The Thrills, Frills and Dramas at AMVCA 2020
It was an emotionally charged night full of entertainment, glamour and red carpet extravaganza as Africa’s biggest film and television stars gathered at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos for the seventh edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs). Hosted by the duo of IK Osakioduwa and AMVCA newbie Amina Abdi Rabar, the event held on Saturday, March 14, and was organised by Africa Magic in association with MultiChoice. The 7th edition of the AMVCAs was also sponsored by Amstel Malta.
The biggest winner of the night was Nigerian thriller ‘Living in Bondage the sequel, the movie rights was bought by business man Charles Okpaleke. Living in Bondage the sequel walked home with seven awards including Best Overall Movie and Best Director, which went to Nollywood legend, Ramsey Nouah. Charles Okpaleke is looking like he is not storming Nollywood to shine his teeth at some of the ‘Ngwogwor’ productions , he is coming with a different dimensional approach.
Timini Egbuson won Best Actor in a Drama whilst Toyin Abraham won in the Best Actress in a Drama, both wins for their performances in the movie ‘Elevator Baby’. Meanwhile, The MultiChoice Academy award went to East Africa for the movie ‘Promises’.
One of the highlights of the night was a family affair as a cinematic father-son duo took home awards. The Industry Merit award was presented to veteran broadcaster, Peter Igho, who is best known for his achievements with the Nigerian Television Authority where many of his produced works laid the foundation for the Nigerian film and television industry. Breakout Living in Bondage star, Swanky JKA won the 2020 Trailblazer award.
Another highlight was the performance by award winning African music icon Innocent ‘2baba’ Idibia who performed a medley of his popular songs, whilst talented vocalists Mercy Aghedo, Adeniyi Timilehin Adeola, Ighwiyisi Jacobs also gave special renditions of songs nominated for the Best Soundtrack award.
The Big Blunders of the Award Night
The organisers of the AMVCA embarrassed their organisation with the criteria they used in picking their best dressed at the event, which was awarded to the pepper dem edition of the big brother naija 2019 house mates - Mercy Eke and Mike Edwards but for the first time Nigerians buried sentiments and threw away the Nigeria and Ghana Jollof war to give a verdict of the best dressed to Ghanaian actress Nana Akua Addo, who was the first to post her outfit on social media and immediately everyone cut the bug, as her outfit started trending before the red carpet of the AMVCA began. Her outfit was designed by an lndian, known as Gaurav Gupta.
Her outfit was a piece of art , a fashion statement that would stand the test of time on any international red carpet and above all no actress in Africa might beat this in a long while. Fashion blogs and individuals kept reposting her outfit and for the men, the best dressed male should have been Denola Grey and not Mike Edwards. His outfit was designed by a Nigerian designer known as Mazelle Studio. It is very couture and very irregular. It has the 3 D elements of the tuxedo and above it is refreshing to look at.
The organisers claimed that the fans voted and how can that be a criteria for choosing the best dressed for a high profile event like this? Mercy Eke and Mike Edwards were two of the last set of the house mates in BBNAIJA and of course they have a huge fan base unlike Nana and Denola.
The organisers need to understand sometimes that they can’t leave such judgement for the fans who will do anything sentimentally to support their preferred celebrities and that was the embarrassing thing that happened this year.
The Trail Blazer winner this year was Jide Kene popular known as Swanky. He was the lead actor in Living in Bondage the sequel. Now, his award comes with a car normally. All the past winners have gone home with their cars but this year Jide Kene is not getting his car. This is unacceptable and it is a big embarrassment to the organizers of the award . The truth is AMVCA owns Jide Kene his car, come rain or sunshine. How can an international event like this relent on their efforts to improve the show instead they are moving backwards? There is no good tangible excuse for Dstv and AMVCA not to present the winner of the Trail Blazer award his or her car. The category of that award comes with a car gift . And if Jide Kene does not get his car now or forever , it means he has been robbed by the organizers. If he is not getting a car, we hope the next year winner won’t get one too. They they should have made sure all the categories got their sponsors before fixing a date for the award . The Headies Award has a car category too which is the Rookie Award, year in and out Ayo Animashaun has ensured that the winner of that category goes home with his or her car. AMVCA do something as soon as you guys can if not history will judge you guys for robbing Jide Kene of his car gift .
And Kemi Adetiba block buster movie‘King of boys didn’t win any category? AMVCA what actually happened this time around? Who are the judges? Did they watch the King of Boys movie? Because it is one of the best movies that has come out of Africa.
The actress should be Sola Sobowale in her magnetic role in the King of Boys but she was ignored and that made me realized that the Judges didn’t watch the movie at all . The AMVCA disrespected Sola Sobowale thespian prowess this time around.
The King of Boys and Living in Bondage the sequel are the two best movies that have emerged not only in Nigeria but in Africa in the past two years . azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com