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Midlands Reporters
IT was all glitz and glamour at the second edition of the Midlands Music Awards as the event lived up to its billing with gospel musician Mathias Mhere walking away with two gongs.

The event held at the Midlands Hotel in Gweru on Saturday saw Mhere, who was raised in the Midlands before relocating to Harare, scooping Best Gospel Music award and Best Album of the Year.

He proved why he was the best when he set the stage on fire with an electrifying performance.

The late Blessing Chibaya, popularly known as “Tasarina” who died in a car accident two months ago received a posthumous award for Best Jazz musician of the year.

Her award was received by her mother who was at a loss for words.

She expressed her gratitude to organisers of the awards ceremony for honouring her late daughter.

“Thank you for honouring my daughter. She really wanted to perform tonight, but God had his will,” said Amai Chibaya.

Mhere also thanked fans for supporting his music saying: “I’m grateful for all the support from my fans. Most of all, I thank God who’s the power behind all this.”

Now in their second year, the awards meant to promote up-and-coming artistes from the province by awarding them for their efforts, ran under the theme “Long live Midlands musicians”.

A number of musicians that include Soul Afrika, Ur Highness, GoodChild, Samukoko and L Kat entertained guests.

Midlands Provincial Education Director Agnes Gudo urged music lovers to desist from buying pirated music.

“I encourage you to refrain from piracy, which, if not addressed will lead to the demise of artistes as well as the music industry. Let’s support our artistes by buying genuine DVDs and CDs from authentic music suppliers,” Gudo said.

Organiser of the ceremony – Mavis Korslek encouraged artistes to unite in order to develop their industry.

“Let’s work together and not against each other. We need to be one musical family in the Midlands,” said Korslek.

She said winners had submitted their works which were first adjudicated by professional judges before being made public for people to vote for their favourite artistes.

“This year we introduced an adjudication system comprising of 10 judges who have a strong musical background. Sixty percent of the votes came from the adjudicators while 40 percent came from the public,” Korslek said.

 

The the winners are:

Best Jazz musician – Tasarina: Zvakarongeka

Best Newcomer of the year – Nyabal: True gospel

Best RnB/Soul music – Valentyne: I’m not afraid

Best Reggae/Afro fusion music – Joe Wailer: Beautiful Zimbabwe

Best Club DJs – DJ Masty, DJ Brian

Best Gospel music – Mathias Mhere: Glory to glory

Best House music – Shingi Mangoma: Handikusiye

Best Afro pop music Soul Afrika: Singles collection

Best Collaboration – Goodchild & DJ Neyo: Nakuyewa

Best Producer – Prince Oskid Tapfuma

Best Music Video – Ur highness: Incompatible

Best Hiphop music – L Kat: The golden episode

Best Album of the Year – Mathias Mhere: Glory to glory

Lifetime Achievement/Trendsetter – Ismael Petker: Mahogany Sounds

Best dancehall music – Lewaz Skattah: Quarter 2 twelve.