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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
RENOWNED musician-cum-actress Qeqeshiwe “Qeqe” Mntambo seems to be headed in the right direction after she represented the country well at a virtual festival that was hosted by Indian organisation, Common Roots over the weekend.

The festival was streamed live on Saturday at 9pm (Zimbabwean time) on Common Roots social media platforms.

Qeqe, via her Facebook account, shared the event where she shared the virtual stage with artistes from Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, France, Hong Kong, UK and USA. Among the artistes were India’s Alisha Batth, Utsavi Jha, The Chronic Blue Circus, Shouvik Roy and Loysum.

The soft-spoken Qeqe said being part of such an event is the breakthrough she has been longing for since she went solo after having been with Intombi ZoMqangala and Umkhathi Theatre Works.

“It was my first virtual performance and it was an exciting experience as I got to show people what type of artiste I truly am during the performance.

“I managed to get good comments from the people who were watching and this was so motivating,” said Qeqe.

The artiste performed four songs among them Kumnyama, Khaya Lam and Secret Admirer.

She said she deliberately chose these songs as they are relevant because of their comforting lyrics.

Following this performance, Qeqe said she hopes more doors will open as she is looking forward to collaborating with artistes worldwide.

On how she was selected to perform at the Indian virtual show, Qeqe said it was through her short stint in Cape Town, between 2016 and 2019, where she performed regularly at a restaurant that was run by Common Roots festival founder, Mustafa Parvez.

She said since she kept in touch with her promoters in South Africa, they informed her about this show and she applied and met the requirements.

Speaking from his base in Bangalore in India, Parvez said the fete is meant to assist artistes who have been greatly affected by the pandemic.

He said through sponsors and NGOs, the festival also hopes to raise US$25 000 for worldwide migrants and homeless people as well as artistes who have been left jobless due to cancelled shows.

“With the Covid-19 crisis gaining momentum, there was a deep desire to help the Covid-19 hit sections of society. While we did not have the financial means to assist all of them, we still were very concerned and wanted to do a lot more. So far, we have so far raised US$2 000,” said Parvez.

During the Common Roots debut show last week, Novuyo Seagirl made an appearance with more locals set to be included in the coming weeks. – @mthabisi_mthire.