Starbrite needs local support

 The show’s director Barney Mpariwa, told The Financial Gazette Weekend the show’s presentation has now improved with well-known local celebrities such as Munya and Roki (former Big Brother Africa contestants), singers Dudu Manhe-nga and Willis Watafi, being among a professional line-up of MCs and judges at the quarter and semi-finals that were being recorded at the ZCM Auditorium.
The finals will see the young and talented artists walking home with various prizes including a trip to the USA, recording contracts, I-pads, flat screen TVs, smart phones and hampers from various sponsors. To add ice to the cake, Mpariwa says, the producers are frantically trying to partner with Delta Beverages, who are bringing P-Square, into the country to making to have the Nigerian duo making an appearance during the finals.
For Mpariwa, the journey has been a long hard struggle, where the aspiring musicians, dancers, actors, poets and singers have braved the gruelling auditions, music and voice training exercises and a boot camp at Mazvikadei resort earlier this year to prepare their mental and physical alertness to bring their act to as near professional as possible.
However, it has not been all rosy due to lack of sponsorship from the local corporate world.
 “We had about 7000 participants from all the country’s 10 provinces who responded to our call for auditions in September last year. The auditioning exercise took about four months to complete and I tell this was a journey of discovery as we witnessed some of the most amazing talent ever found in Zimbabwe,” said Mpariwa.
Starbrite is Zimbabwe’s answer to South African Idols, SA’s got talent or The X-Factor or international TV programmes of the same concept. However, the Zimbabwean version seems not to attract enough sponsorship or participation from individuals and the corporate world alike.
Although it has taken the Starbrite team many months to reach this far, Mpariwa believes it was high time now that Zimbabweans in general and the corporate world in particular went back to their drawing boards and perhaps “think out of the box” in order to support young talent as in the Starbrite initiative.
“I am amazed at the amount of support that local companies give to international artists whenever they come into the country. Examples are there to see. I am not castigating big events such as HIFA or others, but I am saying our project can reach those levels given the same amount of support,” Mpariwa added.
So far, Mpariwa has been using his own finances and has gone as far disposing of his own personal items such as vehicles and property in order to fund the project. He says he is, however, grateful to the few companies and individuals that came forward with sponsorship for the project and some of them are Impala Car Hire, ZBC-TV, Goldtech, Margolis Enterprises, Oceane Perfumes, Favco, Zimbabwe College of Music and Tech Tools, among others.
“When we started this project last year, our initial budget was US$450,000 in order for use to produce a high quality presentation but that has been scaled down to about US$200,000 due to the lack of sponsorship and that in itself is not even enough to host such an event,” said Mpariwa.
“In one season alone, South African Idols spends much more than what is at our disposal. We have approached so many big organisations without much success. We understand these companies are coming from a difficult economic environment but we are not asking for too much, some can donate prizes to the winners and some can offer assistance through their products and so forth,” he said.
 “Of course some sponsors like Impala Car Hire were forthcoming by allowing us to use a minibus for the duration of the auditions and others have been trickling in. We do hope that by the time we get to the finals, many others would have come through.  However, it has been amazing though that we have come this far and we are raring to go.”            
He is quick to remind all and sundry that this project is not about him in person but the whole nation at large. Mpariwa added that when the project is up running, he would like to cede to a board of directors who will then run it as a non-profit organisation or trust called the Starbrite Foundation.
“We want the contestants that are passing through this contest to become ambassadors and mentors of the project. A little foresight is needed here. Who will remember that artists like Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana, Mathew “Mateo” Kaunda, Tendai Chidarikire, Patience Musa, Potato and many others (including yours truly) became popular as a result of Starbrite?”
For almost two years that the project has been running under Events ‘R’ Us, the company had to take care of transport, accommodation and other incidentals for the 15-plus member crew throughout the country.
Because of the shear love of the project that was initially started by ZBC in 1991 Mpariwa has found himself back on the project, this time running under his own company, Events ‘R’ Us. He also thanked the people behind him who have stood by him through these difficult times.
After spending a lot of time overseas, Mpariwa came back to the country about two years ago and rejoined Power FM where he is a part-time DJ every Saturday and Sunday on 6pm-9pm slots.
“I like to talk to people in general and discuss about self-improvement and how people can overcome social problems. My passion goes beyond radio and TV, and if I can make an impact on someone, that person will in turn, impact on other people. With Starbrite, I feel like I am giving back to the community that brought me into the limelight. Starbrite is here to stay whether I am here or not.”