Sungura rules the roost

Tawanda Marwizi Arts Correspondent
Pomp funfair, thrills and excitement were the order of the day at Gwanzura Stadium on Saturday during a match pitting dancehall musicians against their sungura counterparts. As early as 10am people were coming to witness the curtain-raising matches of the day with the first one having journalists from the print media playing against their electronic counterparts. That match ended 5-2 in favour of print journalists. Print media team coach Trust Khosa was the coach of the day after his team got the biggest win of the tournament.

Prophet Walter Magaya, who was expected to come and coach the electronic media, could not make it. Around midday two teams from the Premier Soccer League were playing as fanswere trickling in.

The two teams Ngezi and Caps United played a thrilling match that ended 2-0 in favour of Ngezi. During that match sungura ace Alick Macheso got into the stadium and received standing ovation as he walked to the VIP seats.

Clad in a blue suit, the musician briefly greeted his fans before taking his seat waiting for other musicians to come. From that time several musicians came as merrymakers cheered. Oliver Mtukudzi also got the crowd cheering as he saluted them on his way to the stadium.

The two purported dancehall rivals Seh Calaz and Soul Jah Love joined hands as they greeted fans that were seated at the western side of the ground. Macheso, Pastor Charles Charamba, Mtukudzi, First Farai lead the team to the changing room. Moments later the two teams came to the stadium much to the delight of the fans.

As teams were being introduced to official Kapfupi came for the match wearing his usual baby suit. He got thunderous applause as he ran towards the stars.

Peter Moyo, Lyton Ngolimi, Patson Chimbodza, Nicholas Chirunga, Jah Prayzah, Romeo Gasa and Howard Pinjisi among others were in the sungura line-up while the dancehall side boasted Soul Jah Love, Jah Child, Tocky Vibes, JC, Jackie Radics, King Shady, Shinsoman, Seh Calaz, Vokal, Hwindi President and Cello Culture among others.

Both teams played well though the dancehall side lost.

Raunchy dancer Beverly Sibanda left the merrymakers in stitches after she displayed some of her dance routines while administering first aid to the injured Ngolomi.

Moyo and Cello Culture had a near-fist scuffle during the course of the game accusing each other of rough play. Surprisingly, the two are good friends that are always seen together when the Kwekwe based sungura musician is in Harare. Soul Jah Love’s free kick became the goal of the tournament as he beat sungura goalkeeper Makina from a distance.

Though the “Kuponda Nhamo” ,singer who came on as a sub- stitute, struggled to get control of the ball for some minutes, he managed to score. Jah Prayzah had a good day in office as he created two goals while Seh Calaz and Tocky Vibes were the biggest jokes in the dancehall teams.

After the match fans found their way into the ground to meet their favourite musicians and have pictures taken with them. Macheso was a happy man after their side won. “They played well taita kufadza kwe nyama ikozvino tochipinda mukufadza nzveve,” he was referring to the massive after bhora party.

Entertainment did not end with the final whistle as the Star FM’s Sungura versus Zimdancehall grant final started. Two DJs Templeman and Skywalker battle it out on the clash that saw sungura winning.

They were now considering votes from different parts of the country.

Zimdancehall was the favourite among hundreds who were in the ground but sungura had more votes.

After the grant final Mtukudzi immediately took the stage.

The musician played most of his yesteryear hits like “Mhodzi Yembeu” and “Watitsvata”.

The organisers failed to improve on stage lights as well as their sound system. Seh Calaz showed his maturity on the day after ignored missiles thrown at him.

“Pane vakudhinhiwa neni but ndinotoshanda zvakadaro” he said before belting out his popular heats.

Young Igwe had a good day in office as he kept fans on the dancing floor while Dobba Don failed to thrill fans.

Soul Jah Love became the winner of the night as he belted out songs from his coming album “Dai Hupenyu Hwaitengwa”. Although Macheso had a tough time because of poor sound, he managed to thrill fans with his old and new songs and left lasting impressions about his upcoming songs.

Killer T had a bad night as his fans seemed not to like the idea of a live band that he used during his performance.

The fans are used to backtracks and would only recognise the tracks when the singer belted out vocals.

He only got a good response when he sampled his collaboration with Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave “Daidzai Vakuru” before he went off the stage.

Other performers included Andy Muridzo, King Shady, Shinsoman and DJ Cables.

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