Many Rhumba fans and people who love live performance expected to see Charma Gal on the line-up especially since Franco and the latter have a long-standing relationship.
But Charma Gal, a proven crowd puller, was a surprise absentee because her services are deemed too expensive. When Franco assembled around 25,000 fans in the stadium, Charma Gal was busy on her country tour up in the north. She charges around P45,000 for live performance and P30,000 for back track so the figures were too high for Franco to consider.
Due o the fact that the event was his show, it is said that Franco did not want to spend much on performances because the session itself was centred on him and his ability to deliver a one man show. According to a source closer the negotiations, the two reached a deadlock and Franco opted to leave out Charma Gal who would have added more spice to the line-up of live performers. It is said Charma Gal also tried to bring the figure down but Franco would not have that because he expected the Mosepele wa lorato hit maker to support him.
It is common for local artists to help each other and even offer free performances with the expectation that a favour will be returned in the future. Charma Gal and Franco are not new to this kind of arrangement because she helped Franco launch his album at Fora Farm a few years ago and the latter returned the favour when Charma Gal launched hers at UB Amphitheatre. It comes as a shock that the two could not be there for each other especially at the biggest stage of Franco’s 21-year-old career.
Charma Gal is among the top paid artists in the industry and it is not the first time she got snubbed because of her price. In 2017 when Kast filled up the National stadium with local acts, Charma Gal was not on the line-up because of the same issue. Kast said at the time that he would have liked to include the former member of Culture Spears but the cost of her performance hindered that effort. Kast said over 90% of the artists in the line-up had pledged to perform for free therefore it would have been unreasonable to pay Charma Gal that much. With the success of solo shows around the country, it is expected that big local artists will follow suit and it remains to be seen whether Charma Gal will stage one of her own.
