7 November 2009
opinion
Lagos — With or without corporate sponsorship, NMVA 2009 rocked. The evening of November 1st, 2009 will remain fresh in the minds of those that attended the third consecutive edition of the Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) at the Expo Center of Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos, Nigeria.
The event lived up to its expectations. Guests were welcome to a green carpet reception reflective of the traditional Nigerian colour: green. The green carpet actually allowed them to familiarize and interact with members of the press while catching up with old peeps. The ushers were beautifully dressed in a green short gown that elicited admiration from the cross section of the guests as they welcomed them amidst smiles that re-assured them that they were in for a good show.
Whether you were inside the hall witnessing the main event or outside; you couldn't have missed the show one bit because there was a giant screen that had been strategically positioned on the green carpet projecting the proceedings of the event. Unlike what is gradually becoming a norm in the industry starting an award- like five hours behind the scheduled time, NMVA was on point. The green carpet started exactly as scheduled at 6PM while the main awards ceremony started by 7.44PM later that evening.
Everything about this year's award was spectacular. Right from the luscious green carpet to the decoration of the main hall, the state of the art digital stage and the elaborate lightings, the multi-media screens, performances, the guests, the proceedings of the event and general coordination and every other thing were incredible. NMVA has scored the first in so many areas and it has made a statement with this year's award by staging a world-class award without any major corporate sponsor. It remains the only award ceremony this year that started at the exact time and made its judges known to the public. It is also on record that it is the only award ceremony that pioneered an online open ballot voting system in the continent of Africa. The website was powered by U.K based firm, Gobble Abba with other string of clients like Basketmouth, MI, Shine, Chocolate City amongst others.
The anchors of the outstanding award ceremony were Femi Aderibigbe popularly known as Kwame who is a veteran broadcaster, Bright Okpocha, a.k.a Basketmouth, a comic merchant and fast rising actress, Bariyah El James. The award ceremony started with the special rendition of the National anthem in a soulful manner by one of Nigeria's gifted singers, Eva and it got her lots of ovation from the guests. Before the guests could recover from the charm of Eva, Nyore and her team of up and coming artistes, came on stage to perform the NMVA '09 theme song. It was another great performance that got the organizers lots of ovation.
The guests were not aware that they were in for lots of surprises. Dr. Alban got on stage afterwards to the uttermost surprise of all to perform his evergreen hit song; It's My Life. Lots of people could not hide their surprise to see him on stage. Dr. Alban? From where? They wondered aloud! The truth of the matter is that he flew all the way from the United States of America to be part of the awards ceremony. He performed his hit song, It's My Life to a live band and the guests sang along with him. Charly Boy later joined him on stage to perform their new collaboration. Some female dancers added spice to their performance. Flex a top dancer and Street Hood, this year's winners of Malta Guiness Street Dance competition came on stage to mimic some dance steps of late Micheal Jackson along with some of his popular hits such as Smooth Criminal, Beat it, Thriller and Billie Jean after showing a specially produced documentary in tribute to him and his revolutionary contributions to the development of music videos globally.
There were so many good things to talk about at this year's NMVA. Is it the performances, the induction of High Chief Raymond Dokpesi into the Hall of Fame, the presence of the Benue State Government or what? No wonder the organizers are still basking in the euphoria of the successful awards ceremony.
High Chief Raymond Dokpesi was the sole inductee into this year's Hall of Fame. The likes of Cally Ikpe (NMVA Coordinator), Femi Aderibigbe (Kwame), Ayo Animashaun, Sola Fosudo, Kenny Saint Brown, Dayo Adeneye and Gbenga Adeyinka joined him on stage to receive the award after a special documentary on him and an awe-inspiring citation by Patrick Doyle. Some even said his induction was the high point of the event while to others, Ghanaian International act, Samini and Faze's collaboration backed by Eboni band was the bomb - splendid, outstanding, exceptional, awe-inspiring, marvelous, spectacular, stunning, Gawd! We are still looking for a word to describe it. Samini and Faze's collaboration was indeed the bomb. No wonder he won the Best Live Performer award at this year's MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) in Kenya.
The multiple award winning short black boy, MI, simply wowed the whole guests with his performance as well. He had the entire audience transfixed in a standing ovation throughout his performance; it was obvious that the guests wanted more. Another great performance was that of Wande Coal and Dr. Sid. The guests couldn't have enough of them. They brought greetings from D'Banj and Don Jazzy. They pleaded that they would also have loved to be at the event but D'Banj was at that time shooting the video of one of his songs, Fall in Love in South Africa. Other great performances were from Bracket, Djinee and Benita. There is no doubt that NMVA '09 rocked to the very foundation of the showbiz world.
Some of the guests at this year's awards were T.W.O, Celestine & Emmanuel Babayaro, Mr. Audu Ahivili (Benue State SSG), Mr. Chiver Kaaver (Attorney General of Benue State), Honourable Edo, Mr. Dele Alake, Mr. Dele Abiodun, Jonas Agwu, Aduu Nuru and Ali Baba to mention a few.
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