Magaya’s $1 million talent search show in doubt

By Bongani Ndlovu

The Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries’ (PHD) million dollar talent search auditions set for last Saturday were postponed indefinitely, leaving many hopefuls in despair. The talent search dubbed “African Talent Show” is the brainchild of PHD founder, Walter Magaya through his company Planet Africa.

The auditions were set to be held in Harare at the weekend and broadcast on Magaya’s Yadah Television. Hosts and judges for the show include Arthur Evans, Brita Masalethulini, Audius Mtawarira, MisRed and Star FM’s Pathisani Sibanda, KVG and Itai Mutinhiri.

In a statement on PHD and Africa Talent Show’s Facebook page, organisers said the postponement was beyond their control.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, we unfortunately have to postpone the auditions planned for this Saturday. A new date will be announced soon and a notification will be sent out on all our media platforms.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause,” read the post.

In a promotional video released last week, Magaya said the show, not confined to Zimbabweans alone, but Africans, was to meant to identify and promote hidden African talent.

“We must start with singing and dancing and then we go to other talents. It must not only be for Zimbabwean participants, it is supposed to involve African participants,” Magaya said.He said he was not the one funding the one million prize money as he had identified partners who are sponsoring.

“It’s not my money that I’ll be using. The partners that I have secured said whoever wins the competition will get a million,” he said.

Once they are held, auditions for the first season of the show will be beamed on Yadah Television (DStv channel 281) every Tuesday and Thursday starting in June. The Chronicle