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Whinsley Masara, Showbiz Reporter
All is set for the Starbrite 2016 finals taking place in Bulawayo today and tomorrow.

Nineteen up-and-coming artistes drawn from different parts of the country checked in to boot camp on Tuesday and will battle it out for top honours at the Family of God auditorium (corner Jason Moyo and 11th Avenue).

This will be the first time that the talent search show, which is now in its sixth season hosts its final outside Harare.

Show organiser, Barney Mpariwa, said the semi-finals which were held recently in Harare were successful adding that music had the most participants.

“History will be made on the 6th and 7th of January when Bulawayo hosts the StarBrite 2016 finals. The show which has been in motion since 1990 has never had its finals out of Harare and the finals in Bulawayo are billed to be explosive,” said Mpariwa.

“There’ll be a mini fashion show where up-and-coming designers can exhibit their work during the two days.”

Advance tickets to the finals have been pegged at $5 for both days and $3 for a single day.

Mpariwa said each year they select a legend to be honoured on the show with the late Simon Chimbetu set to be honoured at the 2016 edition.

“The 19 contestants will choose a song from Chimbetu and perform it before the judges as a way of celebrating the late music icon. There’ll be a high profile panel of judges and guest performers at the finals,” said Mpariwa.

The Starbrite talent search prides itself for discovering artistes such as Prudence Katomeni Mbofana, Kireni Zulu, Mateo, Tendai Chidarikire and Bryan K.