Today is #ThrowbackThursday and we are throwing back to the 18th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. Now that the furore has died down, I think it is time to do the Glitz Review of the 18th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. There are so many things to talk about; but where to start from? We’ll take it piece by piece.
Time
Why must we endure 5 hours of television programming? Why must the audience and viewers be subjected to watching a 7-hour programme? This on top of starting the show 2-hours late. We should be able to fine tune the programme to just above 3 hours. When last year’s edition ended early, I thought, “Finally, there is going to be a change.” Then this year, it just reverted back to the old norm. The reason for the late start was an overload on the power supply and other technical hitches. My question is: How is it possible that the organisers were not prepared for any possible problems that would arise?
Cohesion
One of my major problems with the show was the lack of cohesion in the show. During the show, the transformation from one act to the other did not look seamless. One of my major suggestions to the show is that it should be scripted. It would make the show flow and easier to manage. The show should add writers. The show business revolves around writers because they are the ones who make the show.
Lifetime Achievement Performance & 60 years of Music Performance
When I could finally start watching the show, Papa Yankson was being honoured. Akwaboah and Adina were enlisted to perform this legend’s songs. The performance was alright. In my opinion, for this legend, the performance should not have been treated as an afterthought. During the show, when the host announced that there was going to be a celebration of 60 years of music, I was excited. I was not disappointed. The performances by Wulomei and Charles Amoah were my favourites of the night. Chalk it down to nostalgia or experiencing something different; I thoroughly enjoyed their performances even though they are old. Again, this was the most important part of the evening in keeping with the theme of the night but we were not treated to the evolution of Ghanaian music.
Artist Performances
I hated disliked most of the performances. This is because we were treated to the same old fare by most of these artistes. The performances were not particularly exciting or something that would leave us talking. It seems like most of the artistes have a hat they all pull the performances from. My point is nobody’s performance excited me to any extent. How could Charles Amoah excite me more than the new ones? I have a quick question: Must there always be some girls on stage shaking their bums? How could I forget the Gospel Performance? The performance would have hands down won the night for me till it was ruined by Kingzkid.
Award Winners
First of all, congratulations to each and every winner. They deserved it (or did they?) The VGMAs will never be complete without its accompanying controversies surrounding who should have won what. This year proved no different. This year’s winners called the credibility of the awards into question. My personal bone to pick was how Runtown won for African Artiste of the Year.
The Hosts
I thought Anita Erskine did great considering the fact that she did not have a lot of material and room to work with. DJ Black was also good on the night and I especially loved the shade he kept throwing due to his song choices.
In conclusion, the show did not live up to expectations. It is disappointing based on the fact that this is the 18th edition, therefore it should have been better. I feel like we have been used to mediocrity to the extent that we don’t actually expect anything better from them.
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