YOU have got to give it to Bev! Beverly Sibanda was said to have left the entertainment industry for holier life, but did she? Not by any description of the word entertainment.
She continues to spurn out drama after drama and like I wrote recently we have not seen the last of the much acclaimed “dancer”. When she invaded the entertainment scene she had tongues wagging and relationships shaking over her dance moves.
Artistes debated her legitimacy as one of theirs while many a woman, girlfriend and wife questioned what sort of entertainment she provided that seemed to wow those of Adam’s descendants more than those of Eve’s origin!
She packed venues all over the country and set the media alight with frenzy!
Who does not know Bev for Zoey’s sake? She is the woman who brought Zimbabwe’s usually strict restrictive censorship laws to a halt!
She is the one who got a permit for her controversial dances and has lived to tell a story about it.
The Zimbabwean entertainment scene is one of a kind. It’s unpredictable to say the least. This article has nothing against Sibanda, but a lot for every other artiste, especially those from the southern region.
How did Beverly for more than three years become more popular than any other artiste in Bulawayo and beyond?
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I know so many local artistes with a pack of albums, hardworking, toiling on stage and creative in choreography who have not made a name beyond a weekly newspaper mention let alone national radio and television appearance.
Everyday artistes complain that they are not noticed, they are not recognised, papers do not cover their work, but this new kid on the block Sibanda seems to have no problems at all with publicity. The question is what is it that she does differently?
To put everyone into perspective, Beverly’s latest shenanigans — we all need to remember that after so much controversy over her dances, she and many others defended as upright and honest and Delta Beverages standing up to her use of their bottles in sexually connotative dances — was a report she had been born again.
That was not before she was reported to be using a fake name and to have recorded an album that never saw as much light and publicity as her dance moves.
Pastor Magaya made a prophecy, called Beverly and advised her to quit dancing in pubs. He was reported to have bought a container from China for her to open a clothing shop.
She was quoted then to have said: “I have quit dancing and I am now serving God. I can’t afford to oppose the man of God’s prophecy . . . I am now a new creature and I hope to continue serving my Lord. I was , but I am now saved. Thank God for his love.”
To me that was a blow below the belt to all those dancers and singers who perform in pubs, but I still maintained that this was just a mere twist in Beverly Sibanda’s creative plot in the arts story.
A week ago Beverly Sibanda was back in the headlines this time threatening to return to the dance floor because one of Pastor Magaya’s security guards had assaulted her over an altercation she had with another girl at the pastor’s residence.
The two women fought over alleged favouritism from the pastor.
This time Sibanda said: “I am failing to worship because of people who are busy looking for money from the prophet instead of looking for salvation.”
How does one explain the clothing shop — as part of salvation or looking for money? “Everyday I hear of people calling me names and I am contemplating going back to dance because I feel it is better to be hated by a heathen than a Christian.”
That means Christians don’t dance or dancers are not Christians.
That is how complex and yet so easy it can be to be a celebrity in Zimbabwe and in a country where musicians, dancers and other entertainers jostle for recognition.
- On a sombre note, a music fan who threw a can at Zimbabwean dancehall music multi-award winner Winky D on Wednesday night is reported to have died after being assaulted by security personnel at the awards ceremony. Should people kill each other over awards? Inhuman. Keep walking!
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