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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
SANDRA Ndebele, DJ Skaiva, Asaph, Novuyo Seagirl are upbeat about landing accolades at the inaugural Star FM Music Awards to be held this Friday in Harare.

The country’s leading radio station will hold the awards at Zimbali Lifestyle Centre during a closed black tie event. The event is sponsored by Jan-Jam Men’s Wear, Impala Car Rental and Club Sankayi.

Lizwile by Sandra Ndebele featuring Mzansi’s Professor, Seagirl’s AEIOU, DJ Skaiva’s Bengazi, John Cole’s Skoro Skoro and Reverb 7’s Confuse Me are all nominated under the Best House Song category.

Rapper Asaph will fight it out in the Best Hip Hop category with his runaway hit Mambo against Winky D’s Paper Bag, Takura’s Jehova, Mariachi’s Ngaanake and Gze’s Sthubhai Kupratta.

Sandra Ndebele, who has reinvented herself with a modern look of late, said she was content that she was nominated.

“The mere fact that I’m nominated for these awards means that I’m a winner at heart. I’ve been recognised by the country’s leading radio station and it’s a great thing for me, my career and music,” said Sandra Ndebele.

Seagirl said looking at the category, competition was stiff and anything could happen.

“Whatever happens during the awards happens. This is because when you look at the competition it’s very stiff as everyone has a chance to win. I’m just happy that I’ve been nominated and look forward to the competition,” said Seagirl.

The StarBrite winner, who is part of the performers on the night, described it as an opportunity to be seen and market her craft.

“Considering the fact that I’m performing at the awards, I hope this will get me further exposure. I want people to know that I’m not only a singer but a complete performer, a beast on stage. This could see me landing gigs in Harare,” said Seagirl.

DJ Skaiva, who is not new to award ceremonies after winning a Zimbabwe Music Award in 2016 in the Best House category, said his main aim, apart from winning, was to network.

“I hope to win the award in my category as I’ve been making some good music for a while now. However, Seagirl has a good track and has a very big chance. But networking is what I want to do when I’m in Harare. I want to work with more artistes in various genres to spread my wings and stretch my creativity,” said DJ Skaiva.

Asaph, who landed three ZimHip Hop awards last year for his track Mambo, said he wanted to represent his home city well.

He said he was confident that Mambo would take the award.

“Last year, in hip hop circles, there was no bigger song than Mambo and I’m looking forward to winning. But these are awards and anything can happen. All I want is to represent Bulawayo well when I perform,” said Asaph.