Ghanaian radio and television personality, Abeiku Santana, has criticized the organizers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs), for not selecting deserving artists for their award scheme but rather selecting their “friends and acquaintances”.
In the view of the popular radio and TV presenter, Kofi Kinaata and Fameye were supposed to be part of the nominated artists in the ‘Artiste of the Year Category’ of this year’s awards show.
Abeiku Santana, who wasn’t happy about the ‘snub’, questioned if the artists have offended the organizers of the show. Abeiku, also noted he has noticed that, every time Kofi Kinata and Fameye’s work show that they deserve topmost recognition, they get ‘snubbed’ by the Board.
“So, Charter House and VGMA, in what way have Kofi Kinaata and Fameye wronged you? Charterhouse, organizers of VGMAs, I’m asking how they have wronged you. What have they done to the extent that they weren’t nominated for the ‘Artiste of the Year’ category? Keep doing that. Keep being selective and unfair to these artists and continue to nominate your friends and acquaintances. Anytime it is time for these two artists to be rewarded, they don’t get it. Just look at their works. Look how hard they have worked. Are you being fair at all?”.
Abeiku Santana
Abeiku Santana wasn’t the only person who found it surprising that Kinata’s name didn’t get to the nomination list for that category. Broadcaster, Nana Aba Anamoah averred that she was “shocked to the bone” after she realized Kofi Kinaata was conspicuously missing from nominees for the VGMAs ‘Artiste of the Year’ 2022.
It is worth mentioning that Kinaata’s ‘Thy Grace’ was nominated in the ‘Highlife Song of the Year’ category. He has also been nominated for ‘Songwriter of the Year’ and ‘Best Highlife Artiste of the Year’ categories.
Fameye on the other hand had his hit song, ‘Praise’ nominated for ‘Most Popular Song of the Year’ and ‘Record of the Year’.
2022 VGMA List Brings Contention
It seems this year’s VGMA nomination list has brought about a lot of contention. Some section of the public who were not satisfied with the list have poured out their grievances as they called on the organizers of the event to take a second look at the list.
Some artists whose works did not make the cut for the nomination list have also called out the Board for being “unfair” to them.
- VGMA Wasn’t Fair to me– Piesie Esther
- VGMA Board Explains Why They Scrapped ‘Group Of The Year’ Category
Meanwhile, others have argued that some artists on the nomination list do not deserve the nomination. Reggae dancehall artist, Ras Kuuku, in an interview lashed out at the VGMA board for repeatedly nominating Joe Mettle for the ‘Artist of the Year’ category. According to Ras Kuuku, Joe Mettle had not worked hard enough to merit that recognition.
Ras Kuuku suggested that Fameye would have been a more worthy nominee for the ‘Artist of the Year’ category than gospel singer, Joe Mettle.
“What at all did Joe Mettle do this year to earn a nomination in the Artiste of the Year category? Which of Joe Mettle’s songs can match up to Fameye’s Praise? Tell me. All the artists in the ‘Artist of the Year’ category did well last year, but Joe Mettle. All the music bloggers and fans want to know what he actually did for him to be there”.
Ras Kuuku
The upcoming 23rd edition of the VGMA has six artists in the ‘Artiste of the Year’ category. It includes King Promise, Joe Mettle, Sarkodie, Kuami Eugene, KiDi, Black Sherif as its nominees.
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