The Zimbabwe Under-19 Women’s side travelled to South Africa this Thursday for a five-match Twenty20 (T20) series against South Africa Under-19 Women.
The games will be played on 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 October at the Sahara Park Willowmoore Cricket Stadium in Benoni.
Both teams are using the series as part of their preparations for the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa next January.
The Zimbabwe Under-19 Women’s squad includes two players – all-rounder Kelis Ndhlovu and pace bowler Michelle Mavunga – who already boast international experience at senior level.
Ndhlovu was the highest wicket taker at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022 that ended on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates.
During her maiden tour with the seniors in Namibia earlier this year, she shared an unbeaten opening stand worth 158 runs with Sharne Mayers.
Ndhlovu was also part of the Zimbabwe Women team that played the South Africa Emerging Women side at the start of September.
Mavunga made her debut for the senior team in Namibia earlier this year and travelled with the side to India for a training camp in July.
The Ndiraya twins, Kelly and Kay, have followed in the footsteps of their sister Ashley – who has been in the Zimbabwe Women set-up for more than 15 years – in making it into a national side.
Another player with a national team sibling is Tawananyasha Marumani whose brother Tadiwanashe is a Zimbabwe international.
The youngest members of the squad are Paula Whaley, aged 12, and 13-year-olds Christine Mutasa and Beloved Biza.
At the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, Zimbabwe are in Group B alongside England, Pakistan and Rwanda.
ZIMBABWE UNDER-19 WOMEN’S SQUAD FOR SOUTH AFRICA TOUR:
Kelis Ndhlovu, Vimbai Mutungwindo, Kay Ndiraya, Christine Mutasa, Paula Whaley, Michelle Mavunga, Olinda Chare, Danielle Meikle, Adel Zimunhu, Beloved Biza, Tawananyasha Marumani, Kelly Ndiraya, Portia Chihwai, Natasha Mutomba, Kudzai Chigora
This Saturday will see ordinary people battle it out with one another and transform into a star at The Chibuku Road to Fame finale.
The competition is responsible for unearthing such talents as Romeo Gasa (2007), Adequate Sounds (2016), The Travellers (2017) and Identity (2019) will once more present to the nation another gem.
Provincial finals which kicked off on August 6 2022 brought a lot of excitement to followers of the competition.
This year will be a thrilling finale as Chibuku celebrate 60 years of existence.
Several exciting activities are lined up, and there will be several well-known performing artists at the celebrations.
Fans can look forward to stellar performances from Winky D, Mark Ngwazi and Baba Harare, ExQ, Tocky Vibes, Godfather Templeman, DJ Mbale and the 2019 Chibuku Road to Show Fame winners, Identity Band.
Entrance on the day will be free of charge with performances set to start at 1030am.
Thursday night’s Shoko Festival Mash-Up at Moto Republik adds to a series of perfectly executed fusions of different genres.
The juxtaposition of traditional sounds like mbira music, sungura and hip hop portrayed the arts as eclectic in nature.
That is basically what Shoko Festival intends. The message clearly read in bold that despite variations in demographics or geography art never fail to pour into one river. This was a display of artists from as far yet so near neighbouring Mozambique, the entourage from Bulawayo and of course the local Harare based.
We arrived to a M.U.S.E’s performance which amplified the rise in the momentum of the festival. He was later joined by Zimbiyana Jones of the Mc Chita fame. One thing that the crowd appreciated was the flow of their rap.
Mbira music invaded the stage with Lang glowing and floating in that soulful almost spiritual realm of traditional music.
Noble Stylz and M. Biller emphatically complemented the deep singing with verses in between the set. Rozalia from Mozambique got the chance to represent how singing is done on the shores of the ocean and she couldn’t have asked for more as the crowd swerved to her melody.
Thereafter, the show would bounce more hip hop with Luminous on stage. The Bulawayo-based artist is solidly a man to watch. His presence on the stage was welcomed by hip-hop heads who sang along to his newly released album. The delivery was on point raising the bar a little too high for the next performer.
However, it would not be a hurdle for the man of the moment Voltz JT. With his album launching today the Mash-Up presented him with a good stage to prepare for his most significant career moment.
He churned popular hits like Friends, Shamwari Yangu and These Days before teasing the fans with a verse from Life of Muvhimi – this came as a result of electricity suddenly switching off and fans demanding an acapella.
Uncle Sam followed up to again divert the night’s set with his lead guitar as people from different walks of life continued to appreciate this genre as the parent of the Zimbabwean popular sound.
The event successfully delivered a mash-up that entered the many rooms of art.
Different colours, language, background, inspiration and circumstances but one People!
Natasha Muz will be on home ground when she takes to the Shoko Festival stage at the Peace in the Hood Concert happening in Chitungwira’s Unit L Community Hall Grounds Saturday.
