30 Mat’land youths in Starbrite round 2

The finalists are set to compete with other talented up-and-coming artistes drawn from other provinces in the nationwide competition.
The competition, which dates back to the             80s, saw a number of youngsters from the     country’s 10 provinces registering for the talent competition.
In an interview, radio personality and director of the show, Barney Mpariwa said from the 500 finalists that had progressed to the second, about 30 were from Matabeleland.

“We have 30 talented youngsters from Matabeleland region, although the majority is from Bulawayo, who have made it to the boot camp where there is stiff competition,” said Mpariwa.
He said the competition received an overwhelming response countrywide.
“The Starbrite Preliminary Auditions had a total of 7 000 registered contestants who were vetted by an adjudicating team of professionals.

“The selection process netted 500 contestants who were adjudged to have qualified to compete for  places in the Starbrite second round auditions,” said Mpariwa.
He said the 500 contestants were then divided into four main groups averaging 125 contestants each.

“These Starbrite second round auditions began     on 21 December 2011. So far Group 1 (Marondera, Chinhoyi, Norton, Chitungwiza) and Group 2 (Mutare, Masvingo, Bindura, Gweru) have      already been auditioned by an on-site adjudicating team.

“Group 3 (Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Gwanda) just auditioned on 6-7 January 2012 and for Group 4 (Harare) recording of the Starbrite second round auditions is scheduled for 13-15 January 2012,” he said.
Mpariwa said all contestants who made it to the second round auditions would enter the Starbrite Boot Camp.

This is an intensive grooming and fine-tuning process of the contestants by industry professionals.
This is to prepare the contestants to enter the final stages of the competition well prepared to win.

Television audiences and viewers will vote for their favourite contestant via the sms platform. The viewers’ choice takes precedence over the decision of the judges in cases where a contestant is adjudged for elimination by in-house experts.