VGMA: Who takes the reigns from late Ebony Reigns
Who takes over from Ebony as the Artiste of the Year?
A question on the lips of many Ghanaians as organisers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), Charterhouse announced that the 21st edition of the awards festival will be staged this weekend.
The music festival which celebrates Ghanaian music and its iconic artistes, was expected to be held in May but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak which led to a ban on public gatherings.
A statement signed by Head of Communications at Charterhouse, Robert Klah, noted that “the festival will be climaxed with a two-day awards weekend on 28th and 29th August, for the Industry and Public Awards respectively.
“There will be no public attendance and the event will be produced solely for broadcast on TV and digital platforms. It will feature some of the best performances from chart-topping artistes and will be broadcast on TV3, DStv and streamed on social media pages of Ghana Music Awards (Facebook) and Charterhouse Live (YouTube).
“The revised calendar thus begins with the big conversation on who wins what on the VGMA 21 Countdown Series, showing 6 p.m. every Sunday on TV3 and online on Facebook-Charterhouse Ghana. The 30 minutes show features seasoned industry players in category discussions, analysis and predictions.”
The statement also mentioned that six promising artistes – Imrana, Gyakie, Teflon Flex, Kofi Jamar, Sherry Boss and Abochi – have been selected for the Unsung category from over 5000 social media submissions. The winner of the category will win a performance slot on music’s biggest night.
Charterhouse indicated that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some notable events within the festival will not be held, key among them the Nominees Jam and the Celebration Jam.
A galaxy of stars are expected to thrill millions of virtual audience with exciting performances. They include EL, Kidi, Adina, Kuame Eugene, Kofi Kinaata, Medikal, Kwesi Arthur, Akwaboah, King Promise, Eno Barony, Strongman, Celestine Donkor, Ras Kuku, Efya, Kofi Mole, Epixode and many more.
The late dancehall artiste, Ebony, won the award in 2018 and has since maintained the title even posthumously.
This was after the organisers failed to announce a winner in May 2019 due to a scuffle that broke out in between Shatta Wale and Stony Buoy, the two tipped to take over after Ebony.
The two have since been banned and criminal proceedings continue to drag on more than a year since the incident.
The artiste of the year category is being contested by Kuami Eugene, Sarkodie, Medikal, Kofi Kinaata, and gospel songstress Diana Hamilton.