Every county in the world has its unique way of rewarding hardworking talents in the country with respect to their entertainment industry. In Ghana, Vodafone Ghana Music Awards remains one of the biggest award platforms despite the growing controversies surrounding its main organisers thus, Charterhouse Ghana.
Over the years most Ghanaian artistes, media personalities and showbiz enthusiasts have come out publicly to question the credibility of the awards in one way or the other. However, some music lovers and artistes uphold these allegations, other pro-VGMA pundits continue to argue that artistes like Sarkodie and Stonebwoy after winning the VGMA awards have climbed higher to win other prestigious international awards like the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards and are even hoping to win GRAMMY especially Sarkodie.
This year’s edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards came off last Saturday, April 8, 2017 at the Accra International Conference Center (AICC) with a massive turnout. Therefore, as a blogger who has been following events as and when it happens, it’s prudent to bring to you a comprehensive review especially to entertainment lovers who could not keep vigil to catch full glimpses of the glamorous event ranging from the red carpet to the end. Continue reading as I take you through the 18th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards journey.
THE RED CARPET SESSION
A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events. Ladies and gentlemen at this year’s VGMAs as usually, came out wearing their best outfit to show off on the Red Carpet.
The red carpet session which basically kicked start the main event was hosted by Berla Mundi and Elikem Kumordzie where they had a short interview with top entertainment personalities concerning their outfit to the event on the night and their expectations. As usual, some kind of fashion became the talk of town as Ghanaians and entertainment enthusiasts started to read meanings to it. Especially, outfits worn by Zynel Zuh, Bella Mundi, Benedicta Gafah Nana Ama McBrown, others fashion was among the celebrity outfits that raised eyebrows on the day.
TECHNICAL HITCHES
Over the years, the organisers of Ghana Music Awards do face challenges concerning the technicalities as efficiency of machine can never be 100%. Similarly, this year’s VGMAs wasn’t something new as similar technical difficulties was witnessed. In fact, the biggest shock of the night came when almighty ‘dumsor’ visited the AICC which disrupted activities for a period of time. Music lovers who decided to watch the event from the comfort of their homes also had a fair share of the embarrassment as it was reported that there was poor transmission especially on GH one, Charterhouse’s main media partner.
ARTISTE PERFORMANCES
Although, the main purpose of the VGMAs is to give plaques to deserving artistes, but that do not deter the organisers from billing some of the top nominees to spice up the auditorium with amazing musical performances. Artistes who got the opportunity to perform on the night included Sarkodie, M.Anifest, Stonebwoy, Kofi Kinaata, Medikal, Becca and many others.
Whilst some artistes gave a remarkable musical performances, others also performed abysmally. Arguably, Sarkodie as usual thrilled the audience with awesome performance while Medikal, M.Anifest and Kofi Kinaata as expressed by majority of people who graced the occasion and those who watched via home televisions according to their candid opinion performed below their expectations.
THE CLIMAX (THE AWARD WINNERS)
This is the point that got most people talking although I always have the perception that any artiste nominated in every category is a potential winner. Simply put, there exists a lot of surprises concerning who wins what at the VGMAs, because music lovers as well as the artiste feel cheated whenever they fails to win a particular award in their respective categories.
More importantly, the biggest surprise was when artiste of the year award (the biggest award of the night) went to Joe Mettle (a gospel artiste), which has come under a lot of scrutiny among music enthusiasts and pundits in the country. Truly, time victory in favour of Joe Mettle do not only throw a challenge to the non-gospel fraternity of the music industry but has also ignited the assurance that Gospel music also owns a place in Ghana’s music scene.
It also came as a surprise when the award for new artiste of the year swept gently past the supposed ‘obvious winner’ Medikal and landed in the hands of ‘the northern star’ Fancy Gadam leaving the ‘confirm’ hitmaker at the mercy of sarcasm and public ridicule especially on social media. Simply because, Medikal after securing seven nominations, failed to even secure one plaque.
CLOSURE & SUGGESTIONS
Over the years, several musicians and entertainment enthusiasts have expressed concerns and varied opinions concerning the winners of the various categories especially the prestigious Artiste of The Year category. However, Ghbase.com (We’re Ghana’s Favorite Entertainment Blog) are of the view that, to consistently organise awards for eighteen years must witness some remarkable improvement considering the experiences Charterhouse have had over the years in event organisation.
Although, there’s no way a human organisation can be 100% flawless, but we do believe that certain things can be done right. To clear all doubts, my little advice to the organisers of the event is to make the award system more transparent especially concerning the public voting in order to boost the trust that Ghanaian music lovers have in them henceforth.
