MUTARE-BASED gospel musician Blessing Shumba topped and bagged US$1 200 in the 2015 Coca-Cola top 50 on Radio Zimbabwe.
Shumba’s track ‘Chimwe ne Chimwe’ off his album Ndijesu secured pole position thumping Simon Mutambi’s ‘Mukadzi Akanaka’ that took second position with Rev Chavaviro’s ‘Ebenezer’ on third position.
Mutambi pocketed USP$800 while Chavaviro got US$500.
The hit “Chimwe neChimwe” won the Top 50 Competition for the number of weeks it topped the weekly Coca Cola top 20 charts.
It is through such competitions that Shumba is given space to shine after his popularity had been shadowed by the rise of other gospel musicians such as Mathias Mhere.
Most people do not understand the selection process of the top 50 songs of the year.
Many mistakenly assume songs that win the competition should be hits at the time the annual competition is held.
Others have argued the competition selection criterion is not clear because they expect to vote for their favourite songs at the end of year. The competition is based on votes that people would have cast during the course of the year.
To them, the number one song in the top 50 must be a well known song, a hit favoured by many and popular, not only on radio but also in kombis and at social gatherings like weddings.
One of the representatives of Coca Cola who spoke to The Patriot said people must understand it is not Radio Zimbabwe that makes the selection but listeners through their votes.
“People participate by voting for their favourite song every week and it is the sum total of the votes of the top 20 that then make up the top 50,” he said.
The song, he said, with greater votes will therefore hold pole position.
Coca Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 50 remains one of the popular programmes on Radio Zimbabwe that has captured the interest of many people across the country.
There are also people who have argued that the criterion used for the selection of the top 50 songs does not represent the interests of all listeners.
The Patriot Arts sought the views of people regarding the programme.
“The top 50 does not give opportunity to artistes who release their songs late in the year.
“Some songs top the annual chart not as a result of being the people’s favourites but due to frequency of air play attracting more votes than recent releases,” said Larry Manzira of Chitungwiza.
For Tonderai Mutume of Murombedzi, though happy that Blessing Shumba won, he feels organisers of the programme should introduce a voting system which allows listeners to choose their best songs.
“I think the organisers should introduce a way in which listeners are given the opportunity to vote for songs released throughout the year,” Mutume said.
The Coca Cola Radio Zimbabwe top 50 selection criterion has no room for recent releases such asWinky D’s very popular ‘Disappear’.
Dendera maestro Sulumani Chimbetu is also an example of an artiste who has released singles such as ‘Comaraderie’, ‘Ndaidawo Zororo’ and ‘Love Song’ that have become people’s favourites.
But due to the time of release, they have not been able to get the chance to acquire votes to get them in the top 50.
There must be a way to allow late releases, songs released towards the end of the year, to be considered for selection.
Sulumani Chimbetu’s tracks ‘Nyuchi’ and “Phone” that were released in November 2014 only competed with songs that were released in 2015.
One would also think that Zim-dancehall, which is growing fast in Zimbabwe music industry, would get the chance to compete for top honours.
Soul Jah Love’s ‘Handichada Nhamo’ is the only Zimdancehall track to be entered in the top 10, taking fifth position while ‘Kukosha Kwechikorobho’ by Killer T was on number 11.
Some of the notable artistes featured in the top 50 include Jah Prayzah ‘s ‘Eriza’ on number six, Dr Tawanda ‘s ‘Unconquerable’ on number 17 and Peter Moyo’s ‘Samasimba’ on number 20.