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Melissa Mpofu, Showbiz Editor
Winky D who has been spending the better part of his lockdown time at his rural home, proved why he remains one of the best, if not the best artiste in Zimbabwe by giving the more than 20 000 viewers who watched him live on Facebook, a performance to remember on Wednesday.

From his initial appearance on stage, Winky D who was clad in a red jumpsuit and fancy mask, a costume similar to the Salvador Dalí mask and red jumpsuit worn by the robbers on Netflix’s hit series La Casa de Papel (aka Money Heist), showed people he was a man on a mission. That mission was to show people his resistance by pulling off the biggest online show in the country and steal their hearts in the process.

Only those who watch Money Heist were able to relate with him from the beginning and immediately gave him the name Professor (Money Heist’s main character who is the mastermind of the heist) while others, like one of the show’s hosts, Chacha, simply admired his outfit oblivious of its inspiration.

Dressing up in a Money Heist costume definitely showed Winky D’s artistic side and relevance as the show is currently trending worldwide.

Winky D was one of the performers at an online show dubbed “Gara Mumba Iwe” that was organised by Prophet Passion Java to encourage people to observe the lockdown regulations while providing them with quality entertainment. It was staged by Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) at their state-of-the-art studios in Harare on Wednesday evening.

The show was well-arranged and featured performances from other dancehall artistes Kinnah, Tocky Vibes, Bazooka, Jah Master, Uncle Epatan and Judgement Yard’s Abisha Palmer and DJ 2 Bad.

It however ended up as a Winky D affair as most logged in to watch their idol whom they last watched in action before the lockdown began. Previously, all their hopes to watch him perform live on Facebook during the lockdown were dashed at the last hour as he pulled out, the most recent being Switch on Zimbabwe, an online show that was organised by Jacaranda Culture and Media Corporation this past weekend.

After being given confirmation by the man himself that he would indeed be performing at Passion Java’s gig, fans purchased their data in advance, charged their gadgets and were ready to watch their artiste in action.

The event was shown on various Facebook pages with many sharing it so friends could watch with them, but most preferred to watch it from ZTN and ZimCelebs because of the quality, with both getting more than 16 000 views during Winky D’s performance. These views have been the highest so far during lockdown, following socialite Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure’s X-Rated twerking competition whose last edition had up to 17 000 views, showing how competitive Winky D’s brand is locally.

Being the closing act of the night, Winky D did not disappoint as he gave viewers real value for their data. Supported by his Vigilance band which was also dressed like him, he fused his set with old and new tracks and made people reminisce about the good old days when they could go out for his shows. Most, who had never understood the concept of watching virtual music shows said Winky D had given life to the show and made them feel as if they were at a physical venue.

And after his performance, the numbers started dropping with show organiser, Prophet Passion also saying Winky D had set the bar too high, making it hard for them to continue with the show. He said if they are to have another edition of the show, they would have to bring in an artiste bigger than Winky D for the show to retain its relevance.