Who Cares About Awards?

 

In about six month’s time, we will be celebrating winners of the biggest awards event on the Ghanaian entertainment calendar, the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (V.G.M.A) organized by Charter House. This awards event is certainly the most anticipated awards event of the year, not for entertainers alone but workers in a various sectors. From taxi drivers to fashion designers….and without a doubt Epos in Osu where all the action gravitates after the event not to mention the night clubs like the erstwhile Aphrodisiac and Rockstone’s Office which hosts after parties for the event.

For the VGMAs, artistes are said to time the releases of their songs so that they fall within the year for the awards to earn bragging rights among their peers; fashion designers pray that their clients get to herald them on the red carpet and lovers hope their partners won’t ditch them but take them to that prestigious event.

Other awards that excite attention among the creative arts in Ghana include the Legends and Legacy (L.A.L) Ball, Ghana Movie Awards, 4syte Music Video Awards and the fledgling MUSIGA Ghana Music Honors, Golden Movies Awards and Bass Awards. Others include the Kumawood Awards, Ghana D.Js Awards, Ghana Television Awards and Radio and Television Presenters Awards among others.

Generally speaking, awards are given to either individuals or organizations in nearly all spheres of human endeavor from farming through entertainment to banking and the awards are said to be in recognition of an individual, group or organization’s excellence in a particular field.

International Dimensions

Globally one can mention the Grammys which is the biggest awards event in showbiz, the Emmys, Peoples Choice Awards, B.E.T Award, the various shades of the MTV Awards, the Cannes Film Festival and the N.A.B Marconi Radio Awards, the Peabody, British Academy Television Awards. Music Of Black Origin (M.O.B.O), All Africa Music Awards (A.A.M.A)

These global awards showcase the fashion trends that become the vogue for fans providing them with leads in terms of designs and designers to go for. Pictures of the stars on the red carpet go viral and their comments on the red carpet, while receiving their awards and commenting on who won what makes news.

Although hip hop icon Kanye West has bagged twenty one Grammy awards, he still found it okay to cuss the awards. Kanye attacked the awards organizers claiming they were “not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats in music, you’re disrespectful to inspiration” in reference to Beck’s picking up the Grammy for Album of the Year instead of Beyonce. Kanye had earlier in 2009 also interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the M.T.V Video Music Awards in 2009 in favor of Beyonce. He’s however gone on to perform at the Grammy’s and has no beef with both musicians, reconciling with Taylor Swift the night he dissed Beck while claiming he’s getting into the studio with Beck describing him as one of the most respected artists in the business.

Who Picks What…..

Hiplife hit maker Guru is one dude whose memories of some editions of the V.G.M.As won’t be that pleasant. His La Paz Toyota generated some wahala with the argument that he had released the song before 2014 thereby causing him a much expected award that year; Guru and other artistes have had such harrowing experiences with awards slipping through their fingers.

There’s this classic case in 2010 of Dr Duncan marching to Charter House to inform them that his then ward Sarkodie hadn’t officially released ‘Baby’ his smash hit tune that featured Mugeez of R2 Bees. The song subsequently won big for the Tema C 9 based brother who swept the awards that year winning in the Artiste of the Year, Discovery of the Year, Hiplife/Hiphop Artiste, Best Collaboration and Best Rapper categories.

It is therefore no surprise that dancehall artiste Jupiter whose song ‘Enemies’ featuring the iconoclastic Sarkodie announced that he released his song in January this year instead of the December release date researchers on the song will find online. His story is that he gave the song to some bloggers who put it online without his consent. This is obviously in preparation for the debate that will ensue come February next year when the various committees of the V.G.M.As start their deliberations on who gets nominated in what category.

There’s no doubt that ‘Enemies’ is likely to contend for nomination in both the Reggae/Dancehall and Collaboration of the Year categories. It’s also possible that the song will push him into other categories like the Reggae / Dancehall Artiste and others. It’s therefore understandable that the young man whose Money Box tune narrowly missed the mark at the V.G.M.As but walked away with the Discovery of the Year category in both the MTN 4syte Music Video Awards and the Bass Awards in 2013 is drumming up his positioning for the awards.

The last time I was having a chat with Sedem Ofori of Starr FM as to which songs are clear candidates for nomination in the various categories for the V.G.M.A this year, we had quite a tough time identifying clear out and out contenders. Last year by this time, the big tunes and contenders were clear. Daddy Lumba’s Nea Woho Beto Wo (Yen Tie Obiaa), Baafira, Seihor, Adonai and Realer No were ranking while Becca, Edem and 4×4 all had stunning clips contending in the video categories.

The current situation fuels the theory being bandied around that artistes and their managements are now timing their releases so that by time the public has to vote, the memories of the songs will still be fresh in the minds of the fans since the songs would be still enjoying airplay and popularity. One therefore expects a deluge of releases as we end the year so that the songs would fit perfectly in the January to December calendar of the V.G.M.As. Samini has dealt his hand with ‘New Style’ which is expected to be followed by two more singles before the whole album drops later in the year. Sarkodie earlier tossed in the ‘New Guy’ and his  collaboration with Akwaboah is also indicative of some of the tunes that will be in high contention as the countdown begins.

 

Stars Descend on Techiman

A fortnight ago the town of Techiman witnessed an avalanche of stars as members of the creative arts descended on the town for the funeral of the late Hon I.K Adjei-Ofosu, father of the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare. The MUSIGA President Bice Osei Kuffour aka Obour led a delegation that included Tic Tac who is the Union’s Greater Accra regional chairman, J.V Owusu, the National Welfare Officer, Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, Director of Reggae and the Brong Ahafo regional Secretary Daniel Ajei aka Koso, regional welfare officer Madam Dorcas and Communications Director Ahuma Bosco Ocansey. The actors were represented by the likes of Roslyn Ngissah, James Gardner, Abeiku Sagoe, Idikoko along with a strong Kumawood team that included Agya Koo Nimo, Bill Asamoah and Ama Oduma Odoom.