Dog eat dog @ #NAMA2016

07 Feb, 2016 - 00:02 0 Views
Dog eat dog @ #NAMA2016

The Sunday Mail

Prince Mushawevato
THE sturdy list of nominees for the 15th edition of the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) released last week will for the first time since 2002 genuinely put to test the aptitude of the arts board to hold a fair and credible event.
Previously, Nama has come under fire for not making public the adjudicators for various categories of the event, something that they have since addressed. However, they are still some loopholes that the organisers of the event still need to work on.
For instance, announcing the adjudication team is one thing while the adjudication process itself is another. The adjudication process needs to be made transparent.
Also, awards should be given on merit not compassion.
There is no need to try and balance the outcome and equally there is no need or reason to create a rotation system of the nominees’ short-list. If an artiste is good and wins the award year in year out, so be it.
After all, global awards events like the Fifa Ballon d’Or have already set the pace on how such events should be handled.
If the organisers were inspired by the need to create a balance, certainly Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi would not have to date won the gong a record five times.
By now the adjudication process in most of the categories (except for one or two) is long done and the ultimate victors have already been decided. But it is hoped that the judgment team(s) put into consideration certain principles to guarantee a flawless event.
As largely expected, the tough contests especially in categories like music, where opinions vastly differ are going to prove whether Nama is moving in the right direction or not.
Clearly, much of the debate on the Nama nominees list is centred on who is going to walk away with the gong(s) in the tightly contested categories of the music awards.
War of the personalities
The Outstanding Male Musician category, a judge’s minefield, must have given the adjudicators considerable headaches.
However, if simple market trends were to be followed, there would be little or no reason to stress.
Featuring the high-flying Winky D, real name Wallace Chirumiko, gospel sensation Mathias Mhere, evergreen Mukudzei Mukombe aka Jah Prayzah and the charismatic Kelvin Kusikwenyu, popularly known as Killer T, the category is more of a two-man race if fairness is observed.
Killer T released “Ngoma Ndaimba” in the first quarter of 2015 and literally dominated the music charts for the greater part of the year. The chanter’s momentum was, however, slowed down by the release of Jah Prayzah’s chart-busting “Jerusarema” on May 26 in the year in question.
However, the two artistes enjoyed a huge chunk of the market share for the greater part of the year, undisrupted, including attracting healthy crowds at their respective gigs.
Jah Prayzah will, however, have a slight edge over Killer T since he managed to clinch a number of corporate deals. Also because he plays with a live band, his gigs are more attractive than those by Killer T.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Winky D.
The now rejuvenated artiste spent the greater part of the year in doldrums, in search of his form of old. In fact, for a greater distance of the year (2015), the chanter was a pale shadow of himself, a phenomenon that saw him atypically booed off stage when he shared the stage with visiting Jamaican artiste, Luciano.
He also struggled when he shared the stage with another Jamaican artiste, Konshens; the Gafa simply had no fireworks at the gig. The release of “Mdara Vauya” in the second quarter of 2015 did not help much in changing his fortunes.
But fortunately for him, the proverbial “last kicks” of a dying horse worked wonders. The then troubled Winky D released a singles collection “Kickstape”, featuring the instant hit “Disappear” as the year folded, which helped him restore his former glory. Conceivably, if there was the “Best Comeback” award, he would with no doubt scoop it.
The divas’ battle
After “controversially” losing the Outstanding Female Award to Mai Charamba in the 13th edition of the Nama awards, Selmor Mtukudzi, will again this year try her luck in the same category. However, it is noteworthy that the “Nguva Yangu” hit singer recently scooped the Hottest Female Single award at the African Entertainment Awards held in New Jersey, USA.
But unlike in the 2014 edition where she was armed with hits, Selmor, just like her rivals is this time around coming to the battle banking mostly on her brand.
However, the musician, will be again be faced with stiff competition as she squares of with Hope Masike, who is also vying for a gong at the 2016 KORA awards in the Best Traditional Female Artist category. The same category also includes Tariro “neGitare” Chaniwa and Agatha Murudzwa as nominees.
Battle of albums
In the Outstanding Album category, there seems to be general consensus that each nominated album deserves recognition. A close look at the projects will, however, leave Killer T with an upper hand in the battle.
The Mbare-bred chanter’s 15-track project “Ngoma Ndaimba” can easily outshine “Jerusarema”, “Gafa Life” and “Glory to Glory” in terms of the number of hits and quality of message as well as the richness of sound.
Almost every song on Killer T’s album is a well-known hit that most people can sing-along to with songs like “Tirikuda Kumbofarawo”, “Kukosha Kwechikorobho”, “Itai Ndione”, “Vagara Vanongovenga”, “Misodzi Yangu”, “Zvese Ndairota”, “Haupore” and “Ngoma Ndaimba”, easily coming to mind.
