Midlands-based Afro-jazz group Terry&- The Bliss are this year’s Chibuku Road to Fame winners.
Report by Silence Charumbira Entertainment Reporter
The group beat nine others that were in the contest for the coveted $5 000 and recording contract.
Guruve Marimba, who had wowed fans and were supposedly ear-marked for the glory, had to settle for second place pocketing $4 000 while Harare’s Attacking Super Sounds took home $3 000 after coming third.
For the top three groups, what seemed to have worked for them was their spectacular choreography and composed presentations that were complemented by vocal clarity. Surprising losers were Masvingo’s Massive Combination that wowed fans, but walked away empty handed.
The group had been prolific in their presentation seemingly becoming favourites for many and their loss put adjudicators into the lime light for the wrong reasons, as people questioned the results.
William Ndinde of National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, organisers of the event defended the outcome and said the judgment came after a rigorous exercise.
“There are a lot of considerations that are made in the process of coming up with winners. Personally I would have given a different result,” he said.
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Competitors this year generally had a lower level of competition failing to rise to the standards set in previous years.
Dino Mudondo performed as the guest artist and got a fair share of applause.
The competitions coincided with Chibuku’s celebrations of 50 years of existence with Delta Beverages, the funders of the talent search programme, lining up a star-studded cast for the after-party.
First on the list was Romeo Gasa, a product of the same programme, who to date is probably the most successful winner since the inception of the competition.
The young artist got to the stage to a thunderous applause with a full sound signaling the start of a new dispensation.
He performed songs from his latest album Simbi Hombe, leaving the audience wowed by his guitar playing skills.
Next on the list was Tryson Chimbetu who also thrilled fans with his unmistakable stage presence. Chimbetu then handed over the button to Oliver Mtukudzi, one of the patrons of the competition.
Towards the end of his performance fans were treated to an array of fireworks displays similar to the ones that exploded during Mtukudzi’s birthday bash two weeks ago.
The party reached fever pitch with Alick Macheso taking to the stage to wow thousands that had thronged the Glamis Arena.
Macheso presented a classical act that had the audience grooving in their dancing shoes leaving dancehall chanter Wallace Chirumiko, aka Winky D, to sign off in style. Winky D’s energetic performance had the youths that were still in the Arena leaping in tandem with his theatrics.
