Zimpapers Logo

Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Arts Reporter
Organisers for the Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zima) say they have started preparations for the next edition scheduled for February 6 2021.

They said by next month they would have unveiled the 2021 roadmap which will guide artistes, stakeholders, media and sponsors, among others on how the next show would be structured.

In an interview with The Herald Arts, ZIMA spokesperson Benjamin Nyandoro said next year’s theme “will be ZIMA2021 Disrupt”.

“We are happy that last week we announced our theme and parties involved should start planning with the theme in mind. However, on October 14, we are going to unveil our roadmap which will include part of the project plan and website for Zima. We have taken into consideration all the suggestions from different captains of industries who want to help us and at the same time learnt from past mistakes, thus next show will be bigger and better,” he said.

Nyandoro said they had drafted the show to accommodate the current situation even next year.

“We have made a decision that everything is going according to plan whether the global pandemic stretches and continues or it has ended we are going to implement the virtual process and the physical. We are yet to announce the venue in due course. Artistes should now embrace what we are calling the ‘new permanent normal’, thus that the world has no boarders. Audiences can still buy tickets for both online and physical show,” he said.

Asked if there are any foreign acts to perform at the show, he said the show was for the locals and we should embrace that.

“Our performers and those involved are local. We not ruling out that we are not going to have international acts, but with any resources at our disposals we are going for local acts. If we get some international artistes who want to come on board for free, they are more than welcome,” he said.

Nyandoro said on the categories,  they have already set up a steering team to revisit and work on that.

“The valid dates of the Zima 2021 will be January 1 2020 to December 31 2020. So far we have set aside a team of five experts who are developing the rule book. We want to broaden the categories and we are going to involve more public participation,” he added.

He said from next year’s show they will be inviting all past winners, and it is going to be the tradition.

“From next year, we have decided all past winners from the previous year will get an invitation. On the production side, we will include other features like a red carpet and show cocktails that will be unveiled stage by stage,”he said.