Artiste manager and entertainment pundit, Nana Poku Ashis, has urged organizers of Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMAs) to entrust the public with the sole responsibility of selecting Artiste of the Year (AOTY).

To Ashis, the public is better positioned to determine the winner of the scheme’s ultimate award, as they are more in tune with the popularity and impact of songs and their artistes.

“I strongly think if they want to be very fair, they should pull out the academy, and pull out the board from voting, because it’s a populist award. Same with the Song of the Year, we all know, it is the public that actually knows which particular song was the biggest hit in the year under review.
“But then when the technicalities come to add up to it, it takes it from who was actually supposed to win. Once they say it’s a populist award, they should leave that overall artiste and most popular song of the year to the public to vote.”
Nana Poku Ashis

Nana Poku Ashis posited that some members have served for too long and are out of touch with current trends, which can cloud their judgment.

“I think they should change people on the board from time to time. Some of these people have been there for too long, and they’ve written the same notes over and over again. It’s not refreshing. It’s about time they bring in new people with new ideas.
“The young generation is different. See, some of our old people do not understand what is going on now with the younger generation and the trends of music they are doing. So if you keep the same people on the board for too long, you’ll be frustrating most of the new crop of artists and the kind of productions they bring out.”
Nana Poku Ashis

Organizers of Charterhouse Require More Sound Engineers

There have been several criticisms following the 25^th Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA), especially about the performances of billed artists at the event.

One particular musician’s performance that has captured vast attention on social media is King Promise. Most netizens have backlashed the artist heavily, underrating his vocal performance.

However, others variedly think that there was poor sound quality at the event, which affected King Promise’s act.

Amidst the debate, artist manager, Nana Poku Ashis is the latest to add his voice. He thinks King Promise should not be blamed entirely for the error, adding that there were equal challenges with sound.

He suggested a solution to solving and avoiding such occurrences in the subsequent editions.

While reviewing the various developments concerning the event, the artist manager opined that the awards require more sound engineers.

According to him, the organizers of Charterhouse require more personnel to provide support in varied ways.

“I would like to urge you to probably invite different hands to come on board next year to help us with sound because the key thing we’re playing with is sound.”
Nana Poku Ashis

He recounted a sound comparison between Samini and Tarrus Riley’s performances at Blitz on the Hills in Kwahu years ago, even though Samini performed well.

“I was actually the one manning the stage. Now right after Samini was Tarrus Riley, and Samini jammed; everybody loved it, and the sound was good until Tarrus Riley’s engineer came on. I was asking if the same speaker Samini performed in, or if they brought microphones. What did they do?
“It took them 15 to 30 minutes to tweak the sound while people were there. They came late and couldn’t do a sound check before the show began, but they requested the time to do something. When they let go of the sound, everybody was like, What is happening here?”
Nana Poku Ashis