She is one of the most versatile artists of her generation, she can rap, sing and switch to dancehall all in one set.
Natasha Muz possesses a voice with a distinctive bold tone yet so melodic and the Peace in the Hood Concert is a perfect stage for someone with such a unique quality.
The free show will also see the likes of Freeman HKD, Kikky BadAss, Crooger, Ndonzi Beat X, Tanto Wavie, Brian Jeck, King Her, DJ IROQ and Abisha Palmer take to the stage.
“The Peace in the Hood concert will be in my hood and it makes me excited, Covid-19 had prevented us from having such big events,” said Natasha Muz.
The acts at this year’s Peace in The Hood Concert
“Shoko Festival has really come in a big way not only for us as artists but for our fans to interact with us and relate with our music.”
She added that fans can expect an energetic performance from her as usual. Fans will be crossing their fingers that the 2018 Zim Hip Hop Awards Best Female act will sample some of the new songs she has been teasing.
The release of Sha Sha’s long-awaited album I’M Alive sees the BET Award winner assert her dominance of Amapiano while also extending her creativity into a bolder, soulful R&B terrain.
The follow-up to her debut offering Blossom, I’M Alive is the sound of an artist who is breaking barriers – as heard on the fantastic four singles that have been a precursor to her second full-length.
The singles “Ungowami” featuring Soa matrix, “Themba Lami” featuring Ami Faku, and “Give Me Something” featuring Rowlene, have together offered a potent and unforgettable reminder of why Sha Sha is such a formidable music force.
I’M Alive is nothing short of a proclamation by Sha Sha on her musical eclecticism and wide-ranging gifts – from songwriting to performing. It is also a statement of her own power. “There had to be certain things within myself that had to happen so I could come alive,” she says. “It’s more like a rebirth, self-reflection and healing.”
I’M Alive features 30 collaborators and “I think every single one of them brought a special contribution to my project,” says Sha Sha. “I am very proud of us as a team and the music we have created.
“I think there are some great and exciting surprises on the album, people will discover the diversity of the music we have created.” The album is executively co-produced, mixed and mastered by long-time collaborator Herc Cut The Lights who had to say “A lot of time and effort was put into this body of work to create a lifelong experience”.
The album sees Sha Sha moving through Amapiano and show her musical strength in other genres, among them Afrobeats and R&B. It’s an intoxicating, genre bending mix that gives expression to her aspiration to reach new audiences across the world while never forsaking the signature Sha Sha sound that has turned her into the Amapiano Queen.
“This album was a healing process for me,” Sha Sha shares. “I don’t want to prescribe too much to people, but I think the healing and love message will come through clearly. The title I’M Alive is not a morbid one.
It is a journey of letting go of a version of me and welcome the new one. It is about low frequencies around me and inside of me that had to come to an end for a new version of me to come alive. I am a very spiritual person so in this journey the relationship with God is central.”
Finally, on what she hopes the audience will take away from ‘I’M Alive’, Sha Sha says: “I want audiences to let themselves go and get lost in the music. To take whatever they want from it and maybe in a way it assists them to tell their stories too.”
If anything, music promoters are some of the most daring entrepreneurs. We cannot doubt that moves are calculated before execution. But the insecurity of investing thousands in a venture entirely dependent on the clientele’s impulse is a gamble with infinite risk.
The Sungura Blast held Saturday night at the giant HICC is testimony to this enlightenment.
With an all-star line-up of the biggest Sungura acts like Alick Macheso, Nicholas Zakaria, Mark Ngwazi, Sulu and Baba Harare the nets were cast not so far from the big catch.
However, Gateway Stream is that investor well-positioned to play this card and their determination to make a name in the music industry has proven to be eyeing the long-term side of things.
Amongst the highly sceptical armchair critics is this writer on whether the sungura faithful would fill this monstrous arena at a charge of $20 United States Dollars. Early bird tickets were billed $10. The sun eventually dipped and the hotel’s lighting began to expose the early birds who were on time for Armageddon.
The battle of my inexperienced business conscience against this dare by professional business planners. The clock soon raced to as late as 8pm with a sizeable number of revellers who surely anticipated a flop.
Kanindo female artist Shantel Sithole who warmed the stage with a class performance. Momentarily, seats began to fill and my crossed fingers simultaneously loosened.
Shantel Sithole picture by Events Evolution
Now at par with rationale thinking that Harare is a mad city. The beautiful dancers on the big stage silenced the doubts. It was game on!
Nicholas Zakaria ‘the senior lecturer’ emerged to perform to a relatively good crowd. This crowd treated Madzibaba as genuinely deserving of legendary status. For a man who has dined with the guitar for 47 years, a top-notch display would be the least of expectations.
