This year’s Ghana Music Awards
Nominee jams which took place over the weekend in Tamale will go down in
history as the most dramatic so far in the 15 years of VGMA.
Right
from the airport main artistes billed to perform including Samini,
Sarkodie, Castro and other almost got stranded when officials of Africa
World Airline (AWA) decided to leave the stars behind at the airport
even though all the artistes were present before passengers began
boarding because according to them "they had closed counter".
Mrs.
Theresa Ayoade and George Quaye of Chaterhouse somehow were able to get
the next available flight for all the artistes to arrive safely in
Tamale on Saturday evening after the airline sorted out a technical
problem which delayed the flight for almost an hour.
The much
anticipated show started at about 9pm on Saturday evening April 5 as
planned with some Tamale based artistes followed by new artistes Cabum,
Eno, MzVee, Episode, AK Songstress and Strong man who have been selected
for the “VGMA Unsung” competition. The new acts put up great
performances to entertain the crowd.
Gospel sensation Joyce
Blessing then took over the stage and turned the show into a big church.
Immediately Joyce Blessing left the stage a very strong wind preceded a
heavy rain storm which abruptly ended the show that was barely getting
warmed up.
After the rain, organizers had no choice than to
postpone the rest of the performances to the next day Sunday April 6
because all the equipments including the sound, light, LED screen,
backdrops among other things were soaked in water. Even though
Charterhouse-the organizers went through a hard time convincing
remaining artistes; Samini, Sarkodie, Edem, Stonebowy and Castro to
spend an extra day in Tamale, they agreed to wait for the love of their
fans in Tamale.
On Sunday evening music fans gathered again in
their thousands to continue from where they left off. The night saw
memorable performances from these carefully selected artistes. Edem
brought energy and precision on stage. Castro proved why he is still
relevant and strong both in the studio and on stage after 15 years of
doing music.
Fast rising dancehall crooner Stonebowy showed how
fast he has matured from an underdog to becoming a great live band
performer. His splendid performance attracted loud cheer from the crowd.
Samini as always gave the crown just the right dose of his brand of
music.
He communicated with his fans intermittently and surely
got them to wave their handkerchiefs. He also gave a feel of authentic
Fante Rap with live band by the new High Grade Family act Kofi Kinaata.
Sarkodie
who undoubted is the most popular artiste in Tamale presently, turned
the show upside down when he mounted the stage. The crowd rapped along
every single song Sarkodie dropped as though they rehearsed with him.
Sarkodie himself was touched by the genuine love his fans showed him.
It
was almost a great show by all standards until something very serious
and so sad ended the show just when Sarkodie was warming up.
Keep
reading for video and pictorial details of what really happened at the
Tamale Sports Stadium forecourt on Sunday April 6 between the Police and
the crowd.
Checkout the exclusive pictures below:
It is only normal for any guy to look
at this figure twice. I say normal because guys naturally love ‘meat’
and therefore I do not find any reason for fast rising Nigerian actress
Evia Simon to be worried if guys really want to have word with her or
appreciate her figure.
At least most women dread for men to
admire them but do not. The pretty actress expressed her displeasure
over the way men reacted when they saw her and described it as
embarrassing.
I find their reaction annoying sometimes and
embarrassing. Some even go as far as screaming and they let me know I am
the reason they are screaming.
One of the craziest things a guy
ever did was to leave his car parked along the roadside and entered the
same cab with me just to have a word with me because if he had kept on
driving he would have missed me.”
I am not the type of girl who
is only interested in money. I believe in love. To me, love comes first.
I hate to have anything to do with a guy because of his money.
The
actress has so far acted in movies like ‘Three Generals’, ‘Stubborn
Generals’, ‘Ifunanya’, ‘Oga Madam’, ‘Men in Bondage’, ‘Girls Cot’, ‘When
Love Dies’ and many others
Ghanaian movie producers in Kumawood
who intend to involve foreign actors in their movies should expect to
pay a levy to the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) and the
Actors Guild.
The measure, according to Asare Hackman, president
of FIPAG, is meant to protect the Ghanaian movie producers and the
industry as a whole, but “not scare off foreigners”.
The
leadership of FIPAG has expressed worry over what they term the influx
of Nigerian actors into the local movie industry. A few Nigerian acts
have been spotted in some famous Kumawood movies; a situation which
appears to be gaining grounds in Ghana. The situation, according to the
President of FIPAG, would prevent some Kumawood actors from getting
roles in movies.
“The coming of Nigerian actors and actresses
into Ghana to shoot our local movies is a worry to me and FIPAG as well.
It is a worry basically because most of our local films are not in
English. You know we have a huge market for Twi movies in Ghana and if
we allow these artistes to come and take the role of Ghanaian artistes,
it means that we are depriving our artistes here in Ghana from getting
jobs,” the FIPAG boss told News One.
This new trend, according to
Mr. Hackman, came into being because there was no regulation to check
the situation “making it look like it was free for all.”
“Now we
have put a system in place. Before a foreign artiste comes to Ghana to
shoot a movie, the Ghanaian producer who engaged the artiste will pay a
levy to FIPAG and the Actors Guild before the artiste will be allowed to
work,” he stated.
Some Kumawood producers have argued that if
they pair the Nigerian actors with Ghanaian artistes, the possibility of
sales of the movie increasing is high.
“At least what we have
put in place now will check the situation. People are starting to be
cautious about which foreign artiste they bring down. Indeed, some
producers can afford to pay all the sanctions but what we are trying to
do is to try to put some measures in place to check the industry.
We
should be careful about the seed that we are sowing as producers
because if we are not careful, the likes of Lil Win and Kweku Manu will
start to charge according to how much the producers pay these Nigerian
artistes to act for them,” he added.
However, some players in the
movie industry have held that no producer is mandated to pay FIPAG or
Actors Guild any levy should they decide to bring down foreign actors.
They also warned that the move by the union might create problems for
Ghanaian actors who also ply their trade in Nollywood.
Famous face of Efiewura, a local
drama series, Auntie B, born Harriett Naa Akleh Okantey, has said she
has not received her award after 2 years of winning the Best Female
Actress in TV Series at the Ghana Movie Awards in 2012.
She made this revelation while speaking to Don Billy on the Mixed Grill Morning Show on www.hedjorleonlineradio.com.
“I
was asleep and I started receiving congratulatory messages and phone
calls from friends and loved ones but I didn’t know what it was about,”
she said.
“I had just received an award from Kumawood so I
thought they were replaying the video not knowing Nana Ama Macbrown and
Gloria Sarfo received a different award on my behalf at the 2012 Ghana
Movies Awards,” she recounted.
She said she thought it wise to
take the award on set when she meets with Nana Ama Macbrown to shoot the
next episode of the Efiewura series but to her surprise, she was told
that the award was collected by the organisers before they left the
event.
She made it known to Entertainment Today that she has been
in touch with Fred Nuamah who is one of the organisers of the Ghana
Movie Awards and she was assured that she would receive it but that has
not happened.
“I have wasted lot of credits and money on this
issue so I have even decided not to comment on it any longer. I was
shocked when Fred Nuamah came on TV in 2013 to say that all the actors
and actresses on the night have received their award,” he said.
According
to her, she heard rumours that some major players in the industry said
she didn’t deserve the award that is why she hasn’t been given the award
till date.
