were as much in demand as one would wish for an oil block from
President Jonathan. And if getting an oil block is so easy in Nigeria,
then it means those of us who received the beautiful and well-packaged
jewel- encrusted invitations with an ATM-cloned VIP card attached, got
our ‘allocations’ for the event quite easily. One good thing the card
did for whoever got it; it made one feel special and honoured. On that
level of planning, the organisers deserve an ‘A plus’
The night was one of glamour,glitz, fun and little screw-ups: at least
to the discerning eye present in the hall. I was among many of the
invited guests from Nigeria and other parts of Africa; a mix of the
artistes, business men, government officials and perhaps the usual event
crashers. Almost everyone present looked dapper and dazzling, with
fashion designers having a field day for this event, I can bet my last
buck on that!The venue, Eko Hotel and Suites, was the perfect event centre for this
show. The ambience of hospitality could be felt as guests trooped in.
There was much mingling and lots of greetings and hugging going on with
almost everybody looking so resplendent, it seemed surreal!
With guests seated inside the hall, the show kicked off at exactly 7pm. I
must commend the MNET team and the broadcast crew for the strict
time-keeping. There was no silly ‘African Time’. It showed the guys
meant business and those who came late were either asked to lounge a bit
at the built-in bar at the foyer or had to wait a bit for the
commercial breaks before they were allowed entry.
I’m sure millions of people watched the live broadcast on satellite
television so I need not explain much. However, inside the hall, what
you saw in your homes must have been a well-packaged broadcast? Because I
was following trends on twitter and facebook about the live show and
many people were twitting that it was ‘like the Oscars in Africa!’.
Really?
I will point out the good, the bad and the ridiculous in my opinion of
the whole show in no particular order; irrespective of whose ox is
gored.
I got into the hall about ten minutes to the live broadcast and sat down
in the middle row, facing the stage. I do not know if the audience in
the hall were told by the floor managers before I got in that being a
live show, they should expect a long stretch of breaks in between the
show which to the viewers at home was packaged as commercial breaks with
sponsors messages. To many in the hall, there were murmurs about what
was going on during the first couple of breaks. Many in the hall thought
there were hitches in the planning until they were brought up to speed
by the very talented IK, the presenter, who mercifully did a few stand
-up acts for the audience to keep them concentrated on the mood of the
live broadcast. I would have thought that in between those breaks, for
the benefit of the ‘studio audience’, some three minute entertainment
should have been arranged.
The performance by Femi Kuti ,who was the first musician of the night,
was quite pulsating. Some who sat next to me wondered why Femi Kuti
would start a show of such magnitude with a lewd song like ‘Bang, Bang,
Bang’. Thinking about it, I think it was better he sang ‘Bang, Bang,
Bang’ than the politically-charged songs like ‘I sorry for Nigeria’
which would have been disastrous and out of place, being that the show
was being broadcast to fifty-two countries! I have seen Femi live on
stage many times over the past twenty years and he’s always a great
performer. However, at the awards, he seemed restrained and lacked the
energy his stagecraft is known for. It was as if, true to his song, he
had been ‘banged’ out of his performance mojo. He just gave an average
performance and left. The guy next to me whispered; ‘Na so? Dem pay am.
He ‘Bang, Bang, Bang’ collect money and waka go?’. I didn’t know what to
make of that statement but Femi Kuti made amends at the end of the show
when he came back to perform.
The trio of the Federal Ministers, High Chief Edem Duke, Olusegun Aganga
and Diezani Allison-Madueke, all gave a good account of themselves in
their speeches. Judging them on composure and oratory, Duke and Aganga
were masterful and inspiring, although High Chief Duke took a bit longer
than necessary. Mrs Allison-Madueke read a good speech like a trained
newscaster on behalf of the President of the Federal Republic. Someone
could tell her that a little smile here and there won’t hurt her
appearance in such events. There’s a difference between reading a speech
at a Petroleum Forum and reading one at an Entertainment Award Night.
In the former, one can be all sour-puss and scowls but for an event like
the AMVCA, a loosening up of the facial muscles is required! Duke and
Aganga did very well in that regard. None-the-less, the three Ministers
showed last night why they are assets to the Presidency. Some other
government representatives would have fumbled with long, boring and
drone-like speeches.
I didn’t know what to make of Inyanya’s performance which seemed tepid
but Tiwa Savage and Banky W were quite good. Especially Banky W. Almost
all the ladies in the hall sang his new song along with him. He still
knows how to pull the heartstrings of the ladies, our Banky!
Olu Jacobs gave a very inspiring and motivational speech when he
received his special recognition award. Its a well deserved honour to an
actor who has left his large footprints on the sands for others to step
into.
Curiously, no one seemed to remember or even mention the late Justus
Esiri all through the event. Only Obi Emelonye did that at the tail end
of the awards in his speech. One would have thought that with the late
Esiri being one of the staple faces on Africa Magic Channel, just a
little mention by the organisers would have been perfect?
Ivie Okujaye got the Industry Trailblazer Award. I know Ivie and I have
been following her body of work in the past couple of years, which is
quite promising. No doubt, since winning the final edition of the Amstel
Malta Box Office reality show, Ivie has proved that she’s one for the
stars. However, I find her winning an Industry trailblazer award
purportedly sponsored by the same Amstel Malta she once
proxy-represented, a bit contrived. I guess the sponsors of that
category made their choice and who better to give than one of their own?
