All things NAMA 2016

The most spoken about event, the Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMAs) show came to an end this weekend and it was filled with all sorts of sentiments, and it also left many asking themselves, what next? The two-day event took place on Friday at the National Theatre of Namibia and there the industry awards were handed out. The main, or public event took place on Saturday at Ramatex. There was drama, fashion hits and misses, some won and others well, didn’t. But most importantly, the majority of the new faces in the industry seem to be giving the old guys a hard time as they will be running the show sooner rather than later. Tjil will unpack everything that transpired and I encourage you to tighten your belts because I have news for you!
The venue
The NAMA awards of this year were held in Windhoek and a lot of effort was really put in by the organisers and they ensured that nobody was left out in terms of fitting the attendees in both venues. The only glitch was the set-up of the stage at Ramatex that was too far from the crowd and the award winners couldn’t quite be seen. That aside however, congratulations to the organising committee for pulling off such a mammoth task!
The MCs
Even if people complain about the same old faces that run the NAMAs in terms of MC’ing ne, it’s because they really know how to do the job par excellence! Tjil also wants to give a shout out the few new faces we saw such as Mo Shehu. It is because of people like you more new faces will be given the chance to showcase their public speaking talent. We shouldn’t forget to acknowledge the fact that they all looked striking, sophisticated and smart too!
The milestones
The NAMAs have really come a long way and it will just be wrong if we don’t give praise where it’s due. For the first time, the NAMAs were broadcast outside Namibia’s borders! The NAMAs were also being streamed live and we had Namibians who outside the country streaming live from faraway places such China and Ukraine. The NAMAs is the largest live televised awards ceremony in the country and attracted a viewership of over 800 000. The NAMAs have also partnered up with television giants such as Trace TV and Sound City Nigeria for exclusive broadcasting of the NAMAs on those country terrestrial footprints. Well done NAMAs!
The drama
Of course a show is not a show without a little drama and someone made sure that was taken care of! The controversial owner and writer of gossip site ‘Cypher News’ Chris Patrick Haingura was seen being escorted out of the building shortly after the show started. What might have sparked the arrest is unknown but on a Facebook status he posted: “It appears there's a conspiracy to silence me for good, but Chris-Paul is a fighter and will fight this to the bitter end. See you soon Facebook. ?#?ChrispaulForever?”!
The non-fashion
Some became the joke of the weekend as they tried to pull of looks that were just not made for their bodies or their size, for that matter. Some dresses had people like Menesia Muinjo update her Facebook status saying some friends and family members are not true to us because nobody that cares for you will let you walk out of the house dressed like that. Please ladies and gentleman of the land of the brave, not all trends are meant to be followed.
The hot fashion
Namibian designers such as Ruberto Scholtz, Melisa Poulton, Maila Couture, Pewa Uushona of Proud and stylists like Nomvula Bwaluh, Simeone and Reinhard Mahalie really gave it their all as the majority, if not all of their clients, really looked classy and exclusive. The blue carpet gave all of these people and many others a platform to showcase their flair. Big ups to every one of them all and to those that looked fashionable and decent at the same time!
The performance
We had artists like Tequila, Suzzy Eises and Christopher the Grand who stole the show on Friday and had the crowd all up in their feelings. Tequila, who has been away from the limelight, said she had missed her fans dearly. We hope she’s here to stay this time! Saturday was crazy and filled with surprises. We saw what seemed to be a reunion between the Namibian adored girl group Gal Level as they reached into the memory bag and pulled out many of their old hits. Matongo Family also had the audience jiving as they did a few of their numbers. Gazza’s piece was the highlight of the night as he performed dressed as a Japanese Sansei and so were his dancers. He also did a number on which he featured Maria Nepembe and they slayed the stage with their dance moves. Crazy Lady May made a comeback from her recovery period and once again did not fail the audience with her wild dance moves.
The awards
The Dogg scooped himself two awards which included Song of the Year. Newcomer Ann Singer walked away with four awards making her the highest achiever of the night. Songstress Chikune got the Female Artist of the Year and the prize includes a sick Toyota ride, and so did Big Ben as Male Artist of the Year. The Pan African Award was won by Roberto who also happened to garner the Male Artist of the year in his country. Tjil would like to congratulate all the winners for the NAMAs 2016. We wish the best to those that will take part in the event next year.
June Shimuoshili