Coca-Cola honoured the country’s top musicians who excelled in the 2017 Coca-Cola Radio Zimbabwe Top 50 and ZBC TV Coke top 50 and the fans who correctly predicted the top five songs with monetary prizes and hampers.
The ceremony took place Tuesday at a local Hotel in Harare.
In the radio category, Mutare based gospel musician Blessing Shumba who scooped the first and second position in the Coca-Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 50 pocketed US$4500 and a Coca-Cola hamper.
Shumba’s hit song Changa Chajaira from the album My Season topped the Radio Zimbabwe top 50 after amassing a total of 140 256 votes while Tariro Ichiripo from the same album came second with 138 329 votes.
The first and second positions for radio gets USD2500.00 and USD2000.00, respectively.
Shumba is not new to the Coca-Cola top 50 accolades after his Mufuro hit won the second position in 2011 before clinching the pole position with the popular Chimwe neChimwe in 2015.
Upcoming gospel musician John Munodawafa completed the radio top three with his song Ndidzivirei from his debut album. For coming out third after polling 78 455 votes, the Masvingo
based star pocketed USD1500.00. The 21-year old who wrote his Advanced level examination in 2017 is a young brother to Munyaradzi Munodawafa who is also a gospel musician.
Munyaradzi who was on position 37 in the 2017 top 50 with a track tilted Bhodha Tavhara is also a previous third position prize winner when his hit song Zodzo came third in the same charts in 2012.
Winky D dominated the top 50 videos with Rugare and My Woman taking the first and second position, respectively. In the process, Winky D walked away with USD4500.
In 2015, Winky D again won the television top videos with Chiramu lifting the first prize.
Snipper Storm claimed the third prize with Tsvigiri Muhuchi earning himself$1500.00. This was his first time to win in this competition.
Speaking at the awards ceremony at a local hotel, Coca-Cola senior brand manager, Vee Chibanda said that her company was pleased to help artists achieve their dreams.
“At a time when sponsorship for the arts industry is dry, we are happy as Coca-Cola that the top 50 has stood the test of time being one of the avenues where artists can achieve their dreams,” she said.
“The Coca-Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 20 and the ZBC TV Coke on the Beat programmes which culminate into the top 50, have not only provided local artists with platforms to exhibit their talents, but they have also become life-changing events for many of the musicians.
“The top 50 music awards is one of the several ways in which The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners, namely Delta Beverages, Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited and Mutare Bottling Company plough back into the Zimbabwean community by helping local artists.
As you are aware, we have broadened our music initiatives to include Unplugged and Coke Studio Africa to increase opportunities for our hard working artists,” she added.
Apart from honouring the nation’s crème de la crème musicians, it was all smiles out for the 20 lucky viewers and listeners who correctly predicted the top five charts as they were also rewarded with various prizes ranging from smart HD television sets, home theatres, mobile phones and product hampers.
In 2017, there was a huge surge of fans who got the top five prediction correct as 130 fans correctly predicted the top five songs for radio and four people getting the television predictions correct compared to a total of 23 people in 2016.
Also honoured at the ceremony were Coca-Cola programme presenters who include Coke on the Beat, Coca-Cola Daily Sports Zone, Coca-Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 20, Coca-Cola Sports on the Driver and some of the behind the scenes crew members.
The Coca-Cola ZBC top 50 music and video awards are an annual music ceremony in which viewers and listeners vote for their favourite songs which would have done well during the course of the year.
Unlike other music awards where panels of experts are responsible for choosing winners, this one is unique as it belongs to the viewers and listeners.
Fans are empowered to select songs and videos of their choice through mobile phone SMS platform. There was overwhelming participation in 2017 with 1 204 419 votes being received for the Coca-Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 50.
Share Your Comments