The Bible Society of Malawi is running a Bible Youth Buzz (ByB) talent competition to create a forum where the youth are encouraged to originate their Biblical creative potential ideas and display them through different media formats.
ByB is a nationwide competition which will take place at city and national levels, according to the society’s distribution and marketing manager Herbert Chagunda.
“The preliminary phase will have 100 participants and three of the five finalists from each category in the four cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Zomba will proceed to the national level. Sixty participants will battle it out for the top prize,” he said.
He added: “Judges will be looking at factors like scripture content presentation, skills in delivery, costume, audience reception and entertainment value.”
Performances will be in either English or any vernacular language and in music, poetry, dance, scripture recital and drama categories.
“There are a number of objectives, including identifying and promoting young people’s hidden talent and mobilising youths to become Bible advocates. Youths between 15 and 30 years are free to enter the competition as individuals or groups.
“The city level will be from May 26 to July 28 while the national level will be from August 18 to September 29. In the city level, participants in preliminary phase will receive Good News Bible as a consolation prize, Be the Best you can be booklets in quarter finals, Youth Bibles and What is the Bible book. The top-three winners in every category will qualify for the national competition as well as receive K45 000, K30 000 and K20 000 respectively,” stated Chagunda.
The overall winner will walk away with a laptop, a recording deal and a Bible. The second-placed winner will receive a smart phone, a recording deal and a Bible while the best group will get a gold trophy, a recording deal and Bibles and bronze trophy, a recording deal and Bibles.
One of the contestants Tionge Angella Banda, who started poetry at the age of nine, says the competition symbolises the control youths have over much of the happenings in the world.
To participate, contestants are urgued to download a form from Bible Society of Malawi website www.biblesociety-malawi.org and apply.
