Zahara fever grips Bulawayo

Organisers of "Zahara and Friends Concert" scheduled for August 10 at the Borrowdale Racecourse's Fusion Club have promised fans a delightful night when all the artistes perform live on stage.

This means that all the performing artistes including Roki and little-known Buddo Knox from Kadoma will be backed by a live band, something that Harare fans have been longing for.

Topping the bill will be South African music sensation Zahara, Winky D, Alexio Kawara, Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, Roki and Buddo Knox for the Harare concert while in Bulawayo, the concert will be held on August 11.

"We have made a deliberate decision to have all the bands perform live on stage without shortchanging our fans. However, there is going to be a tight programme to avoid delays between sets," Tawanda Chingara, of Hardcore World Entertainment, the organisers said.

Chingara said the concert was not only about Zahara but a showcase of other Zimbabwean talents.

"We appreciate the Zimbabwean artistes as much as we do with Zahara so she is coming to perform alongside our local talents. We also want to encourage fans to come early because once you miss a set it means you have missed a part of the concert.

"We also want to thank all the sponsors, among them Premier Auto, who will provide transport for the artistes, Delta Corporation through their brand Redd's and Endaweni Restaurant," he said.

The "Loliwe" singer is expected to arrive on August 9 aboard South African Airways and then head to Star FM where she will hold a Press conference. She will rehearse on Saturday morning before she goes on a city tour with the rest of the performing artistes and wind up for lunch at Endaweni Restaurant in Belgravia.

According to Chingara, Zahara will travel to Bulawayo by road to allow her to visit other towns like Gweru, Kadoma and Kwekwe.

However, there will be a special guest who is yet to be named but it is highly likely that South African-based Zimbabwean singer and Kaya FM's George Munetsi will be part of the gig.

George, who once described himself as a "newbie" in music, was featured on Zahara's hit song called "Incwadi Encane" which was voted Best Collaboration at this year's South African Music Awards.

"Incwadi Encane" is a plea to a loved one who left for an unknown destination to return home. On the song George complements Zahara with his Shona lyrics which interpret the whole story.

It would be a big surprise if George turns out to be the guest on the show.

Zahara is a singer, songwriter and poet born Bulelwa Mkutukana on November 9, 1987.

She started singing at a school choir at the age of six and at nine; she was told to join the senior choir because of her strong voice.

According to wikipedia, Zahara released her debut album "Loliwe" in 2011 which proved to be a big success as it went platinum in 13 days and went double platinum after just 17 days, selling over 100 000 copies in South Africa.

With Loliwe, Zahara became the second musician after the late Brenda Fassie to reach 100 000 sales figure in such record time.

At the annual South African Music Awards, Zahara won eight awards, including best female artist and album of the year.

Prior to the awards, a media storm broke out about the state of her finances which were allegedly being poorly handled by her record company. However, her record company, TS Records, vehemently denied the allegations.

"She is the sixth of seven children. Her stage name Zahara means 'blooming flower' as a child she was known by the nickname Spinach.

"Her music is classified loosely as 'Afrosoul' and she sings in her native language, Xhosa, as well as in English.

"Her music has been described as a mixture between the styles that have been popularised by Tracy Chapman, India Arie and the Nigerian singer Asa (pronounced as Usher)."