Paheja Siririka
SWAKOPMUND – Namibian songstress Lize Ehlers at midnight Saturday was dubbed the Artist of
the Year at the Namibian Annual Music Awards show which was held at The Dome in Swakopmund over the weekend and cashed in a whooping and handsome N$280 000.
The emotional Ehlers acknowledged her children for always being there. “I want to wholeheartedly thank my children for always being there for me,” she said after receiving the award.
She encouraged fellow musicians to not compromise on quality and to keep working on themselves. Ehlers pointed out the fact that she has so far released six albums after much hard work and determination of being in the music business for over a decade.
The Heal hitmaker is smiling all the way to the bank as she got a combined cash prize of N$280 000 for her three accolades.
Ehlers also walked away with the Best House song. That category is worth N$30 000. She is Namas 2019 Female Artist of the Year which bagged her N$100 000 while Artist of
the Year is cash prized at N$150 000.
The Artist of the Year is a new category the Namas organising committee added to the prestigious ceremony this year.
According to the committee, the Artist of the Year is decided based on who gets the most votes between the best male and female artist of the year. In this case, Exit who won Best Male Artist
and Lize Ehlers Female Artist of the Year competed against each other and the latter came out victorious.
Mariental born Ehlers is Namibia’s jazz sensation who had the audience in awe as she first arrived on a horse for her first performance, a song spreading the message of love, specifically addressing gender-based violence with the hashtag stop killing us.
The awards, in general, were electrifying, from Skrypt performing under running water to a horse, South Africa’s Holly Rey arriving on a motorbike and Sally Boss Madam performing on an electrically modified eagle in the air. Apart from some technical glitches, the Namas 2019 promised stunts and creativity in the performance department and they delivered.