Kenenisa(Alehonilih Alegn)

Sometimes at any moment unexpected situation happens. The event might be heartbreaking or pleasant. But the main thing is that it does not only draw international or national attention but also creates a current that spans over horizons. This happened when the Rock and Roll singer Elvis Prisely died, when the actress Marylin Monroe committed suicide as well as the sudden death of Princess Diana. It is not unusual that singers that have the talent and the swiftness try to express their feeling about the event with music. However, the time will not be enough to make the music immediately before the wave of that event created nationally and internationally cools off. Therefore, the music will be outdated and unsuccessful. Because of this, musicians who want to come up with a song in time for the occasion will rearrange the music they have worked on for another concept by making it go along with the lyrics for the event while the event is still fresh. However, selecting either the proper lyrics or melody and arranging the two in time presents great challenge and requires great intelligence. Because the odd of the success is very narrow.

At the sudden death of Princess Diana, Elton John’s song “Candle in the wind” might be referred as remarkably successful piece. Many have confirmed that Elton John’s “Candle in the wind” has magnified their grief ten times harder. But, the sensation that Teddy’s “Kenenisa” created here in our country can be said that it is unprecedented in any part of the world

It is not difficult to assume that Teddy didn’t create this beautiful and deep piece of music with those one or two days. Nevertheless, to pick this among the other pieces, he worked on for other songs and to write the right lyric that became the flesh and bone of the song and furthermore to make a music clip that gave life to the flesh and bone tells us that the young man is multi talented and intelligent.

The day that Teddy’s “Kenenisa” was viewed repeatedly in Ethiopia Television an unusual situation was witnessed. A father, a mother, a sister and a brother shared a mutual feeling for the first time and cried out happy tears. The Engineer, the priest, the barber, the doctor, the teacher, the mechanic, the student, the judge, the shoe shine, the driver, the tailor, the lottery vendor, the Minster, the constructor, etc for the first time were elevated by mutual feeling and shared tears. There has never been such kind of profound sensation. Truth to be told, the success and the professional skill capacity he has showed with this work can never be matched. If we ask why at the day of arrival ceremony of the athletes at Addis Ababa stadium the crowd was shouting for Haile more than the victorious kenenisa, we will find out without going too far that it was because of Teddy.

Teddy titled the song “Kenenisa”, but many recognize the effort and victory of Haile. Because of this, we learned not to repeat the cold feeling we show for a hero that failed to be successful one time at the reception of Haile. It forced us to give Haile the same or even more admiration and respect when he wins. It eludes us if the music was made whether for Kenenisa or Haile creating such a balance that showed young man’s maturity. Most musical experts including Mozart agree that music is an outstanding piece if it is loved among children. It may not be certain to assume children in schools will sing out the national anthem of Ethiopia word by word. But we can be sure that every child will definitely sing Teddy’s “kenenisa anbesa” without a trouble.