Tafadzwa Zimoyo Entertainment Reporter
Is having too much food on your plate a sign of good or bad eating habits, especially when you end up becoming more of a gourmand than a healthy eater? The same question has been posed by observers who follow the arts, especially music closely following the proliferation of numerous music awards, from Zimbabwe right into the Diaspora, which are mushrooming at an alarming rate.

This latest development has been greeted with mixed feelings, with two schools of thought emerging with tangling opinions over the introduction of the new awards.

One school of thought posits that this is a development in the right direction and indeed a positive step that should be given all the plaudits that it deserves.

One entertainment and lifestyle critic Munyaradzi Makaza, affectionately known as Bundaz, said there is nothing wrong in more awards being thrown onto the fray since this was healthy for the growth of the industry.

“Every time that new players enter the scene, be it in business, soccer, netball or music, this makes it interesting and generates a lot of interest, new ideas, opportunities and recognition not only for the players but also for the stakeholders.

“So in similar vein, when new music awards started hitting the music scene in recent years, this has thrown a very big halo and glimmer of light to artistes who were itching for recognition via the few available platforms like the National Arts Merit Awards and the Zimbabwe Music Awards.

“Now the artistes have somewhere to take their works for evaluation and adjudication and therefore this creates a high level of confidence in the avenues that are now available since these new players will be out to prove a point that others who were there before them were missing,” he said.

Music lover Agnes Simon said the introduction of new awards like the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards UK, which was held in the UK, and the Zimbabwe Music and Arts Awards UK (ZIMAA UK) served to plug a gap that previously existed in the local awards on offer in Zimbabwe.

She cited the case of the ZIMAA UK as not only serving to honour artistes and musicians but also other Zimbabweans domiciled in the Diaspora who were performing great feats but were not being amply recognised in their motherland.

“This is the reason why there are categories like Personality of the Year, Tourism Awards, Business Awards, Community Awards, Creative and Fashion Awards, among a host of others, as a way of honouring these people,” she said.

The same also applies to modelling, where various modelling contests like Miss Zimbabwe UK among others, have been introduced, and in most cases, models who have relocated to the UK get a chance to compete among themselves and represent the country of their roots during their stay in the foreign lands.

However, some critics poured cold water on the proliferation of the new awards merely as a money-spinning venture by some people out to make a quick buck out of the desperate person- alities.

“These guys (organisers) are only out to make money in the name of the struggling personalities,” noted another observer speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Another reason behind the introduction of these awards is that the organisers would be out to push their own agendas, e.g. promoting their own artistes who have been perennial failures at some awards ceremonies like Nama and Zima, and this explains why some artistes end up bagging multiple awards at one ceremony which then raises a lot of eyebrows,” noted the critic.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey