Zahara Zimbabwe Part 2 billed for the weekend

This week all roads lead to the Borrowdale Racecourse's Fusion Club where the fast-rising South African songbird, Bulelwa Mkutukana a.k.a. Zahara, will be giving her second Zimbabwe concert this year.

Her first performance was held at the Harare International Conference Centre on March 2. This time she is set to perform with her full live band on August 10 in Borrowdale and then move on to Bulawayo the next day.

Tawanda Chingara of Hardcore World Entertainment, who is one of the promoters for the show, has confirmed that this is going to be an awesome event. Prior to Zahara's performance, the audience will be treated to an array of some of Zimbabwe's finest musicians, including Winky D, Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, Alexio Kawara, Roki and Buddo Knox.

There is also a possibility that a DJ at Kaya FM, Zimbabwe's George Munetsi, who collaborated with Zahara on the song "Incwadi Encane", might appear as a guest at the show. It is hoped that superstar Winky D in his own right will attract "maninja" from the ghettos and should boost audience attendance at the show.

Zahara, who hails from Cape Town, was born on  November 9, 1987 and has proved to be the biggest female artiste South Africa has seen since the demise of Brenda Fassie. Last year, within two weeks of release, her debut album "Loliwe" had sold over 200 000 copies in South Africa alone. The only other female artiste to achieve such a goal in South Africa in recent years was Brenda Fassie.

Known as the "Queen of the Vocals" and dubbed the "Madonna of the Townships" by Time Magazine, Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's most popular vocalists, mixing African vocals with a slick international pop sound in songs such as "Weekend Special" and "Vuli Ndlela". She had her greatest success in the 1980s and continued to record into the ensuing decades, but became a celebrity known more for her off stage antics than her on stage work.

Born in 1964 in the small village of Langa, Cape Town, Brenda Fassie's precocious talent brought her to the attention of talent scouts from Johannesburg, one of whom eventually took the young Brenda to Johannesburg and made her a star.

Unlike Brenda Fassie, who was considered to be wild and outrageous with very outspoken views about life in the townships, Zahara enjoys popularity with more gentle soulful songs such as "Lengoma' 'Umthwalo", "Incwadi Encane", "Thekwana" and the album title track "Loliwe".

The promoters, Hardcore World Entertainment, have seen it fit to bring her back into Zimbabwe after a mere six months since her last appearance here due to the enthusiasm shown by the capacity crowd which attended the March concert. Amazingly, the promoters even managed to woo the corporate world such as Delta Corporation, Endaweni Restaurant, Star FM and Premier Auto into supporting this concert.

Although sceptics had thought Zahara's last show was going to be a non-event, they were surprised by the huge turnout. Some fans travelled from as far as Chinhoyi, Kwekwe and Kadoma to attend the concert.

Fans could be seen dancing and singing along with Zahara across the auditorium as the star, dressed in a criss-cross multi-coloured dress and black wedges, took to her acoustic guitar and sang some of the best-loved songs from her album "Loliwe".

But the personal connection that many seem to have with her music was best shown when Zahara sang the song "Umthwalo" whose lyrics are a plea for help to lift a heavy burden that a person is experiencing. As she sang the chorus to this song, many crowd members held out their hands, as if in prayer, and sang along.

One 70-year-old widow, Mbuya Gertrude Chimange, who attended the March concert had this to say: "I was forced to attend this show by my 45-year-old daughter who had just arrived from England and insisted that we both go and have some fun. I had not been to any concert in 25 years since my last visit to South Africa where I attended a concert by Miriam Makeba and Dorothy Masuka and I felt that I was too old to be part of that fun. I asked her who Zahara was and all she said was 'Wait and see'.

"Indeed after the concert, I felt elated. I felt 20 years younger and I enjoyed myself tremendously. Zahara did very well and compared very well with Miriam Makeba. It's just that the refreshments on sale ran out too quickly and left me thirsty all night. This time, although my daughter has gone back to England, I am going to find someone else to go with and I will take my own drinks!"

Max Mugaba of May 7 Entertainment, the company responsible for bringing Zahara to Zimbabwe last time, must be green with envy to see 'his star' coming back so soon without his involvement. But that is showbiz for you. It is cut-throat business.

We all hope that this concert will go smoothly with an adequate PA system and lighting in place. The show should not be a flop. However, we hope that the promoters who bring in international acts into the country know what they are doing. They need to be careful, proficient and efficient because of the big financial risks involved.

The amount of groundwork required before a show is put on is quite phenomenal and often requires a considerable amount of financial backing. We are pleased to know that the corporate world has stepped in. This should be encouraged.

Our sister, Edith We Utonga, was the other day looking for sponsorship of airfares to go to Kenya where she was invited to perform at a music festival and I am informed that despite her numerous appeals on Facebook, no one has come forward to support her. Edith needs a proactive marketing manager to get this sponsorship just like Tawanda Chingara did.

We hope that when Zahara takes to the stage this time, the fans will go home satisfied. We also hope that she will have something different to offer if she wants to come back to Zimbabwe thereafter.