Djooky Music Awards summer winners announced

American singer Gina Brooklyn was the overall winner of the contest and received $10 000 in prize money. She will also visit Capitol Recording Studios in Los Angeles to record a song with an all-star team. Mimigold got $5 000 while the second runner-up, Peruvian singer Gaona, was awarded $2 000. 

"It never occurred to me that I could one day even take part in such a competition, let alone be the best from Africa," Mimigold told Music In Africa. "At some point, I felt like quitting, because I was far behind with the public votes. The experience reminded me of the fact that I needed to keep chasing my dreams and never quit. You never know how close you are to your destiny, so keep going. I know for sure that music is for me. And I will keep doing it."

Djooky co-founder and CEO Andrew Dakhovskyy said: "Artists and songwriters from Africa were among the most active applicants, which resulted in the African continent providing 25% of all entries. As a platform with global ambitions, we need to make sure that all continents are represented fairly in the contest, and African artists play a huge role in ensuring this.

"We look forward to welcoming more artists from more African countries. Ideally, we want to see at least three to five participants from all 55 countries on the continent. Mimigold's win is a manifestation of how much potential African talent can offer to music lovers globally."

The organisers received 165 submissions from 55 countries, of which 42 submissions were from 14 African countries. Among them was Benjamin Tam from Nigeria who came in seventh and is the only other African in the top 10.

"My biggest let-down was that I had a minimal following online, but the judges voted massively for me," Benjamin Tam said. "I now know that it is essential for artists to have and maintain an online presence for when such an opportunity presents itself. I felt good about making it to the finals because the song I submitted was recorded in my bedroom. So getting that far was a huge 'you're on the right path' morale booster for me."

Meanwhile, a call for entries for the autumn edition of the DMAs is ongoing until 23 November 2020.

More information on how to participate is available here.