Calm, collected and glued to the mic; the set lectured a great deal of class. Thanks to the beard that personified the grey hair wisdom the engaged music fans were in great support lighting the event to great shine like his clean shave. Bald and bold. The dancers took it further with what easily was the best choreography of the night.
He would soon be cut short to make way for the overly ‘naughty’ Baba Harare. His too would be a performance to solidify his ambitions as the city’s father. Something which has something to do with everything best censored for the dignity of mature music.
At this point, the festival was living up to the hype. The success became no longer a matter of attendance but music as a blissful experience. Mark Ngwazi is definitely a fan favourite. His place in the industry bridges the generation of sungura legends and its current crop of fans who appreciate this genre.
This claim was fully backed by the outfits his band were in; ‘gold’ chains and Nike T-shirts. Without wasting a minute the little crowd roared into a choral of denouncing hypocrite friends – ‘blame yourself for trusting them’ the guitar-led. It was a performance and a half from the prospective king of sungura.
It might sound very unfair to collect all these festivities and package them as curtain rising. But truly, the momentum and atmosphere drastically improved with the knowledge that it was now time for the main meal.
At a very fast pace, we knew the maestro is ready backstage. Have you watched the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team right before a rugby match? That ritualistic war cry. Orchestra Mberikwazvo is somewhat a replica of that energy.
Alick Macheso is a superstar. The VIP seats were left almost empty as revellers moved closer to the stage to reduce the distance between themselves and greatness.
Alick Macheso – Picture by Event Evolution
‘Ayaya – ndoda kutenda weGateway, pasina imi vanhu tingadai tisipo’ he humbled himself as he did throughout the performance. The base guitar magician went on to hit those strings with a towel for Christ’s sake! In rhythm as the crowd cheered with amazement. Alick Macheso mastered his craft.
Rich bosses interrupted him with notes that we couldn’t count, but his reactions were snitching that yes it’s a lot of money. Well, deserved.
As the night touched its zenith, wee hours were left for Sulumani to wind down the festivities. The Dendera singer delivered his catalogue of hits as people joined in dance knowing that it was the last. ‘So much thank You’ type of performance to cap off the night of Zimbabwe’s undying genre of guitars.
Now that this is a review a lot could go unsaid because saying a lot still cannot be addressed in pages if you were not there. But back to the initial standpoint, did this gamble work for Gateway?
Not more than a third of the arena was filled so what happens to the investment? If $20 is a hefty price how much should it have cost? One fan revealed that Pamuzinda was a big success because of the attendance recently where Macheso had performed.
Is this about the venue? If people in the low-market suburbs could not afford the HICC, the people from the upmarket afforded and so what?
The target market definitely differs and for the same tomatoes, are not being charged differently because of these demographics which are low-key remnants of capitalism.
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has confirmed the appointment of Englishman Steve Kirby as the Zimbabwe senior men’s new Bowling Coach.
He is expected to join the national team ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 that starts in Australia next month.
Kirby, a former first-class cricketer, has until his latest appointment been serving as bowling coach at Somerset, one of the sides that he played for during his long and successful county career in England.
The 44-year-old also worked together with current Zimbabwe Head Coach Dave Houghton at Derbyshire.
Commenting on the appointment of Kirby, ZC Director of Cricket Hamilton Masakadza said: “We are delighted to confirm Steve as our Bowling Coach for the senior men’s team.
“He has done incredibly well as a player and coach in county cricket over the years and, as we seek to continue strengthening all facets of our game and improving our performances at the highest level, we count ourselves privileged and fortunate to have him as part of our technical set-up.”
Kirby said when the opportunity to join Zimbabwe came along, he felt it was one that was too good to ignore.
“I’ve got aspirations to be the very best coach that I can be, and international cricket is something that I really want to be involved with,” he said.
“I’ve worked really well with Dave Houghton previously when we were at Derbyshire and when this position presented itself, I felt that I couldn’t turn it down.
“The scale of the role is hugely exciting because I won’t just be working with the national XI, but I’ll also be involved with the whole pathway structure across the country.”
The Shoko Festival Peace in the Hood Concert always is quite the statement, as they bring in rising stars in the music space alongside festival favourites for an unforgettable demonstration of talent.
The free event will be taking place on the last day of the Festival, October 1 and will feature local talents such as Freeman HKD, Kikky BadAss, Crooger, Ndonzi Beat X, Tanto Wavie.
Brian Jeck, Natasha Muz, DJ IROQ and Abisha Palmer.
One of the most notable performances this year will be in form of talented record spinner DJ King Her.
Her star is rising and it’s set to shine on the Unit L Community Hall Grounds, marking her first time on the Shoko Festival main stage after being involved with them on two occasions.
She told Zimbuzz that she was looking forward to this festival as she liked the good vibe in Chitungwiza.
