adminStar Brite finals will finally be held on January 28 and 29 at Long Chen Plaza’s 1+1 in Harare with 27 contestants set to battle it out. These were selected from the thousands who auditioned last year. The show which seeks to identify, nurture as well as groom up-and-coming artistes, has been inconsistent — at times failing to air on ZBCtv at its advertised time and day, something which made it lose popularity among viewers. The show which was aired on ZBCtv every Sunday evening ran for almost a year.
Organisers said they could not be blamed for the inconsistencies as they faced challenges with the national broadcaster which had to focus on live coverages then.
“Over the past few weeks there have been some inconsistencies with regards to airing the show. This has been due to several challenges and factors ranging from live coverage of the Congress, the youth games and many more.
“We are however pleased to announce that ZBCtv has allocated the show extra slots to compensate for the lost time enabling us to cover plenty ground in time for the finals,” organisers said in a statement last year.
The talent search’s executive producer Barney Mpariwa said they had however gone all out to ensure they give a well-polished show. “The season has been long overdue for a number of reasons but the road has been extremely exciting. We chronicled all the stages of the show on national television because they were important,” Mpariwa said.
He said venue for the third season’s finale would unfortunately not be able to host the great numbers they expected as it has a small capacity. He urged patrons to buy tickets in advance to avoid being turned away at the door.
Entertainment will be provided by past winners among other entertainers.
“There are many different acts billed to provide entertainment during the finals. Past winners, judges and mentors are also on the line up and a very big surprise guest as well.”
Mpariwa said the finalists were hard at work preparing for the big day.
“The contestants are drawn from different parts of the country. They underwent intensive grooming and screening from the provincial stages to the second and third rounds and now all eyes are on them.” — Harare Bureau/Showbiz Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu