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Showbiz Reporter
OVER 60 young Zimbabwean artistes have their sights set on Hollywood after having come out tops during the Zimbabwe Championships of Performing Arts (ZiCOPA) last year, but there is a snag as they all need money to travel to the world finals.

The artistes are set to represent Zimbabwe at the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) competitions which will be held in Los Angeles, California, USA, from July 6 to 15.

The previous winners of the ZiCOPA such as guitarist Sylent Nqo, Daniel Lasker and beat boxer ProBeats have made their mark in Hollywood in previous years where they came out tops in the various categories during the WCOPA.

Auditions for the WCOPA competition were held last year in Bulawayo, Masvingo and Harare with renowned dub poet Albert Nyathi, director Saimon “Mambazo” Phiri and singer Kudzayi Sevenzo adjudicating.

Some of the artistes who made it during the Bulawayo auditions are Petra High school pupil and singer Miles Hollington, youthful dance group Megatronz Dance Crew and Nust student Munashe Theo Munyanduri. Now, each of them needs over $7 000 to travel to Hollywood with the deadline for registration being end of March.

Munyanduri said he had since launched what he has dubbed “The Dollar Campaign” as part of efforts to raise the $7 000.

“All in all, a total amount of $7 464 is needed to cover all expenses. The Dollar Campaign is aimed at getting at least 2 000 people, each donating at least a dollar towards fundraising for this trip. This mainly is aimed at getting a deposit for registration.

“I’m therefore appealing to everyone including corporates, who believe in dreams to help me realise mine and to help me raise the Zimbabwean flag high,” appealed Munyanduri.

Megatronz’s representative Robin Chirisa said the dance group, that has been together for the past seven years, has set up a go fund me account to help raise the over $7 000.

“People have been promising to fund the trip but there hasn’t been anything concrete. We hope people will help us raise the money for airfares, visa fees and everything else,” said Chirisa.

Mambazo said the artistes would perform at the Harare International Festival of the Arts during a show called Road to Hollywood as a way of exposing their talent as part of efforts to raise the money.

Cited as the only official “Olympics” for aspiring performers, the World Championships of Performing Arts competition seeks to find the best singers, dancers, actors, models, beat boxers and other performing artists. Winning artists will be awarded with $380 000 worth of performing arts scholarships.