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NAMAs introduces new judges

2018-01-19  Staff Report 2

NAMAs introduces new judges
Pinehas Nakaziko The Organising Committee of the much-anticipated Namibia Annual Music Awards (NAMAs) this week announced nine new judges for the 2018 awards. Che Ulenga To make it more exciting, Che Ulenga made it for the first time to the NAMAs Judging Committee. Che rose to fame when she joined the Katutura Community Radio Station in April 2006, hosting different youth shows. Since then she has grown amongst the nation’s most sought-after radio personalities. She also took the world of radio by storm, acting as a strong voice on Namibia’s most prominent radio stations’ breakfast shows and as master of ceremonies (MC) at a string of Namibia’s most sophisticated events, both entertainment and corporate-based. Apart from that, Che has hosted international acts Eve, P-Square and Boyz II Men at the annual Windhoek Draught Live Concert, as well as American RnB crooner Trey Songz at the MTC Namibia 25th year independence celebrations, and the annual City of Windhoek Jazz Festival in 2015. Che was also a nominee of the NAMAs in the Best Radio DJ category (2017) and most recently the Namibian representative at the 9th Advance Media Training Course hosted by the Egyptian Media Training Center in Cairo, Egypt in October 2017. With qualifications in Public Relations and Marketing from the University of Cape Town (2016/2017), she continues to host corporate, entertainment and private functions and since 2012 daily welcomes the sunrise on 99FM’s breakfast show. Lischen Khachas Lischen Khachas has also been brought into the limelight as a judge. She has been dubbed Namibia’s top female DJ. She is a holder of a Diploma in Sound Engineering and Music Production. Lischen is also a radio personality and an MC and has been a part of the Namibian music industry for more than 12 years as a DJ and also behind the scenes. She has worked for Radio Energy 100 FM where she started off her career as a commercial DJ in 2010, and also worked for Fresh FM radio and has vast experience in the broadcast and media industry. In 2014 she was nominated and won the Windhoek Lager Ambassador in the Arts category via public vote. Also in 2014 she started up and managed a local radio station Equity FM in her hometown of Otjiwarongo. She is still regarded as one of Namibia’s top female commercial DJs and has dj’d alongside South Africa’s top female DJs – the likes of Ms Cosmo from Channel O. Lischen has also assisted and worked alongside a Grammy Award winning sound engineer and producer Allen Sanderson in 2013, during the recording of one of Namibia’s top rock bands Penilane. Lischen has also released two house singles as a DJ of which one made it to International African Top 10 Charts. Freddy Taylor Known as the Prince of Soul, Taylor has risen to fame after winning the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Music Makers Award in the 1990s, after which he joined the Cantare Audire Choir on their European tour. In 1995, Taylor became the first Namibian artist to sign with an international recording company in Germany. He remixed ‘The Israelites’ from Desmond Dekker in Frankfurt. Taylor thereafter joined Mouvement Rapide, an acid-jazz band that grew popular in Germany and its neighbouring countries and later became the first acid-jazz band to perform at the Burghausen Jazz festival, making him Namibia’s first artist to perform at this big annual event. Axali Doeseb Axali is the composer of the Namibian National Anthem, a composer, full orchestra and choir conductor, bandmaster, music teacher and arts consultant. The newly announced international judges are: Sammy Forson Sammy Forson is a Ghanaian Award winning broadcaster with Live 91.9FM and has over 14 years on air experience, is business manager for BET & MTV, VGMA award winning Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie and CEO of both Aspire Music/Entertainment and Evolve by Sammy Forson. Somoina Kimojino Soimona Kimojino is a Programmes Director at the number 1 radio network in Kenya, 98.4 Capital FM and Senior Director of one of the biggest music, media, entertainment broadcasters and networks in East Africa, Capital Group Ltd East Africa. For the last 14 years, Kimojino has been at the helm of radio in Kenya as Programmes Director for Capital FM. She has successfully managed a number of talents and kept the brand innovative and alive as one of the leading stations in the region. Sammy Thuo Sammy Thuo from Kenya has been in the marketing, digital, advertising and media industries for over 21 years and the director and co-founder of Saracen OMD - one of East Africa’s largest independent media specialists agencies providing world class media planning and buying services to leading local and international clients across the sub-region and the biggest media agency in East Africa today. OMD, the global media advertising company of Omnicom in 2003, is arguably the world’s largest marketing communications network, with offices in over 80 countries. Chali Bravo Chali ‘Bravo’ Mulalami is one of the leading music entertainment executives in Zambia today, with his roots as one of Zambia’s leading songwriters and producers, and one of the most influential individuals in Zambia’s music publishing industry with an official release record of 32 albums (400+ songs) under his belt. He is also credited with debuting more Zambian artists than any other music promoter in the region. In addition he also heads up one of Zambia’s leading video and audio production companies, event management companies, “One Drum Village”, a non-profit that supports artists in their quest to harness the power of art and the artists’ brand to effect social change in marginalized communities. Olufunke Adebonojo Olufunke Adebonojo is an accomplished music, entertainment, communications and marketing executive, a corporate advisor and a global consultant with more than 20 years combined experience. Olufunke headed up the Marketing Department for the global media music entertainment company Black Entertainment Television (BET Networks) as the Director of Marketing for BET International and BET Jazz across the global outside of North America. Today Olufunke runs her own company and consultancy between the USA, Benin and other countries on the African continent. According to the Organising Committee, the NAMAs 2018 received a record 978 entries in total, the most entries since the inception of the NAMAs in 2011. A total of 282 entries were disqualified. The Top 5 categories that received the most entries are Best Producer - 202, Best Collaboration - 148 and Best Single - 125, Best Music Video -101 and Best Afro Pop - 82. Top 3 categories that received the least entries were Best Afrikaans and Oviritje at 14 each and Best Damara Punch – 16 only. According to Tim Ekandjo, all approved entries will now be sent to the judges who will immediately commence the judging phases 1 and 2. The awards will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2018 and the venue will be chosen between Windhoek, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.
2018-01-19  Staff Report 2

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