The excitement was electric, the stars were all there, the crowd was buzzing and the Amarula flowing. “We’ve made it to the big time.”
The VIPs were greeted on the red carpet by the twins, Thlelo and Ntando in front of the Channel O cameras. Amarula welcomed them in a stylish lounge and pampered guests with free drinks and snacks before they were taken to their seats inside the Big Top Arena. There were eight large screens around the venue, Teleprompters in every corner and even an overzealous rent-a-crowd was ushered in to fill the open space in front of the stage minutes before the show went live.
The ceremony kicked off with a bang and locals cheered as HHP took to the stage in the first 10 minutes of the show. Rent-a-crowd, dressed the part with bling watches and necklaces, dark glasses and funky hairstyles, put on their best performance.
The evening’s highlights, apart from the few tense seconds before the awards were announced, were the live performances. A soulful performance from Nigeria’s Nneka Egbuna, who walked onto the stage barefoot with her guitar, impressed everyone, especially her fellow artists. TKZee hit the stage with a few old favourites. And Lizha James, who won the Channel O Best Female Video in 2006 and walked away with the Best Southern African Artist Award this year, performed her hit song, “Estilo Xakhale” dressed only in a coconut shaped bikini top and animal skins.
But the showstopper was Winnie Khumalo and Bongani Fassie’s tribute to Brenda Fassie who was honoured with a special recognition award. Everyone got to their feet to loudly sing along and brag that they know every word.
The biggest disappointment of the evening was the crowd’s reaction to the West and East African winners. No loud cheers greeted our African brothers and sisters as they collected their awards. The worst was when Botswana’s Zeus was announced the winner for Best Hip Hop video, everyone started booing to show their disappointment that HHP or Pro didn’t take the trophy home. Even KB’s explaining that the whole of Africa voted for these winners didn’t help much. Hello Xenophobia.
Despite being unable to control the crowd at times, The Awards went off without any glitches. We have talent and thanks to Channel O MVA’s we have a platform to showcase Africa to the world.
In case you missed the Channel O MVAs last night, here is a run down of who went home with the awards.
Most Gifted Newcomer Video: Kuli Chana
Best Hip Hop Video: Zeus, “Gijima”
Best Afro Pop: Gal Level, ‘Touch Me’
Best Duo Or Group: Buffalo Souljah / Taygrin ‘ Gal Level, ‘Type of Guy’
Best Kwaito: Gazza ft. Bleksem, “Passop”
Best Dance Video: Lady May, ‘Ndota’
Best Ragga Dancehall Video, Buffalo Souljah, “Judgement”
Best R&B Video: Darey, “Not The Girl”
Best African East: XOD, “I Want You”
Best African Southern, Lizha James, “Estilo Xakhale”
Best African West: Ikechukwu, “Shoobeedoo”
Best Male Video: Darey, “Not The Girl”
Best Female Video: Sasha, “Only One”
Video of the Year: Naeto C, “Ki Ni Big Deal”
See the Channel O MVA stars on the red carpet