Monday 16 June 2014
Why East Africa was shut in the cold at MTV Africa awards
The highly-anticipated MTV Africa Music Video Awards (MAMAs) were held last week in Durban, South Africa.
As you can imagine, even when they call themselves East Africa’s biggest, both Bebe Cool and Chameleone were nowhere near the nomination list.
In fact, the only Ugandans nominated were Radio and Weasel for appearing on Kenyan songbird Amani’s Kiboko Changu, which was vying for the Best Collaboration gong. The others were Nigerians and South Africans.
But many still held a lot of hope in the single nomination, expecting to pull off a Mathew Nabwiso at the film awards two years ago.
This too was crashed when the best collaboration award too went crawling back to the South.
Many have gone viral attacking the show for being Nigerian and South Africa alligned; "If they don't want to recognise us, i see no need in nominating East Africans," ranted one of the fans.
Could they be right? or utterly wrong?
MTV Base Africa, since its inception in 2005 has been a play ground of the West and the South, not because they did the best videos, NO, but because they call the wallet shots.
Nigeria single handed has more adverts on MTV Base than all the East African countries combined. And, like all media houses, MTV can't be any different, they have to survive and survival is from adverts.
Its because of this that such ventures are created but end up becoming kick backs for the advertisers.
Many things can explain why the entire Eastern block walked away empty handed at last week's award show, like the stupid voting system that allows any Tom, Dick and Harry to suggest who Africa's best female artiste is - its no rocket science that Nigeria is one of Africa's most populated countries, if not the most. With such numbers, they own more cell phone units than any other African country, whether you want or not, you can't compete with Nigeria on a voting conducted on cell phones.
the no limit voting where one can vote as many times as they want, not even our corrupt governments do that! And yes, choosing to put more emphasis on the music videos rather than the sound.
I felt very disappointed seeing Khloe of the Kardashian clan watching Tiwa Savage, Don Jazzy and the other performers try to be American, this was a total mockery of our selves proving all the sentiments they have about Africans not believing in what belongs to them. How can we lose it before a low life like a Kardashian?????
Did we even have to go ship the award show host from America?
This guy has been out of work like for ten years? Then he too gets time to come and play around with African names! like seriously?
Anyway back to the theme, MTV has belittled African music by promoting the visual over the sound, the biggest problem is that the videos they are fronting have nothing Kenyan, Ugandan, Nigerian or South African about them.
Eighty percent of them are simply full of youth disgruntled with the fact that they are Africans and thus want to migrate to another place - total wannabes.
The awards went for the video which of course many of the East Africans don't have, they went for the instant sing along hits like Eminado, Aye, Sklewu...which East Africa still doesn't have.
These chaps ultimately forgot the good sounds and message in songs like Daddy Owen's Mbona and Sarabi band's Sio Lazima or Maurice Kirya's Blue Dress song. Now these songs are timeless and people will be jamming to them for ages than the later. But MTV doesn't want that, they want something close to a 50 Cent drug video.
How on earth did they even select who was to be nominated in the best live performer category?
Uganda Film Festival is here
When the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) debuted the festival last year, pundits were skeptical about the intensions.
Many thought that the commission should have instead funded the already existing festivals or channel the money towards strengthening copyright and enforcing the 70% local content on TV and Cinemas, others especially the critics doubted UFF will leave to see its first birthday.
However, all those that doubted them should be asking for forgiveness since, UCC’s premiere festival is coming back for their second edition.
The second Uganda Film Festival (UFF) will be taking place in August 25th-29th and according to the organizers, this edition will be bigger and better.
UCC will be holding an official launch of the festival tomorrow at their offices in Bugolobi where over 200 guests are expected to attend, including the legendary Nollywood actress Patience Ozokwor.
UFF debuted last year as part of the ongoing government efforts to develop the local film industry.
Last year’s debut edition boasted a whooping 189 films, a film market, workshops and an awards ceremony. But there’s likely to be a more manageable number of films this year, including at least ten premieres.
This time round, the festival is set to get more Cinemas like Cinemax and the newly opened New Century at Acacia on the list of showcasing theatres.
As the communications sector regulator, which is also charged with overseeing film exhibition and distribution in Uganda, UCC has constantly come under fire for not ensuring that local films and dramas are prioritized by local TVs or cinemas.
With the festival making a comeback this year, many are enthusiastic that local cinema is headed for better things.
This year’s festival will be running under the theme; Empowering Ugandan Through Film.
Many thought that the commission should have instead funded the already existing festivals or channel the money towards strengthening copyright and enforcing the 70% local content on TV and Cinemas, others especially the critics doubted UFF will leave to see its first birthday.
However, all those that doubted them should be asking for forgiveness since, UCC’s premiere festival is coming back for their second edition.
The second Uganda Film Festival (UFF) will be taking place in August 25th-29th and according to the organizers, this edition will be bigger and better.
UCC will be holding an official launch of the festival tomorrow at their offices in Bugolobi where over 200 guests are expected to attend, including the legendary Nollywood actress Patience Ozokwor.
UFF debuted last year as part of the ongoing government efforts to develop the local film industry.
Last year’s debut edition boasted a whooping 189 films, a film market, workshops and an awards ceremony. But there’s likely to be a more manageable number of films this year, including at least ten premieres.
This time round, the festival is set to get more Cinemas like Cinemax and the newly opened New Century at Acacia on the list of showcasing theatres.
As the communications sector regulator, which is also charged with overseeing film exhibition and distribution in Uganda, UCC has constantly come under fire for not ensuring that local films and dramas are prioritized by local TVs or cinemas.
