Uganda to host MTV Africa Music Awards for the first time
Nov 25, 2020
Returning after a four-year break, with the last awards hosted by South Africa, the MAMAs come at a global pandemic time, which means that there will be a lot of digital experience.
ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS
KAMPALA - 2021 is set to start on a high, at least for Uganda. The Pearl of Africa is going to host the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs) for the first time on February 20, 2021.
Early last month, a 3D design of the letter M in white, black, yellow and red colours was erected at the Independence monument, something that confused many Ugandans. Social media all over the country went abuzz with the mystery around the letter M.
Well, for those who are good at reading between the lines, it was one of the signs that Uganda was getting ready for its first opportunity to host the MAMAs, represented by the M. To confirm this, on Wednesday, MTV Base Africa held a virtual launch of the 2021 MAMAs both in South Africa and Uganda, where musicians like Sheebah, Bebe Cool attended.
Returning after a four-year break, with the last awards hosted by South Africa, the MAMAs come at a global pandemic time, which means that there will be a lot of digital experience and re-imagination of the entire ceremony, a direction that has been shaped mostly during this period. This was confirmed by Monde Twala from MTV Base Africa, South Africa, during the press conference.
As has been one of the highlights at the MAMAs, Ugandans are going to get a glimpse of some of the World's most celebrated musicians and celebrities. To this effect, Urban TV and XFM's Denzel Mwiyeretsi inquired from the MTV Base Africa team whether Chris Brown would be coming to Uganda, and to keep his hopes high, Craig Paterson, one of the organizers asked every Ugandans to keep their fingers crossed.
The MAMAs come at a time when the music industry has been in slumber for close to a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and this, according to Bebe Cool, is an opportunity for musicians in Uganda to wake up and know that the industry is still alive.
About nomination, an artiste must have released their music video between October 1, 2019, and October 1, 2020. A committee comprising of Media, Entertainment and Record label executives sits on a panel to select the most outstanding records submitted before nomination lists are released.
Twala intimated that the host of the show will be announced in December, and same for the nominees and international acts to grace the show.
To close the launch with excitement, Daddy Andre, accompanied by Guitarist Myko Ouma and Saxophonist Joseph Sax, treated fans to some musical performances.