Nairobi — Africa's crème de la crème in the music industry will be known at Friday's MTV Africa Music Awards (Mama) ceremony.

The fete, to be held at the Moi International Sports Centre gymnasium of Nairobi's Kasarani, promises to be a glamorous event that will be attended by two of the world music's biggest names -- Wyclef Jean and Akon.

They will be joined by some of Africa's most established as well as upcoming acts to honour their own, who have been voted by their fans across the continent.

Kenya is already awash with celebrities from across the world, with over 2,000 hotel bookings, 500 personnel on the ground, 20 African and international artistes to perform and more than 150 nominees from 14 black African countries.

The country hopes to join in the celebrations with a total of six nominations, with Nameless having three in the best male, best performer and artiste of the year categories.

Amani (below) is also a nominee in the best female category, STL in the best new act and Wahu in the best video category. They have been spending the past few weeks begging their fans to vote for them.

A winless night for Kenya is unimaginable as it would be an embarrassment for the country since we are the hosts. Last year, Wahu made Kenya proud by bagging an award and so we are expected to carry away at least two.

With Kenya's own award ceremonies falling by the way side, largely due to management hitches, the Mama is the only credible award show right now, and the local artistes are hungry for more recognition.

Last week, the once glamorous and respected Kisima award show took place at Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi, but many stayed away, as the show has lost its glamour.

It was a far cry from the previous show, which was held at the city's Marula Manor two years ago. Appearing to drive a nail in the Kisima coffin is the fact that sponsors have now given it a wide berth.

Mama may not be a Kenyan affair, but having our artistes pitted against Africa's best and hopefully having them come tops might be the catalyst needed to revive home-made awards shows.

At the same time, continental award shows such as the Kora, once touted as Africa's Grammy, have also lost their shine and not many know when they will be held next.

Having over 20 artistes from across the continent to converge here has helped to give Mama the glamour it needs to make it Africa's premier award show. Akon has disappointed Kenyans three times over the past two years.

So when MTV announced they were bringing the 'Ghetto' song star for the awards, very few bothered with the details.

However, the Mama has already signed up the Senegalese-born American multi-platinum artiste to perform, and he was scheduled to arrive on Friday in time for Saturday's show.

In an interview with MTV UK last week, Akon said he was looking forward to tonight's performances. "They chose Kenya, which is a country we've been trying to get through for the past three years," he said.

"We've just been having so many complications getting there and I'm just excited to be going." Alex Okosi, the MTV Networks Africa senior vice-president and managing director, further helped to dispel fears about the star's performance.