When Charter House handed over the countries most prestigious awards to Vodafone Ghana to handle financially, everyone was excited. For we all know the big things that the communications giant has made happen. Just to mention - Music Video Awards with 4SYTE and Icons.
A new brand was anticipated, a new package was expected & a new style was what Ghanaians were waiting for, just to say 'we want something new!'
The journey to the final night was a great one! With all the buzz, nominees jams around the country in selected cities and a unique way of releasing Nominations List, the final night was definitely a huge one to wait for. Involving the public more this time around. a newness to the phenominal event was scented in the air.
To give a hint on how the most anticipated night on the country's calendar was going to be like, for the first time under a new tutelage, the Industry Awards Night was held in a very classy manner at the Fore Court of the Accra International Conference Center main auditoriumm, 5 days ahead of the main night. A few great performances from Ben Brako, Okyeame Kwame and others spiced up the ceremony. This was the way, the chapter of the
'Recharged' event was presented.
14th April finally came and it was time to make history again. A lot of changes had been made and people were yet to have an experience of a lifetime.
The 13th Ghana Music Awards Festival begun with a marvelous Red Carpet reception where we saw C.E.O of Aphrodisiac Night Club & Big Brother Amplified housemate - Confidence Haugen & the brain behind 1957 clothe line - K.O.D hosting the celebrities trooping in for the awards night. m
A lot of drama, excitement, glits & glamour on the Red Carpet was a good all new start for the whole newly
'Recharged' festival. Seeing celebrities from Joslyn Dumas, Stephanie Benson, Dede, Bennie Blanco, PY Addo-Boateng, Sarkodie, D-black, Funny Face, Van Vicker, Lydia Forson, Nana Ama McBrown, 4X4, Stay JAy, Nadjat, Becca, Bola Ray, Jay Folie & Jeremy plus a whole lot more grace the Red Carpet was just great.
EVENT SET-UP
Everybody was 'wowed'!! This years' set up was massive! it was a huge improvement what Ghana is used to seeing. The Red Carpet was boosted with a lot of touch. Glamour & class were its tags. Very well branded and executed, the Red Carpet area looked 'delicious'.
Seeing all this was actually a good premonition of what was about to be unveiled inside. This part of the whole event was great. Well planned, with interviews and picture sections. Never before in Ghana has an event been able to pull off such a successful
Red Carpet reception. That was a good try. Hoping to see more of it next year.
The
Red Room was a new additive to this years' package. Considering it being recharged, it was a great choice, with a good surprise. Honoring K.O.D & Confidence Haugen as hosts of the first kind. It was named so probably because of the branding colors of headline sponsors - Vodafone Ghana. Serving as the V.I.P Lounge for all celebrities in attendance and all invited guest - Local & International. Refreshing its occupants with carefully selected drinkable and eatables.
Setting up the stage came off as one of the best stages ever seen in the history of the awards. Lightening, instruments positioning and all were just on point. Flashy for the intended purpose. Sitting arrangements saw a huge upgrade in this edition. Celebrities and invited guest had their names tagged to their seats. Identification was on point and the sitting positions clearly defined, allowing easy movement.
SECURITY
This year, security was extra tight but everything was flowing so well. No hitches, no difficulties in entering. The entrance was well secured, so you only needed your pass ( ticket or tag) to get entry. Not like that of last year when even some celebrities were humiliated by security personnel. A good step-up for this year. It should continue this way and be same for the consequent years.
MC's ENTRY & PERFORMANCES
Everybody looked on in awe as Chris Attoh made his brilliant entry. Also a new touch, but looked like the idea was scrapped out of Mensa & Wanlov Kubolor's Vodafone 4SYTE Music Video Awards entry, where they walked through the whole of Accra, repeatedly losing their way but finally making it to the venue.
Like the actor he is, Chris Attoh couldn't have been better with what he performed. Getting out of ambulance and making it it to the venue through town, stopping at vantage 'shops' to collect attire for his duty ahead. Not a bad try at all, but the screen that gave him entry onto the stage should have just closed the same way it opened, on time, to just give a great ending to the great montage. But it closed eventually, so all was good. Funny Face joined him as co-host later on and they both did their thing.
Looking at it from another angle, more celebrities taking part in that act could have spiced it up more. E.L was in there alone, with other cameos from selected people. If these cameos were by some other celebrities too, the 'shot' wold have been more accomplished.
The Live Band that carried the whole event did a marvelous job. From entertaining the audience with old pics to holding the hands of performing artistes till the end, their effort was pure mastery. It could not have been any other than
Kwame Yeboah & the 'Ohia Beye Ya' band!
