MUSIC-AFRICA: Africa Honours Stars of Music

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ish Mafundikwa

SUN CITY, South Africa, Oct 7 1997 (IPS) - The pleasure complex of Sun City lived up to its boast as being the “Entertainment Centre of Africa” last week when musicians from all over the continent and the African diaspora poured into town for the second annual Kora All-Afrika Music Awards.

The ‘Kora’ – equivalent to the ‘Grammies’ in the United States and the ‘Brits’ in Britain – is named after a West African string instrument and is the brainchild of Ernest Coovi Adjovi, a native of Benin who is now resident in South Africa.

“When I came up with the idea of creating a continental ceremony which would be beamed live all over the world just like the Grammy Awards people laughed at me,” he reminisced. The fact that he had no previous experience in the music business also put potential sponsors off.

To stage the event last year cost more than one million U.S. dollars. After failing to attract any funding, the self-made millionaire sold his sugar-packaging business in Namibia and, with a partner, raised 2.7 million dollars. “Sponsors were not forthcoming and we lost money,” he recalls.

Armed with his love for African music and now assured of the support from a few sponsors who were impressed with his initial effort, Adjovi was back this year with a bigger and better show.

“Last year we got 135 entries but this year the number went up to more than 200,” he enthused.

National broadcasters and record companies are invited to submit CDs and video clips of their artists to enable them to participate and thus have a chance to qualify. The clips go through different stages of elimination until they are whittled down to four or five entries in each category. This year there were 13 categories, 12 of which carried prizes.

“A lot of artists cannot afford to go into the studio to record let alone make a video clip,” Adjovi explained. This year the music had to have been released between January 1, 1996 and April 15, 1997.

The success of the first Kora Awards also prompted governments to come forward with offers to host the extravaganza but, said Adjovi, “we chose South Africa because it has the technological infrastructure that an event of this magnitude requires.”

He would like to take it to other African countries but he will keep the Awards in South africa until they have comparable facilities. “It is a pity because I want the awards to be seen as an African and not a South African event.”

There is concern in some quarters, however, that the awards exclude the majority of people who cannot afford entry into such places as the Sun City Rosebowl auditorium, which has hosted such glamorous events as the Miss World pageant.

Not so, argues Adjovi: “We negotiated with the owners of this complex for an entrance fee of around 10 dolars for the general public which is very reasonable.” Top-scale tickets were going for 53 dollars. The other interesting feature of the Awards is that African broadcasters can pick up the ceremony and broadcast it live for free.

“Stations can actually make money by selling advertising time during the broadcast,” Adjovi exlained.

Most of the artists contacted by IPS were very happy about the awards which, they said, gave them a chance to network with fellow artists. “Talking to other African musicians was an eye opener as I realised we have a lot of common problems,” said Ghanaian Kojo Antwi, a nominee in both the Best Artist/Group West Africa and the Best African Male Artist categories.

The big winner of the evening was 56-year-old Cesaria Evora from Cape Verde, who collected the Judges Merit Award plus the prizes for Best West African Artist and Best African Album. She was pipped for the Best African Female Artist by Benin’s Angelique Kidjo, who was on hand to perform during the ceremony. Kidjo was easily the most popular choice as she received a standing ovation from an audience that demanded an encore.

While there was a consensus among the finalists that the Kora awards could be the ticket that could see African music go mainstream, some expressed concern about a number of factors.

Mali’s Oumou Sangare lamented the absence of unalloyed traditional African music. “Sure, we have to respond to our present environment, but we should not forget our traditions,” she said. “We are the only people who can keep it alive.”

Winner of Most Promising Artist, Senegal’s Cheikh Lo, thought that all finalists should get some form of prize. “It is all down to respect, they should all be seen on television,” said Lo as he cradled his miniature Kora.

Cash prizes totalling 31,000 dollars went with the Koras.

Special tribute was paid to the late Nigerian and Afrobeat star Fela Ransome-Kuti, while South African President Nelson Nelson received a Lifetime Achievement Award for setting up The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

Choosing the winners was no sinecure, given the high quality of the entries along with other factors, according to one of the judges, Liberian-born Max Bankole Jarret.

“It was the most difficult task I have had to carry out. It has political implications as well and the diversity of the music has not make it easy,” said Bankole Jarret, producer of ‘Network Africa’ and ‘Jive Zone’ at the World Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).