why Cindy was no longer part of the group – the two voices to date are that she was fired while the other is that she left by herself.

Cindy’s career has not been short of surprises, as she was launching her solo career, promoting her debut single Mbikoye, her nude pictures were published by a local tabloid.

In an interview, she says this was one of the lowest moments of her life;

“At times I just wanted to stay in the house without interacting with the outer world.”

She would though gather strength and release songs like Mungu Bwasalawo, Ayokyayokya, Nawewe, Party On, Dat Dat, Sample Dat and Amateka among others.

She has since collaborated with Mickie Wine, Byaxy, Navio, Rabadaba, Wahu and P-Square among others.

Cindy and the original members of Blu*3 briefly reunited when Jackie and Lilian joined her on stage during her debut concert at Kati Kati in 2012.

She started 2017 on a high, being announced as a performer at the year’s first edition of Blankets and Wine as well as being selected to showcase at the annual East African performing arts market DoaDoa in Kampala.

She’s also making her onscreen acting debut as Bella in the film with the same title.

Listen to her music: https://soundcloud.com/cindy-sanyu