CELEBRATED Afro-jazz sensation-cum-pastor Duduzile Manhenga says Zimbabwe has great, untapped and amazing artistic talents.
Manhenga made the remarks after participating as one of the judges at the Chibuku Road to Fame Harare provincial finals held over the weekend at Warren Bar in the capital.
“I was excited to have been part of this, since it is a road that I have walked myself and I know what it requires. It was amazing to see such a level of musicianship and also workmanship that is out there in the young artistes.
“It shows that people are working hard, the good bands that won showed a good level of sychronisation,” Manhenga explained.
“It was really a tight competition in that you could tell that these are people who work hard and are very passionate about the arts.
“I think in terms of how the future should be like, it would be exciting for us to hold workshops that attend to the little things that sometimes talent does not pay attention to like presentation, branding, how to create a brand and how to place yourself, to dress according to the genre of the music you are doing and to just carry the whole package properly.”
If Manhenga were to host a workshop with the budding talent that participated at the competition, she would love to address issues of stage presence.
“As raised by Mac Dee top music producer, born Macdonald Chidavaenzi, [who was also part of the judges panel] when you are on stage, it is not about you, it is about the audience that you are speaking to, that you are sharing your gift to because you are on the stage to give a gift and not to show off your talent,” she emphasised.
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“So, when you are giving a gift, you must package it well and you must make sure that whoever is receiving it receives in a way that they will enjoy it.
“As of now I would say we have so much talent, a lot of hardworking people who are really investing themselves into their trade.”
Mac Dee also shared the same sentiments saying he was impressed by the contestants who participated at this year’s edition of the competition.
“Over the years we had more sungura artistes dominating the list of contestants, but this year we had more Afro-fusion artistes and the biggest surprise being Zimdancehall contestants.
“The quality of presentations displayed was top notch and was a clear indication of the level of talent we are to expect in the finals,” he said.
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