Melissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
Music from Zimbabwe will from Saturday start reaching out to new markets outside the country’s borders, through a new music video chart show, The Zim Top Ten which will be broadcast on Zambezi Magic (DStv channel 160).
The transcontinental TV show will likely change the game as it will give local artistes and music producers a platform to penetrate the international music scene.
The Zim Top Ten which will be shown every Saturday from 7PM will be a countdown of 10 videos from local performers. It will feature classic Zimbabwean videos as well as exclusive brand new video debuts.
Local artistes such as Cindy Munyavi, Roki and Simba Tagz will be leading the chart show as their music videos have already been approved. A demo of the chart show presented to guests at the DStv Media Content Showcase in Mauritius recently had Simba Tagz with hit-track Skubu on number one. Another track was Roki and Ex Q’s Alleluja.
Like any other chart show, Zambezi Magic viewers, through various online voting platforms, will vote to keep their favourite songs on the number one position.
Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe said the platform had been created to enable local artistes to showcase their talent on an international level.
“Zimbabwean musicians and producers have been presented an unprecedented chance to reach out to existing and new fans across Africa through the chart show. The show has been designed to support the growing Zimbabwean music industry,” Dziva said.
Once in the Zambezi Magic system, locals’ music videos will be able to penetrate bigger channels as content may be shared later, increasing the chances of having Zimbabwe music being recognised at international music video award shows.
Besides the chart show, the Zambezi Magic channel, headed by a Zimbabwean, Addiel Dzinoreva, recently announced that two local current affairs programmes, Tonight with Zororo and Zambezi News have been allocated slots. Both shows are also expected to start airing next month.
Zambezi Magic which was launched in July this year to cater specifically for the Southern African market is only available to DStv Premium, Compact and Compact Plus subscribers in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and Swaziland.