Crossline Music Festival countdown begins!

— Michael W. Smith and Nicole C. Mullen, who is on her the third visit to Zimbabwe.
Pastor Herman Chimusoro, a Zimbabwean reggae/gospel artiste, will headline on the first day of the festival while Nicole will perform on August 25 before Smith brings the curtain down on the festival on August 26. All performances start at 6pm and end at 10pm.
However, considering the magnitude of the festival, the organisers, Crossline Music and Video, have reiterated that fans should buy their tickets in advance.
“What people need to appreciate is the magnitude of this concert because Michael W. Smith is one of the biggest names in America insofar as gospel music is concerned. So to avoid stampedes and last-minute rush, tickets are now available online and selected churches.
“Each day will have a different charge and fans can choose either the ordinary ticket or the VIP ticket.
“Tickets are already on sale at designated churches such as the UFIC, Northside Church, ZAOGA, The Base, Harvest Church, Renewal Church, Cornerstone Church, ROL Eastlea/Westgate Celebration (Westgate), Celebration (main church), Scott Riddell, Scott Marques, Greystone Park Church, Church of the Nazarene -Avondale, Kingsmead Church, The Rock and Salvation Army Masiye Camp both in Bulawayo, Highlands Presbyterian, Central Baptist, Logas Ministries and Faith Ministries in Borrowdale or Westgate,” he said
Pastor Chimusoro said there were no plans to move the concerts from the Harare Gardens.
“We have drawn a plan where we have allocated areas for the VIPs, food stalls and others. So we are hoping that all those who will buy tickets in advance should be able to fit comfortably at the venue. We are going to stick to our plan that there won’t be any tickets at the gate,” he said.
He also urged fans to come early for the concerts to avoid disappointment.
“We are hoping to put up a concert as good as the Harare International Festival of the Arts. As I speak to you right now the advance team comprising backstage personnel and sound engineers and lighting engineers will be coming in two weeks’ time,” he said.
Smith, who is set to record a live DVD in Harare, insisted that he was bringing his advance team                               to ensure that everything was in place before he   arrives.
“Smith has been to most African countries including South Africa but what I can tell you is that his heart is in Zimbabwe. So we have been blessed to host him in Harare and we are going to deliver a good concert,” he said.
Smith is best known for his Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit song “Place in This World”. He has charted primarily in the contemporary Christian and occasionally in the mainstream charts.
His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when “Place in This World” hit number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Smith is also a three-time Grammy Award winner, and has earned 40 Dove Awards. Over the course of his career, he sold more than 13 million albums and recorded 29 number one hit songs, with 14 gold albums, and five platinum albums.
Smith will be performing in Zimbabwe for the first time and it is hoped that fans will come from as far as Botswana, Zambia and South Africa.
Nicole has performed in Zimbabwe in the last two years and this year makes a welcome return to rekindle her romance with fans. The “My Redeemer” hitmaker put up a scintillating performance during her previous concerts and this year, she will no doubt take her act to another level.
She recorded her first solo album “Don’t Let Me Go” in 1991 with the independent label Frontline Records. She continued her singing, songwriting and choreography career in the 1990s, singing back-up for Smith and the Newsboys, writing for Jaci Velasquez and working as a dancer and choreographer with Amy Grant.