Celebrities

The much talked about 2013 African Magic Viewer's Choice awards has come and gone, and just like many things Nigerian, it turned out to be a JOKE. One would have expected that the organizers of the show -African Magic and Multi choice-would borrow a leaf from the Hollywood awards they air from time to time; but sadly, they decided to do things the Nigerian way. I'm an award buff, and I must say that I was very disappointed with many aspects of the show. Since they called it 'Viewers Choice Awards,' I will try to leave pettiness aside and concentrate on salient errors, noticed from a viewers point of view.

Technical Errors:

The show was aired live on 8 African magic stations, and from time to time there were glitches in the broadcast, leaving the screen blank for seconds before broadcast resumed. This is even forgivable compared to the mistake made when the nominees for best actor in a comedy was to be announced. The category for best actress in a comedy was repeated, before one of the award presenters, Gideon Okeke suggested that a re-run of the nominees be aired to correct the mistake. This is an award put together by the biggest cable network in Africa for pete's sake, such mistakes are just too careless to be made.

No Screen Names:

When you watch a standard award show, take for instance the Golden Globes, you notice that when the winner of a category is announced, the movie for which the person won is announced as well..eg 'and the best supporting actor is: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained' not just 'The winner is Christoph Waltz'. And between the time that the winner starts to walk from his/her seat to the stage, the name is written on the screen for viewers to follow. This is done because there are many names that viewers do not reconcile with a face and vice-versa. The organizers of the AMVCA noticeably omitted this. And considering in this case that most of the names of the nominees were unfamiliar(especially those who work behind the scenes), the movies for which every winner won for should have been announced,and same written on the TV screen.

Performances:

Most of the performances except Femi Kuti, Banky W and the African Lady who had on a Kente Headtie( I don't know her name and they refused to write it on the screen) were poor. Performances during award shows are usually well thought out and put together. Here, most of the performances looked like after thoughts.

Anchors:

IK as usual did a good job. Were however familiar with him anchoring shows, so tonight-was really about former BBA star turned TV personality Vimbai. Her diction was good, and I was impressed at how well she anchored for a first timer. However, the clothes she wore were a hot mess. Her dresses were garish and very disappointing. Gosh! Don't they have last minute dress rehearsals for these shows? The colors were off, and the styles very unflattering for her slim figure. The stylist/designer did an awful job on her; so much so that it trended on micro blogging social networking site twitter. Unconfirmed reports have it that her outfits were designed by House of Nkwocha and that leaves me even more disappointed. Vimbai's clothes really could have been better.

No Tribute:

My biggest issue with the AMVCA 2013 edition was that there was NO TRIBUTE. When Tiwa started her performance with Goldie's song 'say my name,' and her picture started showing in the background, I was happy that a tribute was not forgotten after all. But alas! My joy was short lived when Tiwa switched almost immediately to her song 'Ife wa gbona' and Goldie's picture stopped showing in the background.
It is no news that the Nigerian entertainment industry is experiencing one of its darkest periods in years having lost a number of thespians and a few musicians in such a short period of time. As a result, I had expected a well put together tribute, celebrating the lives of those who are no more, but contributed immensely one way or the other to the growth of the entertainment industry. Every year, the Oscar pays tribute to people who were lost including actors, and people behind the scenes; But no, AMVCA 2013 had no tributes. To the organizers, it just wasn't necessary…after all, its not the Oscars abi?

Winners:

I'm still trying to understand how the winners were picked, because many, including me have argued that the awards did not reflect the viewers choice, at all. How will a Funke Akindele not win any award for her remarkable performance in 'The return of Jenifa'? Are they saying that perhaps Nigerians didn't vote enough? When winners of the American peoples choice awards are announced, there are hardly dissenting views because even non Americans agree that its is a true reflection of the people's choice. Sadly, same CANNOT be said for the AMVCA's. The backlash and criticisms on twitter makes this even more evident. Btw, how were the nominees for the awards even picked???

In conclusion the 2013 AMVCA was below expected standard and could have been better, even for a first edition. There was ample time to prepare and sponsorship I doubt was a problem, so some of the mistakes are unpardonable. Rating it over 10, I'd give it a 3, and that to me is a magnanimous score. On the other hand however, it can only get better. Here is hoping the organizers will listen to the people, plan more carefully and strive for a better show next year. All the best to them.

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