With the festival making a comeback this year, many are enthusiastic that local cinema is headed for better things.
This year’s festival will be running under the theme; Empowering Ugandan Through Film.
Friday 6 June 2014
Kwivuga celebrates Maya Angeluo
She was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. During a traumatic childhood, she was rendered mute for six years.
She later changed her name to Maya Angelou while working as a singer and dancer.
Maya Angelou, whose landmark book of 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — a lyrical, unsparing account of her childhood in the Jim Crow South — was among the first autobiographies by a 20th-century black woman to reach a wide general readership, died on Wednesday at her home.
For a woman that had been widely known for her roles as an author and poet, you couldn’t imagine her death would make a lot of fuzz in Kampala – Ugandans don’t read, what business they would have celebrating a poet.
But this was a wrong assumption – Kwivuga, Kampala’s premiere and by far the most popular monthly poet’s session had different plans all together. They decided to honor one of their own in a way they understand best, reciting poems.
Unlike the previous shows where Gato Mato in Bugolobi is covered in glamour with lights and Heineken banners, last week’s show was just different; the fireplace, paintings and those gloom candles carefully hidden in paper.
It seemed like an American style vigil meeting an African one.
The most beautiful thing about Kwivuga is the freedom they always give the performers, poetry sessions elsewhere run on specific themes. Much as this is a very good thing to do, a theme may in one way lock performers onto a topic which some of them are not necessarily passionate about.
Kwivuga lets them take the audience on journeys, be it sex, love, freedom or war in search of inspiration.
This time the show had its regular poets though the first timers outnumbered them, the likes of Medals the Born Again Politician or Nanda; the men basher didn’t perform.
Slim Emcee opened the catalogue with an exciting poem about women’s various demands that usually come with very few returns; he was definitely doing this for the second time here at Kwivuga but managed to drop in a couple of lines tat it didn’t sound predictable even for those that have seen him perform it before.
The Afro styled poet took his social activism on stage when he lashed at government officials about different bills they pass like the anti-pornography bill, he questioned what wrong his girl would have commited if she decided to show some skin.
Other performers were Melvin whose sexually oriented piece was done on the backdrop of John Legend’s All of me acoustic, Roshan’s letter to her new born baby, Effe from Jamaica and of course Jungle the Man eater, who actually came with a new poem this time round.
Many of the night performers made it a point to pay their respects to Maya Angeluo. The show was closed by Fille who excited many with her three hit songs.
She later changed her name to Maya Angelou while working as a singer and dancer.
Maya Angelou, whose landmark book of 1969, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” — a lyrical, unsparing account of her childhood in the Jim Crow South — was among the first autobiographies by a 20th-century black woman to reach a wide general readership, died on Wednesday at her home.
For a woman that had been widely known for her roles as an author and poet, you couldn’t imagine her death would make a lot of fuzz in Kampala – Ugandans don’t read, what business they would have celebrating a poet.
But this was a wrong assumption – Kwivuga, Kampala’s premiere and by far the most popular monthly poet’s session had different plans all together. They decided to honor one of their own in a way they understand best, reciting poems.
Unlike the previous shows where Gato Mato in Bugolobi is covered in glamour with lights and Heineken banners, last week’s show was just different; the fireplace, paintings and those gloom candles carefully hidden in paper.
It seemed like an American style vigil meeting an African one.
The most beautiful thing about Kwivuga is the freedom they always give the performers, poetry sessions elsewhere run on specific themes. Much as this is a very good thing to do, a theme may in one way lock performers onto a topic which some of them are not necessarily passionate about.
Kwivuga lets them take the audience on journeys, be it sex, love, freedom or war in search of inspiration.
This time the show had its regular poets though the first timers outnumbered them, the likes of Medals the Born Again Politician or Nanda; the men basher didn’t perform.
Slim Emcee opened the catalogue with an exciting poem about women’s various demands that usually come with very few returns; he was definitely doing this for the second time here at Kwivuga but managed to drop in a couple of lines tat it didn’t sound predictable even for those that have seen him perform it before.
The Afro styled poet took his social activism on stage when he lashed at government officials about different bills they pass like the anti-pornography bill, he questioned what wrong his girl would have commited if she decided to show some skin.
Other performers were Melvin whose sexually oriented piece was done on the backdrop of John Legend’s All of me acoustic, Roshan’s letter to her new born baby, Effe from Jamaica and of course Jungle the Man eater, who actually came with a new poem this time round.
Many of the night performers made it a point to pay their respects to Maya Angeluo. The show was closed by Fille who excited many with her three hit songs.
Bayimba visits Fort Portal
It is that time of the year when the arts schedule gets busy.
This week, the fun gets out of Kampala to Fort Portal where Bayimba foundation will be taking the Bayimba Regional Festival for the first time ever.
At the beginning of the week, an advance team from the foundation left for Fort Portal to get preparation and the pre- festival events started. Some of these included Youth and Hip Hop workshops that were conducted by legendary Sylvester Kibombo.
But the actual festival is happening this Saturday at Gardens Restaurant where many artistes from Eastern Uganda will entertain revelers from and around Fort Portal.
Headlining the show will be their own TPF star Maureen Kabasita and Kigambarali.
According to Phillip Masembe, Media Cordinator Bayimba, the purpose of using Kabasita is to give people that side enjoy their own.
“There are many big artistes from Toro but they never stage concerts there,” he said.
The Fort Portal festival will act as the western Uganda regional festival which has always been held in Mbarara previously, Masembe explains the change as a need to give artistes in Fort a chance to showcase what they too can give.