NAMAs stage a spectacular show
… Despite poor sound quality
By Jeoffrey Mukubi
MTC and NBC once again outdid themselves in producing one of the most prestigious award ceremonies on the African continent, but failed to have audible output for the live audience, both at the Swakopmund Dome, where the Namibian Annual Music Award show was held as well as on television and online.
The creativity nonetheless was second to none as musicians and invited guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The blue carpet session was one such area most artists got to mingle and network before the actual live show began. It strayed from the usual sponsorship banners in the background to having a black background with this year’s nominated artists gracing its walls like pieces of art.
Another seemingly noticeable incident was the lack of artworks, which were promised to be on the blue carpet from various Namibian visual artists.
The show however soon got underway and the stage was set to host the winners, award announcers and performances of the night.
Technically the stage, lighting and aesthetics – which were all done by Mikel Jes – were phenomenal.
It was as if sitting at the VMAs or the Billboard Awards, but we are just not there yet.
Haymish Olivier did an outstanding job with the dancers as they seemed to not have skipped a beat; the performances were polished and well-rehearsed. The NAMAs executive did promise never-seen-before stunts at an African award show, and Sally doing her hit song ‘Net So’ on a giant bird while Best Hip Hop winner Skypt performed under a shower of water, added to the amazement.
Beloved South African songstress Holly Rey graced the NAMAs stage and gave an electrifying performance of her hit song ‘Deeper’, which was nominated for the Pan African Music category, but she lost to fellow countryman AKA with the song ‘Fela in Versace’.
Exit and Lize Ehlers were ultimately the biggest winners of the night, with Exit winning the Male Artist of the Year award as well as Best Kwaito, and Lize Ehlers winning Female Artist of the Year and Artist of the Year, as well as Best House. The two won a combined total of close to N$400,000.
Other big winners of the night were Top Cheri, Gazza and KK, who all bagged two awards each.
Co-chairman of the NAMAs Tim Ekanjo promised an even bigger event next year.
“This year we went absolutely crazy so that next year we can go totally insane,” Ekanjo joked.
With #NamTwitter fully equipped with ammo, the gags kept popping up on people’s timelines, with many poking fun at the presenters and their mispronunciation of words, or their strong regional accents. All in all MTC and NBC did a great job of celebrating and awarding excellence within the music industry.