NEA Awards 2014

     

The 9th Nigerian Entertainment Awards is a way of honoring best producers,artist,actors and actresses of the past year. The event was held on Sunday, August 31 2014 at Skirball Performing Art Center in New york, USA. Funke Akindele and Ace Comedian Bovi were the host of the night with co-host Gbemi Olagbegi (Gbemi O) and some of today's hottest musical acts performed live like,Orezi,  BOJ,Patoranking,J Martin,Harry Song,Praiz,ShattaWale and a host of others.The event was less of an award show and more of a huge concert with interrupted speeches from winners and performing artist.

      El phlex opened the show with their hit song Low waist all dressed in black,the stage set was pretty elaborate and pretty cool.The project fame winner Ayoola ( popularly known as Ayoola) thrilled the audience with his new song jeje ( i am assuming thats the tittle) but the best opening performance of the night was BOJ performing Feel Alright and Bolaji.Three artist performed before the host were introduced (follow @hawtdoux on Instagram to see the acts live performance); I was laughing even before Bovi and Funke Akindele opened their mouth. Their funny skit was hilarious and it had everyone laughing hard.

Elphlex

      Diaspora artist of the year went to L.A.X! Also nominated for this award were Stlyzz,Wale, Bils,Mr.2Kay and Emmy Gee, before the Supporting Actor in film category (Shawn Faqua,Ribilu Musa Ibro,OC Ukeje and Desmond Elliot) which went to Yomi Fash-Lanso deck in all white Agbada (yoruba native attire...loved it)  Harry song sizzled the crowd with Beta Pikin. Solidstar whose performance was nice but for some reason the audience did not seem to know most of these stars but when he sang the hook of his songs, he got recognized. Patoranking won the award for best new act of the year and his performance was the best of the night with his Alubarika, Girlie O and all of his presence was nothing short of fantastic. An award well-deserved!

Harry Song

      Gospel Singer Praiz was next on stage, his live performance started very slow as he thrilled the crowd with his Usher meets Brian McKnight voice and it was well-delivered, until the dancers joined him on stage and I had to ask if he was still a gospel singer or did he pull the iyanya move! the dancers must have realized how awkward it was because few seconds later, the gracefully danced of the stage while he was performing.
       Oritse Femi who was nominated in 4 categories won the indigenous Artist of the year and performed his hit single Double Wahala which brought down the entire house to their feet as everyone sang along with him, Orezi,Wande Coal,JMartin and Mc Galaxy each performed their hit single. Sekem by MC Galaxy had people going crazy.

Lets Talk Review
      Nigerian Entertainment generally has grown extensively in the last nine years, I am not here to only point out what they need to do to be better and  I am a proud African girl that strives for quality in anything African (Music,Movies and Events) which is another way of saying I point out the goodies and baddies to make organizers,artist, actors and actresses know that we appreciate them, we do not just love them but we also watch what they bring to the table and ultimately know what they are doing right and wrong.
      NEA awards cannot possibly appeal to some people, especially when one think its all rigged to benefit the entertainers they know, So I was not so much interested in the awards being given. I knew for sure I was going to be disappointed and with my low expectation on the winners to be,it gave room for the surprises that I was about to witness.


1. When BOJ got on the stage, he exhumed confidence on his talent as he knew what he was doing. his simplicity was beyond this world as he performed one of his hits song Feel alright and Bolaji. He's obviously young but old in his bearing and actions.