On “Jerusarema”, however, only “Eriza”, “Tiise Maoko” and “Chinamira” appear to be the most popular songs while “Disappear” and “Not Nice” make up Winky D’s “Gafa Life”. Though danceable, the depth of the songs on the two albums play second fiddle to Killer T’s compositions. A challenge for Killer T in this category may come from Mathias Mhere’s “Glory to Glory”. The album is also on point and comes laden with poignant lyrics.
The ultimate hit challenge
Though delivered towards year-end, Winky D’s “Disappear” will certainly go head-to-head with Reverend Togarepi Chivaviro’s song “Ebenezer”, which was released in the first half of the year.
Odds appear to favour the reverend as the song managed to cut across the generational divide. However, the same can also be said about Winky D’s “Disappear” but again the time in circulation for the two songs will somehow help decide which release deserves to win the Nama award.
Apathy in theatre
Away from music, despite Nama announcing that the number of entries increased this year, it appears as if there were poor submissions in the theatre awards categories judging by the number of nominees in the acting and production categories.
In the last edition, there were a total of five productions on the nomination list but the figure dropped to four this year. Indications are that some production houses conspired not to submit their works in protest over what they called “unclear adjudication processes” and the inclusion of high school productions in the 14th edition of the event.
And the issue of submission lethargy seems to be further confirmed by the two actors that make up the Outstanding Theatre Actor award when other categories have up to four nominees. The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe communications and marketing officer Cathrine Mthombeni notes everything is on point.
“In a bid to enhance entries, NACZ appointed a team of both individual and institutional monitors who kept an eye on excelling artistes throughout the year.
“These monitors submitted reports to NACZ, which reports were used by adjudicators together with the submitted entries. A panel of independent adjudicators, guided by a set selection criteria, was appointed to preside over all the submissions,” said Mthombeni in a statement last week.
“. . . the general observation by adjudicators was that there was an increase of entries hence adjudicators had a wide range of product selection.”
But, internationally acclaimed playwright and film producer Tafadzwa Muzondo thinks otherwise. He confirmed all is not well.
“I’m sure many people did not submit their productions. Considering the number of productions that were done last year, we should be having enough actors to compete in that category. I witnessed a number of good productions that had good actors last year,” said Muzondo.
“. . . if you notice the awards are evolving around two or three productions signalling submission apathy. The decision to include school productions last year in the same category with adults might also be part of the reason for this development.”
Muzondo further revealed that most of the players in theatre have always had “problems” with Nama’s adjudication process.
Last year, in the literary category, some raised questions how Memory Chirere’s “Bhuku Risina Basa (Nekuti Rakanyorwa Masikati)” won an award when Ignatius Mabasa, the publisher of the book, sat on the adjudication panel.
Whether in his respective field or not, it somewhat compromised the outcome.
“The adjudication process is just not right. Some of the adjudicators are interested parties that act as players and referees. There is rivalry in this trade. So there is no way an opponent in the adjudication panel can nominate or second a rival’s production. Soccer stars are chosen by sports journalists and it’s time Nama involved more stakeholders.
“Sometimes Nama’s blunders/glitches leave a lot to be desired. No matter how good a school child is in football, he cannot be short-listed for the national soccer stars awards like they did when they included Pamushana High School last year,” explained Muzondo.
Conversely, veteran arts practitioner Taonga Mafundikwa sings from a different hymn.
“I think there was justice in terms of the nominations. For instance, some of the plays that I have witnessed have been well received and the response is encouraging. The actors and directors did a sterling job,” he said.
Added Mafundikwa: “However, those doing well but fail to make it to the nominees list and/or win should not despair. The adjudication is done by a group of people holding certain views. Probably if the rest of the country is given the task to choose nominees and eventual winners, we will likely have a totally different outcome.”
In comedy…
Comedy enthusiasts also have one or two points to drive home. They feel Clive Chigubhu deserved to be part of the nominees in the Outstanding Comedian category that features Samm Farai Monro aka Comrade Fatso, Michael Kudakwashe and Doc Vikela, real name Victor Mpofu.
Chigubhu scooped the gong last year.
And he is still in top form. Rather he seems to have further upped his game. But, the wild guess is he was dropped this time around to create chances for others.
This is, nonetheless, not to take anything away from the short-listed nominees. In actual fact, this is also another tightly contested category that can go either way.

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