I still think the industry needs an awards platform. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that Simply You Magazine Lifestyle and Fashion Awards are serving and now the Spectrum Awards, which is fantastic...kudos honestly. But we all know we need a national awards platform the size and magnitude of the NAMAs.
What happened to the whole “MTN will come in hard and buy the awards” rumour, hoeka? Regardless, 2022 was an incredible year for the entertainment and arts industry. Don’t get me wrong, there have been fundamental failures on the part of every stakeholder, which we will fairly point out.
But creatives enjoyed themselves this year, despite the obvious challenges. Let’s address the obvious challenges before we get into the praise. At the beginning of the year, I had a wish list for the film industry, the voice-over industry and radio interviews in general. Sadly, there has been no improvement or meeting of my wishes/demands when it comes to the film industry.
So is the case with the voice-over industry. Radio interviews still suck balls! If you are wondering what my wish list was for the film industry, voice-over industry and radio interviews, google it; you will find it under ‘Industry Loop Wishlist’. It will pop up.
The Namibian National Association of the Deaf going in on King Gucci for comedy was kinda weird. Definitely a huge “L” for the industry. That whole debacle indicated that Namibians still do not understand comedy. But double standards are a way of life for us; we will laugh at Dave Chappelle and Trevor Noah jokes, but we cannot humour King Gucci? I guess because it hits home.
Chanique Rabe’s infamous blunder on an international platform was something, wasn’t it? But again, as I questioned in my analyses, why blame Chanique when we all suffer from Mzansinbola? Go figure. An entertainment journalist writing about ‘D-nyce’ securing a five-year digital music distribution contract with ‘American-based’ Unchained Music was probably the biggest blunder in 2022 entertainment journalism.
With that said, certain quarters of entertainment journalism really stepped it up with their respect for the craft.
Others still were the masters of just copying and pasting a press release. As for the praise, Sam Tsui’s ‘Danko’ cover was pretty dope. In other words, Musketeers and Azmo Nawe did that. However, the argument reminds me: can we do better Amapiano than the originators of Amapiano? That’s another debate for another day.
Collective Singers, led by Ponti Dikuua, represented not only Namibia, but the whole of Africa at the World Choral Expo in Lisbon, Portugal. This was a massive “W” for the whole of the entertainment and arts industry. Another “W” for the Namibian entertainment and arts industry was our dominance at the Africa Choice Awards and the Zikomo Africa Awards.
Huge “W’s”!
I need you to help me figure this one out: Was Burna Boy and Koffi Olomide coming to perform in Namibia a win for the entertainment and arts industry? I think this is where you will have to come in.
Use the #2022was...
Basically, 2022 was lit!
2023 will be....
Until the next Loop, we say #GMTM
* Need an MC? I do not post naked pictures or have 100k followers but after 10 years of MCeeing, I think I can do the job. Contact me for a quote at naobebsekind@gmail.com