Solid Star

2. Solid Star: The audience do not seem to know who he was, as most African are more interested in popular names and their lack of giving room for new artist. Most people learn by listening to artist they already know or by popular demand forgetting new upcoming act,when solidstar got to the hook,I could see the reaction of the audience giving acknowledgement (oh its this dude). People need to be open minded about this new and talented artist with likes of Ephlex,BOJ,Solidstar,Shatta wale and more.

shatta Wale (in Gold cross chain)

3. Shatta Wale: did a fine job with his performance. Also just as Solid star and BOJ few people who are current recognized him but his reception initially was cold and it was sad when the Ghanaians in the house could not support this dance hall artist.
All of the winners at the event made complete sense, I love the fact that NEA recognized all the new acts. There was no Wizkid,Iceprince,Davido and the rest of others who already are household names. It gave room for everyone at the event to know new talented artist are on the rise and would be known world wide too. Nigerian artist are putting Africa on the map and totally dominating African entertainment industry.
Tiwa Savage:  who looked gorgeous in her all white get-up and still seemed very timid gave the best speech of the night, referencing her nomination at the recently concluded BET award and other nomination. She said all those awards do not matter as much as, this awards is the most important of all and I implore Nigerians to always support us artist  ( she should also be telling Uncle Jazzy that considering his ridiculous ALS challenge he took upon himself and turned it into a joke and she also danced to shoki as the exit the stage.

Patoranking

      However, there were mishaps during the show:
1.Late Start: First the show started two hours late. The audience did not feel it much because DjZimo made sure of that as he entertained the crowd with his choice of music selection, but I did.
2. Celebs/VIP Seats: there was no assigned seats for their performing artist. if people pay for VIP seats they expect to get whats being paid for, NEA Organizers did not put much work on their seating arrangements, although they had sections for presenters.
3. Awards winners: as I mentioned earlier I am in total support of giving rooms to new and upcoming artist( let the youngs grow) but what I realize at the end of the night  is that most of the winners were present at the event which makes it seem they know the outcome of their respective category except for Del B who won the producer of the year and was almost passed on.
4. Line ups:  The organizers had issues with line ups,there were few minutes of inactivities during the show.For future purpose NEA organizers need to line their presenters and acts up for a smooth event and once again DjZimo and Bovi saved the day....again. Bovi who stepped in to entertain the audience said some pretty factual statement in the midst of his hilarious jokes....'NEA organizers should not be afraid to invite American artist like Chris Brown and the rest to Nigerian events since they pretty much come to Naija to Hustle' which is true,funny and made sense.
5.Audience Interaction: Gbemi-O's idea of interacting with the audience was good if there was more time, but it was just one interaction and the next one scheduled was going to be staged which made it

6. Roll Call: due to timing of the event, all the awards were not presented but Funke Akindele made announcement of the winners in the rest of the categories in a roll-call like way which to me was tacky especially when she called the winner in the Music Producer of the year category which went to Del B amongst Duncan Daniels, Dtunes, Don Jazzy, Blaq Jerzy who are experienced and big producers in the industry. This is an award won by a new and very young producers and he should have had his moment on stage. The scene reminded of me high school attendance roll call because when the host said Del B won and could not make it to the show,Del B who had crews screamed and said he is here o, he dey here o ( trust my brothers).
7.Innocent Idibia (2baba): there was talks of 2baba  to get an honorary award but due to the demise of his father (RIP), he could not make it. That being said, I expected some kind of tribute to 2baba but that did not happen instead DjZimo played the best of the best of his music and everyone (and yours truly) sang along. It was a very jolly moment as everyone recognized 2baba and his accomplishments (that was fun!!).
8.Recognition: after party address was announced and the host said their good night/bye everyone got up heading to the door. As I was  heading out Wande Coal Rotate blared through the speakers, I thought it was DjZimo but it was the real deal, WC was on stage live and everyone went for him as we danced and sang along with him no one mentioned him coming out before he showed up. Followed by McGalaxy who  performed Sekem and boy! oh!boy! the entire hall watched in awe. He should have opened the event on the high note that ended the event.
      Overall, NEA organizers did a fantastic job in their choice of performing artist,the night was a very enjoyable night.Thanks to djZimo, Bovi,Funke Akindele who saved the day with their skits and skills. To NEA organizers Good luck.

Rating: 8/10
   

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