Just a hypothesis here. But notwithstanding, Ivie is one to watch out
for. With the right script and direction, she will go places. Her
acceptance speech was quite confident and from the heart. Congrats,
Ivie.
Mercy Johnson deservedly won one of the ‘Best Actress in…’ Awards.
Something tacky happened there. Patience Ozokwor, took the long walk
through the aisle to the stage to pick up the award on Mercy’s behalf.
Everyone left the stage and IK continued his presentation.
Then, the stuff unscripted bloopers are made of happened. A lone figure
of a lady walked up the stage interrupting IK, who hid his fluster with a
Professional quip as she walked up to him. It was Tricia Esiegbe,
actress and Presenter of ‘Bold Faces’. ‘ Mercy asked me to accept the
award on her behalf and to dedicate…blah, blah, blah’ she said. What
the friggin’ flakes? Now, Tricia is my pal but I don’t understand why
she had to do that, especially after the show had just moved to another
segment. Tricia, if Mercy Johnson send you message, you nor see say dem
don take the award on her behalf? You go tell me later weda na by force
to deliver message or say you just wan be show face for telly so dat
Mercy fit see say you true true deliver am! Next time, its advisable for
Tricia and perhaps fastidious ‘on-behalf-of… friends’ of absent
awardees to read the mood and timing before hopping on stage.
And IK! The most exciting, composed, articulate and engaging emcee and
OAP of his time. The dude knows his onions! He makes us so proud when he
ideally represents on continental platforms. His female co-presenter,
Vinmai, was good too. She was adequately rehearsed for the show and gave
a confident performance. Those two did quite well. Kudos to them.
Majid Michel and Stephanie Okereke tried to pull off a comic banter when
called to present their awards. Majid, it didn’t ‘wek’ for me.
Sometimes, actors don’t know when to draw the line between acting on
screen and acting on stage in ceremonies like this. It would have been
more dignified for Majid to be all cucumber cool and present, rather
than trying to leave Stephanie in the lurch, which he actually did as
they both were called out!
One repititive phrase kept ringing throughout the show from most
presenters; ‘You didn’t come for rehearsals’. Really? Must you tell the
world that? Aren’t some secrets of the show sacrosanct? The viewers are
supposed to guess if the show was unscripted and perfect. Telling them
that someone never showed up for rehearsals is so ‘akamu-ish’, depending
on how you like your akamu! And if someone didn’t show up for such
rehearsals, why wasn’t a replacement immediately used? *(whispering:
this doesn’t happen at the Oscars!)*
The fellow who presented with Genevieve Nnaji, Tony, either out of
excitement or over-familiarity, could not keep his hands off her
shoulder or her waist when he did lower them. Made me wonder if he was
living out a dream or a wish. Genevieve gave a cheesy ‘You all in the
audience look beautiful’ or something close to that. Didn’t we all give
our same cheesy applause! In fairness to the lady though, she looked
beautiful and dignified. A worthy screen star; if only for looks and
talent.
Now, if I wrote a bit about Omotola and what my thoughts are about her
outfit, many people would draw allusions from my ‘fight’ with her as
misconstrued by many, in my book. So, I am not going to write that I
honestly thought that her beautiful dress made her look fat on stage.
Beautiful as always but it seemed her body was popping out at the seams.
I won’t write that. I would only write that she’s still much of a
fantastic actress any day, in my opinion. Would that take the sting out
of the erroneous impression that when it comes to Omotola, I am
sometimes ‘The Real Mean’ if we face the ‘reality’ of it? Did anyone see
my wink right now? She’s one of my favourite actresses though.
Honestly.
But I digress.
The perfect definition of style and charisma of the night for me, was
RMD and Rita Dominic. RMD’s jacket? Very Cool. He has always been a
power dresser and Rita has always been a lady of high style. They were
both composed and assured on stage. A good pairing for presentation.
I literally screamed the hall down when OC Ukeje won the ‘Best Actor’
award. I have always believed in the prowess of OC since I judged him as
a Judge in the Amstel Malta Box Office Season 2 reality where he was a
contestant and he won. He’s the lead actor in my new movie ‘Alan Poza’
and one thing I can say is that I have seen the positive future of
Nollywood right now. And OC Ukeje is the power artiste of his generation
and that future. A worthy actor and very, very hard-working and
interpretative in roles.
I must commend the organisers and sponsors of the award for the
initiative. It raises the profile of the African film industry and also
has added to the reward system of the larger film industry. Every penny
spent on the award was worth it. Being the first, I’m very sure it will
get better in years to come. I must note too that for those people who
still don’t believe in Nollywood, what further proof do you need that we
are going up? Within twenty years, an industry springs up and now has
all sectors of the country jostling to be part of it and you think we
are joking? With such support structures like AMVCA, AMAA, AFRIFF and
many others, Nollywood will reach its zenith.
Despite my reservations and candid criticism of President Jonathan’s
policies in the past, there’s no disputing the fact that he’s the first
President ever to firmly believe in and support Nollywood. That support
draws ancillary goodwill from other sectors of the country. And that is
what a cultural industry like Nollywood deserves.
The AMVCA was a night of Screen Magic. Next time though, the organisers
must wave their wands better. However, this first edition was a good
‘Presto’!