The MTV Video Music Awards were held over the weekend. If you didn't watch, you missed quite a bit of music, a handful of speeches, and not too much else.
The ceremony was originally set to be hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah, but he pulled out at the last minute due to a severe respiratory and ear infection. We were all disappointed and wondering who would replace him.
The organisers announced that the show was to be hosted by South Africa's Bonang Matheba. Then all of a sudden we hear South African actress Nomzamo Mbatha and Nigeria's Yemi Alade had been added to the hosting duties, with disastrous results. The trio were tasked with the mission of delivering their best on the biggest night for African Music. It soon showed that media personality Bonang Matheba was born for this, Yemi Alade should stick to singing and Nomzamo Mbatha is a good actor and no more. From bad jokes to missed moments, Yemi Alade and Nomzamo seemed to be a struggling a bit but - thanks to Queen B - they at least managed to successfully host the event.
While the excitement of finding out which celeb took home an award is the main draw of the show, fans were also looking forward to seeing what their favourite stars will wear. Twitter's fashion police came down hard on some of the celebrities. As always, there are always hits and misses as several attendees tried to outshine each other.
Most people were shocked to see Cassper Nyovest debuting his new look on the red carpet. Not only did he lose some kilos, he also ditched his trademark "ponytail". The award-winning rapper said that it's part of his "new image".
Moreover, the crowd was shocked when Somizi took to the stage to present an award, and he made sure to give kudos to Bonang. We heard the two apparently had a fall-out after Bonang heard Somizi was talking smack about her - a claim he has denied. Anyhow, it seems like the drama is over! For now...
And the main act? I truly don't understand the logic of getting an American singer to come and perform at these African events. We were excited to see hip-hop artist Future perform but we were so disappointed that he only performed two songs. In fact, he seemed to be an opening act for fast-rising South African rapper Nasty C. And not only were we disappointed by his "2 minutes show", his choice of wardrobe was practically an insult. He decided to rock up in a pair of skinny jeans and a torn T-shirt. Or maybe he was rocking the Kanye West look? Nonetheless, his look was an epic fail.
The biggest disappoint of the night was South African rapper EmTee. As a fan, I felt disrespected during his performance.
Is it a thing for EmTee to attend every award ceremony acting like he is intoxicated? This is not the first time. Wait, have we ever seen him sober?! I could hardly hear him sing and he was out of sync. It sounded like he had forgotten lyrics to his own song. I felt sorry for Wizkid who had to perform with him. And it's not that I haven't seen many international artists perform while high, but at least they give stellar performances. So EmTee I beg, show us why we fans should keep voting for you.
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Anyway, apart form the misses at the awards, we should also give praise where praise is due. One of my best moments of the night was seeing Hugh Masekela. The South African trumpeter won the Legend of the Year award, and briefly rapped as he accepted his prize. Way to go Hugh Masekela and congrats!
Nigerian superstar Wizkid was not only the biggest winner for the night, but he was also one of the best performers, delivering an awesome performance. He showed the continent why he is rated as one of the best. Come to think of it, Wizkid could have been the headline act, instead of U.S. rapper Future. Why waste money bringing all these international act, when homegrown can do better?
Overall, the MTV Africa Music Awards have never NOT been a mess, but something has changed in the past few years. I actually think we could have been much, much better.
Hopefully 2017's show will be one to remember - for the right reasons.
