SAMAs need to get act together

From the list of nominees that was announced in April, Mafikizolo and Shekhinah came on top with three awards each. Simphiwe Dana, who also had three nominations, won in the Best African Artist Album category. Surprisingly, Mi Casa did not win a single gong from the three nominations that the popular house act had received.

Shekhinah, a former Idols contestant, scooped three top-five awards: Best Album of the Year, Best Female Artist of the Year and Best Newcomer of the Year. The 23-year-old singer competed against established artists such as Dana, Mafikizolo, Siphokazi, Shane Eagle and Lady Zamar.

"Rose Gold is for women empowerment," Shekinah said during her Best Album of the Year acceptance speech. "We are killing it as women, let's continue killing it as women of SA."

Gqom music duo Distruction Boyz, which joined the country’s highly competitive music industry three years ago, were declared the winners of the publicly voted, top-five Record of the Year Award for their song ‘Omunye’. Comprising Thobani Mgobhozi and Zipho Mthembu, the group, whose album Gqom Is the Future was certified gold, locked horns with Shekhinah, Lady Zamar, Kwesta, AKA & Anatii, LaSauce & Amanda Black and DJ Kent & Dominic Neill.

It seems the music of veteran Afro-pop duo Mafikizolo is still relevant in the South African industry. Mafikizolo won the Duo/Group of the Year Award for a fourth time. The ‘Meet Me At the River’ hitmakers also won the Best Afro Pop Album and Best Engineered Album awards.

“We thank you for another accolade to add to our career in its 20th year. Good music like fine wine takes time to mature and we’d like to thank all those who played a part in delivering another work of art,” Mafikizolo wrote on Facebook.

Gospel ensemble Joyous Celebration’s Joyous Celebration Vol 21: Heal Our Land won the Best Selling Digital Artist Award, adding to the Best Selling DVD and Best Selling Album awards that the group had won at Friday's non-broadcast awards ceremony. The album undoubtedly deserves the honour judging by the response it received within hours of its release. It also went gold and clinched the No 1 spot on the Apple Music Gospel Charts.

DJ Prince Kaybee took home the Male Artist of the Year Award. The new bloods made their presence felt with rapper Shane Eagle taking the Best Hip Hop Album Award and Lady Zamar winning the Best Dance Music Award. In the Best Kwaito Album category, Busiswa beat the competition with her album Highly Flavoured.

Nduduzo Makhathini shared his thoughts with Music In Africa about winning the Best Jazz Album Award. “I’m deeply touched about the recognition of my work by the SAMAs,” he said. “The album Ikhambi is deeply rooted in African cultures and I therefore feel a sense of hope for the re-emergence of our history through platforms such as the SAMAs.”

SAMAs fast losing appeal

Despite getting government support, the SAMAs is losing its status as the country’s biggest music awards ceremony. One of the key aspects is the lack of attendance by a number well-known nominees. Some of the nominated artists who did not show up at the event are AKA, Mi Casa, Mafikizolo, Nasty C, Mbongeni Ngema, Joyous Celebration and Simphiwe Dana, among others.

Last month, one of the country’s top rappers, Cassper Nyovest, said the SAMAs lacked relevance in his career. Speaking at a 2018 BET Awards nomination conference Nyovest said: “How credible are the SAMAs? These are the kind of conversations we need to have. Why are some categories voted for by the people? I have so many questions. When I was nominated for my first SAMA, I wasn’t nominated for Record of the Year with ‘Doc Shebeleza’ and my question was why they had to cut from 20 people to 10 the year we were nominated?

“These are questions that haven’t been answered. For me it was like, I can’t submit at the SAMAs every year when I don’t understand certain things. We have questions and no one has ever answered us. So when I thought about it, for me it was like, I don’t really need the SAMAs. They don’t take me anywhere, they don’t expose me to anybody, they are here in South Africa and people in South Africa know me and love me regardless of whether I win or not."

SAMAs need to up their red-carpet planning

Red carpet is customarily used to mark the route taken by VIPs and celebrities at formal events, thus enabling photographers and journalists to take pictures, interview and interact with the stars. But the SAMAs lacked proper arrangement. There was hardly any space for the press, and the photographers were all squeezed in one space making it difficult to take decent pictures.

Preference was given to the video crew and about five spots were allocated for still shots. There was insufficient lighting provided at the red carpet causing photographers’ shadows to materialise as the celebrities walked by. Occasionally, photographers would find someone’s hair or the neighbouring photographer’s elbow in the shot.

On the other hand, the entry point to the red carpet was chaotic. Most artists waited in the queue to have their moment with the journalists, who held lengthy interviews. Regulating the amount of time spent by artists on the red carpet is something that the organisers should look into.  

Second-rate TV production

If the sound in the venue sounded okay, the same couldn’t be said about the TV broadcast. The music mix was totally out of kilter, with the snare drum of all live bands performing at the ceremony overpowering all the other audio tracks. If the SAMAs wants to continue to be known as SA's premier music awards ceremony, the organisers, and the SABC, need to get their ducks in a row when the next edition comes to our screens.