Emma Kakololo
WINDHOEK
Hundreds of fans flocked to the University of Namibia stadium on Friday evening to see their favourite music acts live, while thousands more watched from home.
The Sanlam-NBC Music Awards again this year gave nominees a chance to showcase their talents and hopefully nab the remaining votes needed to win the award in their respective categories.
The fifth annual Sanlam-NBC Music Awards will take place in December and promise to be yet another spectacular event.
Phone lines for voting opened on October 1 already, with each person allowed to vote only once for an artist in a given category, except for the song of the year.
This year, artists can compete in 17 categories, from Best Ma/gaisa/Damara Punch to best Oviritje, as well as Best Single, Best Song of the Year and Artist of the Year.
For the first time, the competition introduces six nominees in each category that receives more than 20 entries, while the competition only has four nominations in categories that have less than 20 entries, as in the past.
The awards witnessed a doubling of entries in some categories such as gospel, and very high entries in House and Dancehall/Ragga.
“With the fifth Awards, we have seen an increase in the quality of entries as well as the numbers,” said committee member Ingrid van Rensburg.
“Very creative, entertaining songs were entered. We have received overwhelming support from the artists and so far we have registered the highest entries ever.”
She said, compared to previous years, many artists have achieved a great deal and have contributed significantly musically in terms of album releases, album sales, performances and social responsibility.
“For this reason, and for the very first time in the history of the music awards, we have nine nominees for the artist of the year”.
She said pre-selection of the different nominees proved a daunting task, carried out by a committee comprising six music professionals and specialists.
Assessment was based on the following criteria: originality, artistic ability, creativity, arrangement and production as well as overall sound, entertainment value and popularity for audio.
For best music video the committee took into account creativity (concept development), originality, visual quality, editing, style and entertainment value.
To vote for their favourite artist in a specific category, mobile phone users can send a text message only, consisting of the artist code (in that specific category) to 7662. The charge is N$3 per SMS.