The representatives from KPMG (
Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler ) - an auditing firm in Ghana delivered the signed and sealed winners list to Chris Attoh on stage, for everone to see.
Cwesi Oteng opened the ceremony with the church style, heating the auditorium with his gospel songs. Joined later on by Lord Kenya - artiste turned pastor, who has not been seen on the music scene for long. Soon after, the legendary Ben Brako came on to perform tag teaming with Yaa Pono a while after his entry to carry the crowd away. An exhibiton of old school meets new school combination. Then Gifty Osei continued in the high spirit Cwesi & Lord Kenya left us the auditorium in.
Next on were Kaki & Stonebwuoy, after a streak of award presentations.For two such new talents gone mainstream, their performances were very very impressive. They even performed better than some artistes would've done if they were billed.The two were among the best performers of the night.
With a two-award-presentation break, it was time for more fun. All the way from South Africa, the Continents Number one rapper - HHP launched himself onto the stage. Hip Hop Pantsula, dipped the audience into his hip-hop based tunes. Taking charge of the stage and announcing his presence with his South African dialect rap songs. Funny how the reaction from the crowd was nowhere near excitement, showing clearly how unnecessary for him to have been billed. The night was supposed to be filled with fun : Fun that Ghanaians could relate to. HHP surely performed his best, but he got nowhere with the audience. Only the very few that really patronized wide spread African hip-hop.Spending 15minutes on stage was the most uncomfortable period for almost all present. Totally lost.
On the contrary , HHP really kicked it with his performance. Considering that a huge chunk of the audience was not really enjoying his songs, his performance was professional, world class. He would have made the auditorium go crazy if only he was not so far away from those he was performing to in terms of language barrier.
To better the feeling, Cabo Snoop came on stage in 'windeck' style. Even though he had performed in Ghana on the same stage barely a year ago, he was able to kick some excitement with his funny dance. Especially when he tried to do the azonto and it also turned out funny. The Angolan was good on stage, full energy & craft, but not all were over excited because he performed the same songs in the same way he did on his last visit. A different pick would have been a lot better.
Bringing Sarkodie on at this time was the wish of all Ghanaians, for a huge chunk of the audience were 'rooting' for him! Finally, he was on. It would have not been extraordinary if Awal alone cleared the path for the 'rap monster', but it was because Awal himself was accompanied by a small girl too in a little car they drove onto stage. Obviously representing 'junior' Sarkodie and Efya. They were good, especially the girl who had never been seen on such a stage but Awal as impressive as always. What they did was just enough for Sarkodie and Efya to make their highly anticipated entry. Earlier on, Sarkodie got the whole auditorium going haywire when he made an entry. Magical flow from the two was flowing as usual. Efya left the stage shortly for Sarkodie who was joined by Castro for 'Onyame Nhyira', which ended well. Efya came on once more to perform a solo and she got the whole auditorium enchanted with her vocals.
But in all, a lot of people thought sarkodie's performance for the night was kind of weak. The Sarkodie they knew was somehow missing. Some blamed it on the disappointments he was suffering that night, others too just blamed it on he being too relaxed. He didn't really nail it, there was definitely something wrong.
The excitement continued when it was the turn of the Chocolate City boys Nigeria. Ice Prince got the ladies screaming in Nigeria style. Brymo showed how sexy he was by performing topless and getting in the mood with 'Ara'. Honestly didn't do so well. Considering he was foreign to the awards, he was expected to be extraordinary. Likewise Jesse Jagz, whose performance was just average. Ghana expected more. Mr Incredible - M.I was on point as usual, preforming songs that he himself knew Ghanaians liked & getting everybody to sing along.
Next, was another triple blast from 4X4, Guru and Buk Bak. Heating up the stage once again with some Ghanaian flavor, the 'Yesi Yesi' boys got the whole auditorium doing azonto. They have always been good at stage performance and they were no different on that night. They excited the audience with what they do best. Filling the stage with their azonto dancers, they were able to get away with a good performance. The 'Lapaz Toyota' drove in just after, throwing in more azonto for the night. The energy was positive and good. Guru did not disappoint. Performing, he got everybody moving to his tune. No doubt he impressed everybody with his stage presence. As if all the azonto was not enough, Buk Bak made it a tripple azonto rave with 'Kolom'. Their come back song did some magic, as it was one of the most popular songs getting close to the end of last year. Ronnie and Bright were good.
