Zim’s ‘The Unveiled’ fall at the last hurdle in Old Mutual Amazing Voices finale

ZIMBABWE’S The Unveiled fell short at the last hurdle of the pan-African Old Mutual Amazing Voices 2021, which were won by South African group Hush SA.

Hush SA is an all-male gospel group of six members, formed as a brotherhood of childhood friends spanning over a ten-year period.

Hush SA won the top prize of US$100 000 at the spectacular finale this evening.

The Unveiled were the only remaining music group from Zimbabwe after the other group, Effect fell out of the running earlier in the competition. The Unveiled made top three last week to face off against Hush and Nigeria’s 121 Selah, with the South African group coming off on top.

Hush SA is an all-male gospel group of six members, formed as a brotherhood of childhood friends spanning over a ten-year period. Tsholofelo Ntuli, Phumlani Tshabalala, Sinethemba Magubane, Zamokuhle Nkosi, Thamsanqa Mthabela, Nicholas Malimba all hail from Johannesburg, South Africa.

The second season of Old Mutual Amazing Voices attracted 546 initial online video entries from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

Multichoice Zimbabwe general manager, Norman Raisbeck said the Zimbabwean group had given a good account of themselves at the competition.

“(We are) proud that The Unveiled and Effect represented our country well. We will continue to air content which showcases and recognises great African talents and our rich heritage,” he said.

Head of Brand at Old Mutual, Thobile Tshabalala, said: “Our purpose at Old Mutual is to champion mutually positive futures across all the African markets in which we operate.  This competition enables us to connect with Africans through the universal language of music and demonstrate that with the right financial partner, anyone can do great things and become their exceptional best. We have seen exactly this with the winners of Season 2 Amazing voices and congratulate Hush SA for their well-earned success”

It all began in October 2020, when, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, entrants were encouraged to submit online performance videos to Old Mutual and DStv for review and selection. The winner’s opposition, drawn from the five countries included in the competition, were like them, all unsigned groups looking to take their careers to a new level.

After an initial screening process, the advanced to the second gruelling step; attending closed auditions within their own country before celebrity judges, and two groups from each country were selected.

The finale was simulcasted on Mzansi Magic, Mzansi Wethu, (South Africa) Africa Magic (Nigeria), Maisha Magic (Kenya) Zambezi Magic (Zimbabwe) and Akwaaba (Ghana)