The Sunday News
Kudzai Mpangi, Sunday Life Reporter
IN a quest to find the next big gospel star, Botswana-based gospel show, Just Gospel will be conducting a series of auditions for the first time in Zimbabwe starting in Bulawayo on 13 January.
The Just Gospel Talent Show that has been running for four years in Botswana and was aired on BTV, announced that the Zimbabwe auditions will be aired on their new channel called Just Net Television which is available on DStv and free-to-air decoders.
The organisers of the talent search Doc Bongani Mguni and Thoko Muzila said they began the talent search in Botswana, but have since identified a gap in the industry in Zimbabwe especially in Bulawayo as everything is done in Harare.
The talent search is modelled around the now very popular and globally recognised Idols talent show and will be run under the same concept.
“What propelled us to hold these auditions in Zimbabwe is the fact that there is a lot of talent here but the talent has often gone unnoticed. A lot of young singers are only recognised at church choirs and what pains us is that these people have the potential to be the next gospel super stars and as Just Gospel we aim to unleash this talent to the rest of the world,” Mguni said.
The talent search will kick off with auditions in Bulawayo on 13 January before the search spreads to other parts of the country namely Gweru, Harare and Masvingo.
“We are starting the auditions in Bulawayo and the venue will be revealed to interested parties who get in touch with the organisers,” he said.
“We want to liven up Bulawayo because we have discovered that more often than not, people who come are from outside Bulawayo who provide the spark. We are holding the finals of the talent search in Bulawayo,” he said.
The ultimate winner of the competition would pocket $10 000 which will help towards enhancing their career as a gospel musician.
The organisers of the show have already started doing road shows to create awareness and make noise on the much anticipated gospel auditions.
“We have already started embarking on road shows and advertisements on our social media pages. We have done road shows in almost all the townships and the response has be astounding, we hope that people will come in their numbers and share this great moment with us,” Mguni said.
Albert Nyathi will also be part of the panel as a guest judge on the show alongside Muzila and other adjudicators on rotation. @kayskudzai
