Events security magnet Dixon Okello has come out to criticise music awards in Uganda, calling them, ‘Fake Music Awards’. Giving out his opinion through his Facebook wall, Dixon used these exact words;
It’s really just about the money, sponsorship, SMS voting and tickets. It is all a sham. I challenge organisers and producers of music awards in Uganda to be open about the different processes involved in dishing out awards to artistes. Personally, I do not think they are credible enough.
I do not think they listen to enough materials too. It is really all hype driven for now. Well most Music awards organisers, will claim that the winners are a reflection of the fans choice just because some people purportedly voted for the declared winner. Most times nobody is convinced of the credibility of the outcomes of these voter-choice awards. I also do not have a lot of respect for the SMS dependent awards either.
Zizza Bafana has already criticised the criteria of choosing winners for such awards
It is just about who spends more on air time and the crew with the most money and foot soldiers will win. Does that mean they have made the best music? No. Honestly do not believe that the guy with the most airplay always has the best music. We all know that some radio DJs and radio stations promote and give a lot of mileage to some artistes and deliberately sabotage others. These awards should be out to reward the art and not the promo.
Therefore, when Zizza Bafana blasted some music award organisers and their awarding criteria (which he says were biased) some of us were not surprised. I want to see awards that are not hungry to get money from the people in the name of voting; where ‘top’ artistes do not bribe organisers to be nominated and eventually win, where tested and trusted industry professionals (trusted music critics) and players handle the nominations and make judgment as to who eventually wins what awards. I definitely want to see better planned award shows and performances. Everything has to be well orchestrated.
This is my opinion and you are entitled to yours
Dixon Okello
