AFRO FUSION group 911 Band from Midlands province proved their mettle against nine other provincial finalists to emerge this year’s Chibuku Road to Fame champions at Takashinga Cricket Club in Highfields, Harare on Saturday.
For their efforts, 911 Band pocketed US$15 000 plus a lucrative recording contract that will fund the recording of their debut album and its launch.
The annual competition starts at provincial level and winners from the country’s 10 provinces compete at national level for a monetary prize, plus a fully-paid recording contract.
This year’s competition was held under the theme Imba Tinzwe, Cula Sizwe Super Star.
The competition is a collaborative effort between the sole sponsor Delta Beverages through its Chibuku brand and the arts mother body, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.
This year it appeared to be a battle of Afro fusion bands as Hi-Five from Mashonaland Central province and Kweseka from Matabeleland North province were adjudged second and third placed, respectively. Hi-Five and Kweseka walked away with US$10 000 and US$7 000 respectively.
911 Band members could not hide their joy and were looking forward to bigger achievements.
“The 911 Band is people’s band and all of us are equal in this band. We are excited that we won, and we thank God. There were some people who had discouraged us saying you can go and compete, but you will not win,” said a group member.
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“We are happy for this life changing opportunity. We now have the resources to push our music forward and we are looking forward to being the voices of those who are not yet here.”
Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style on the sidelines of the event, Delta Corporation general manager corporate affairs Patricia Murambinda said: “We are very excited to celebratethe 23rd edition of the Chibuku Road to Fame which was launched in 2000.
“We used to support sungura for almost 22 years and this year we have introduced hip-hop and Zimdancehall because things have changed. The music industry has transformed. There are new genres coming up and we felt it was time to showcase those genres.
After the competitions, guests were entertained by sungura maestro Alick Macheso whose playlist included yester-year hit songs like Shedhiya.
Songbird Feli Nandi also spiced up the event with a brilliant performance belting out such songs as Mubayei and Ini Newe.
During her set, she honoured the late dancehall musician Soul Jah Love by performing songs Ndini Uya Uya, Magetsi and Pamamonya Ipapo.
Dancehall singer Tocky Vibes’ performance was equally incredible as well with such songs as Bhora Mutambo and Rumbidzwai, which saw the crowd singing along.
Mbira player and musician Hope Masike as well as multi-instrumentalist Clive Mono Mukundu also attended the event.
The other provincial representatives at the national finals were Afro fusion band Mazwi who represented Harare, the host province, mbira music outift Deze raWasu from Manicaland.
Jazz band, Visionaries represented Mashonaland West, Bulawayo had an Afro jazz outfit, Royal band, sungura ensemble Gutu Stars represented Masvingo.
Dancehall outfit Famous Mighty Boys represented Mashonaland East, while sungura band, Ziyaduma Express stood in for Matabeleland South.