“I think this one is going to be one of the best festivals that we are having this year because we are bringing in new talent, current talent, and we are showcasing it together with established stars,” said DJ King Her.
She is known for her local playlist and mixes, and for the Shoko Festival, she promised to maintain what she has been famed for of late.
“I’m going for a specific playlist because it’s more of a festival vibe. I want it to feel very festive with a lot of energy,” she said.
The majority of my set is going to be about 90% local, the other 10% would be a couple of tracks just to get people jumping. And at the same time, they would be remixes of local music. You know, it would sound dope if we have got like some of our local artists on a piano or Afro Tech type of remix,” added DJ King Her.
She said the goal is to showcase what local has to offer which is the special focus for this year’s edition of Shoko Festival.
Prince Edward School Panthers lifted the annual Eversharp Under-20 Schools National Basketball Tournament with the narrowest of edges, defeating Kutama College 16-15.
The crowd inside Court A at Prince Edward were treated to a thriller that burst into life right from the tip-off.
As an early indication of what would come, Prince Edward was first on the board with a quick 2 by Tadiwanashe Chitsunge before Travolta Zimhunhu hit another rebound to take the score to 4-0.
Kutama College responded by halving the deficit to make it 4-2 through Tatenda Murairwa.
The opening exchanges would fall in Prince Edward’s favour with them holding a four-point lead as the team went for the halftime break at 13-9.
The incredible pace of the game didn’t let up with both sides showing their offensive qualities at the beginning of the second quarter.
An electric atmosphere in the arena was the perfect backdrop for the tournament as Kutama College was determined to snatch the game from Prince Edward.
They turned on the heat but ultimately failed to turn the game on its head as Prince Edward maintained their grip to win the Eversharp Under-20 basketball tournament by a single point.
Prince Edward capped a memorable campaign off in front of a home crowd as they showed their might in a tournament that was attended by more than 30 Schools from across Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, Girls High School maintained their dominance in the girls’ final by beating Dzivarasekwa 2.
Both the boys’ and girls’ winning teams took home a $1500 prize money.
Speaking to Zimbuzz Eversharp marketing manager, Tonderai Kamusoko said they were encouraged by the response from the schools following a covid-19 induced break.
“We were quite shocked by the response, we sent out forty invitations and almost thirty-three schools are participating. We believe it’s a tournament that most schools have been looking forward to hence the positive response,” said Kamusoko.
He also said that Eversharp was committed to continuing to sponsor the national event where all schools participate despite where they are coming from.
“We will run for many years to come and we want it to be much bigger, we look forward to having more schools participating as we grow,” he added.
Kamusoko said naturing talent from the grassroots was at the centre of their values as a company.
“We value nurturing talent from a tender age as in so doing we create the bigger superstars for our national teams, school children are our primary consumers as Eversharp and it makes sense for us to sponsor them at that level,” said Kamusoko.
The second edition of the Shoko Roast presented by Simuka Comedy promises a night of tears and laughter with outspoken Norton MP Temba Mliswa at the center stage of the roast set to take place during Shoko Festival on the 30th of September at Reps Theatre from 6pm-8pm in Harare.
Comedy lovers will be in for a two-hour rib-cracking treat which will feature a star-studded cast that includes self-proclaimed heavenly army commander, Prophet Madungwe, the Queen of HipHop Kikky Badass, Bustop TV’s Lucky Aaron,
Musician Vimbai Zimuto, celebrity Lorraine Guyo, comedian Ckanyiso Dat Guy and the hard-hitting political satirist Comrade Fatso.
Veteran Stand Up Comedian, Carl Joshua Ncube is the new addition to the cast of the roast.
Early birds will also be treated to a 30-minute pre-roast by Kadem the Comic and Munya Guramatunhu.
Leading Zimbabwean Stand Up Comedian and Simuka Comedy Creative Director, Doc Vikela will be the roast master for the evening.
He says, “The roast is an extraordinary event that is happening for the second year running where we use satire collaboratively with Magamba Network and Simuka Comedy at Shoko Festival, where we speak truth to power, speak on issues of accountability, speaking to our leaders on the mishaps that happen in society”.
He adds that there will be no sacred cows at the roast, “This year is a no holds barred show and it’s going to be the epitome of things that cannot be said in front of a live audience being said and those things will never be repeated again.
“Even if people try, they won’t outdo what’s going to happen this year. It’s fireworks!”
Following a successful debut Shoko Roast last year which featured politician, Linda Masarira as the main guest, the event presents a unique opportunity to talk and touch on hot political topics in a deeply polarized country.
Tickets are already on sale for US$5 and have been flying off the shelf since the release of promotional material online. Tickets are available at Reps Theatre, Simuka Comedy and at Moto Republik.