When Edem came back onto the music scene last year with Ghetto Arise, he was very suer of what he was up to. He made sure his name change from 'Ayibge Edem' to 'Edem' was imprinted in the minds of the public before he blew them away with his new style. He was really an act to pay attention to when he took the stage. Edem has always been good at performance. Always having the right mood and attitude anytime he grabs a microphone and steps onto a stage. He did not disappoint.
Finally, the crazy moment everybody was waiting for was nigh. Earlier on, 'Abodam' promised he had a surprise performance for his fans out there on the night, after driving onto the red carpet in a red Zoom Lion branded three-tire vehicle. He came on stage in Zoom Lion costume,pushing along a wheel barrow. He has done similar things before other performances at other concerts, so everyone was just waiting for the new surprise. He definitely nailed it this time too. In the company of Opanka, 'For the Popping' was what they performed. With his crazy nature, he got everybody chanting to the song. A great performance from Kwaw Kese.
As a final act, EL surely ended the night with a glorious performance.It was time for the most popular question of the year to be asked when he made his way onto the stage. 'Obuu Mo Ona?' was what everyone was singing out. Clearly the most heard of artiste in the past year, being his first mainstream year in the industry, he had really mad an impact with his new style of music and everyone was definitely ready for him. Papa Nii, made an entrance to create some humor before E.L came on to do his thing. A good one it was.
SOUND & LIGHT QUALITY
An impressive attempt was made to ensure quality sound throughout the whole event.But to our dismay, that was not fully realized. Too many hitches in sound delivery. A lot of performances not going too well because of microphone problems. A clear example was when Awal Mohammed was performing with another young girl to make way for Sarkodie and Efya. The two had to pass on microphones to each other, which was not good. Another was when Sarkodie and Castro had to do the same because on of their microphones was not functioning properly.
For an international awards that a lot of countries in Africa were tuned in to, i think a lot could have been done.
On the other hand, lighting was good. Definitely giving a touch of beauty to the auditorium. But still, there;s a lot of room for improvement. Especially for performances, the lights should be manipulated to add an extra uniqueness. All in all, it was a very good attempt.
CO-ORDINATION
This was one aspect of the awards everybody was surely paying attention to. All was so nice and clean until it was time to present the award for High-life Artiste of the Year. Definitely, Kwaw Kese is not a High-life Artiste so can't be the winner. Appietus took to the stage to present that award and to the surprise of everybody there and at home watching, Kwaw Kese's name was mentioned!! What?? No, that was not good! Not one bit, how bad could the co-ordination have gone? Such a huge mix up. It was just so bad at that point because just a few moments ago, the nominees for that category had just been rolled on the screens and surely Kwaw Kese was not among them. But it was corrected there and then. The whole explanation had sayings like 'there was a presentation envelope mix up' and all others but still, that was not impressive. Not when an awards of this caliber was having continental a broadcast.
AWARDS
Honestly, quite a number of the award winners did not deserve it. Looking at the categories they fell in with the competition they had. The top of it all was Sarkodie picking up only three of his twelve nominations!!! Looking at how dominant he was in the year under review. He surely deserved more. But the most controversial of them all was Blak Rasta picking up Reggae Song of the Year. Seriously? It would have sounded a bit better in the hands of Edem or StoneBwuoy. But all this sums up to just one question. '
DID YOU VOTE?'
OVERALL EVENT SPAN
It has always been the norm for Ghanaian events and awards to start late. This awards also kicked off late as usual, but just that the Red Carpet reception begun early. Well, with an event that involves such a session that takes a lot of time, the starting time should be quite early so as not to drag the whole event. The Red Carpet Reception begun at approximately 8pm and the awards begun at approximately 10pm. To make things a lot better, the earlier chapter should begin around 7pm just to ensure that the main awards ceremony does not begin as late as 10pm.
FINAL GRADE!
The 13th Ghana Music Awards Festival, under the distinguished tutelage of Vodafone Ghana, saw massive improvement and great changes and additives. From the Red Carpet to the Red Room to the main event. A lot was put in to realize a great night and i think that was almost realized.
Security and crowd control should not be attributed to high price of tickets. I think a better excuse can be generated.
More creativity should be put to the performances. A lot of attention should be given to sound and lights quality.
Clarity should be first hand in naming winners, for this is the part that can really kill the interest of the public.
Time factor should not be forgotten. A long awards ceremony is tiring. A little more can be done about that.
In general, the whole event was a masterpiece. With all that was made possible, the organizers have definitely raised the standard. Great props and great ideas with a great approach to this years event was the aim. A very good try, very very impressive. We are almost there.
Not fully '
RECHARGED', but close - for the love of music! We are almost there.
Kudos to Charter House and Vodafone Ghana for such an experience, definitely of a lifetime.
