After all the hype and romp that followed the debut edition of Club Music Video Awards (CMVAs) in 2013, the event looks headed into the usual confusion.
Last week, organisers announced nominees for next month’s second edition and in sticking with the ‘video’ emphasis, radio-dominating artistes like Bebe Cool, Jose Chameleone or Bobi Wine barely got a mention.
Still, the CMVAs have been hugely anticipated, given that local music videos have improved a lot since 2013. Yet confusion has already set in. Days before the nominees were announced, Bebe Cool wrote a long Facebook post saying he was tired of being nominated in music awards. Apparently, Bebe lost his Cool over a cartoon in Daily Monitor which suggested that HiPipo music awards are organized by him.
Of course the post may have been missed by many until last week when his name turned up as one of the front runners in two categories at the CMVAs and he requested it removed.
Although Bebe Cool’s exit was a personal vendetta against a cartoonist, Sheebah followed him out, questioning the awards credibility. The post, written by Allan Kiwa, a member of Team No Sleep, suggested that the awards had neglected artistes while launching, and had even hired foreigners to judge the contest.
Some music lovers, confused by the situation, are questioning whether the awards organizers were ever ready on return. This comes after Sheebah’s management took to social media to complain that although they were nominated, they never submitted any works.
ORGANISERS SPEAK
According to Peter Katonene, the UMVA director and organiser of the awards, all nominated videos were submitted by artistes, their managers or video directors. For instance, he says, Bebe Cool’s manager submitted on behalf of the artiste in seven categories.
“The system we used is what works at all the different international awards where studios and production houses do much of the submissions,” Katonene told us last week.
Sheebah faulted organisers for hiring a foreign judges – Olamide Ayodeji Adedeji, a director of Sound City; and Tim Ekandjo, head of the Namibia Annual Music Awards. But Katonene said the foreigners would help rule out accusations of bias.
“International judges are not part of any camp; they are not very much aware of who made lots of money last year, or who’s a bigger artiste,” he said, adding that credible Ugandan judges like Edward Sendikadiwa, Rachel Magoola, Judith Adong and Isaac Rucci would also be involved.
Rather than panic over Bebe Cool’s stance, Katonene suggests the awards credibility has been boosted by the controversy: “We are not a populist awards, we don’t care about legacies or fanbase but the quality of your work.”
Bebe Cool was excluded from the nomination list after he personally called the organizers and even proved that he owned the copyright. But without such formal contact, Sheebah’s name remained in.
Said Katonene: “We can’t act basing on a rant on social media.”