Nigeria Content Online

That the MTV
Africa Music Awards is one of the continent’s biggest music events was
made apparent by the calibre of people that attended the award show on
December 9 – from media moguls like the Murray-Bruces and Tajudeen
Adepetu to showbiz impresarios like Keke and D1. There were also
celebrities from across the continent and some parts of the globe,
apart from those that were nominated and/or performed.

The event started
with the red carpet and cocktails that took place by poolside of the
Eko Hotel and Suites. It was a chance for the media and celebrities to
mingle. There were music and small screens on which the nominees’
videos were played. Guests were soon asked to move to the Expo Hall
where the main event was to take place.

Unlike most award
shows organised within the country, the MAMAs set itself apart as one
that was made for television broadcast. The countdown clock affixed to
the wall of the hall meant that the already rehearsed performances and
award presentations were not allowed to exceed their allotted time
slot.

However, a lot
more attention was put into the broadcast quality than the live event.
The speakers within the hall produced poor sound, especially around the
VIP area, leading guests to continually ask, “Who is performing? Whose
name just got announced?” Still, it held on to a party-like atmosphere,
with lots of screams from the crowd at the bottom of the stages.

The show opened
with an explosive performance by American rapper, Rick Ross, which got
the crowd singing along and waving their hands in the air. As usual,
there were a lot of group performances that cut across different genres
of music and featured various stars on the same stage. Among the
collaborations was a rendition of Banky W’s ‘Lagos Party’, featuring
South Africa’s Big Nuz, Angola’s Cabo Snoop and Paul G, and Democratic
Republic of Congo’s Barabara Kanam. Nigeria’s female rapper, Sasha, got
to perform alongside her American counterpart, Eve, who was also the
host of the show.

Tuface Idibia’s
performance of two of his songs ‘Only Me’ and ‘Implication’ was
show-stopping and crowd-inclusive. After rendering ‘Only Me’ on one of
the two stages, he was literally carried by the crowd to the second
stage where he performed ‘Implication’, backed by two ladies dressed as
sexy policewomen.

There were also
performances by American stars, T-Pain, Rick Ross, and Chuck D of
Public Enemy. Chuck D was also on hand to announce recipient of the
MAMA Legend award, which was awarded to Miriam Makeba who died in
November 2008. She would be the third posthumous recipient of the
award. Previous recipients were Fela and Lucky Dube.

Among other award
presenters were: ex-Super Eagle, Daniel Amokachi, who got on to the
stage to the cries of ‘The Bull’, a sound that was initially mistaken
for boos. D’Banj and rumoured girlfriend, Genevieve Nnaji, also served
as co-presenters, presenting the award for Artist of the Year to Tuface
Idibia.

In past editions
of the shows, the award categories and nominees list had come under
much criticism for putting artistes under the wrong genres and pitting
them against the most unlikely competitors. An example would be in 2008
when 9ice won against ‘The Game’ for Best Hip-Hop. This year, MAMAs
took a safer route by focusing more on geography, language, and overall
performance than genres.

As expected, ‘the
Nigerians’ took the highest number of awards with Mo’Cheddah winning
Brand New Act, P Square Best Group, Sasha Best Female, and TuFace
Idibia who went home with Artist of the Year and Best Male. Other award
winners included: Daddy Owen (Kenya) – Best Anglophone; Cabo Snoop
(Angola) – Best Lusophone; Big Nuz (South Africa) – Best Performance;
Liquid Deep (South Africa) for Song of the Year; and Fally Ipupa (DRC)
who, like Nigeria’s Tuface Idibia, was the only other artist who got
two awards, winning for Best Video and Best Francophone.

The show ended with the appearance on stage of all presenters and
performers after a ‘command performance’ of the song ‘Win’ by T-Pain,
Rick Ross, Da Les and Tuface. The “partying” however’ continued with an
after-party at popular nightclub, Tribeca.