Glitz and Glamour at the Zim Achievers Awards
By Vickie Nkomo
I finally got my image all set up and I had a maxi colourful dress and my lovely comfy heels and not forgetting my gorgeous date, yes my mother. She looked stunning in blue. I tell you that woman takes after me.
The night of glitz and glamour, red carpet and black tie, paparazzi and press had finally come. Like any other Zimbabwean I thought I would be fashionable late, at least 10mins. Well you wont be surprised, I was early and the rest of my country fellowmen were late, I tell you!
Right back to business and seriousness. My favourite appearance had to be the entertainers. From the guys who were curtain raisers to the last person to close the event, It was amazing and packed. Each performance was unique and stood out.
Cynthia Mare sang “Catch me when I fall”. Girl am sure he won’t let you fall with a beautiful voice like that. Another female artist was Esther M, talk about voice control. She nailed it and sounded very well, top class. How I feel like a Simon Cowell right now.
All the boys were amazing; Bkay and Kazz certainly showed us the wonders. You guys rock. Rock! Yeah would I forget the Zim rock band. All I can say is “When and where are you playing again so I can buy a ticket?
Obert Mazivisa and The Trumpet Echoes seemed well organised and new their mission. You surely entertained us and definitely the young Kirk Franklin guy owned the stage and new his crowd well. Well done guys. Save best for last. He was the act I was looking forward to all night.
Yes Tinashe with his mbira and guitar only. Okay I was a little worried and nervous but as soon as he started to sing Zambezi, yeah I got the goose bumps. Sentimental song it is and closed by singing Saved after wards.
Did I just hear some one complain about the sound and power point presentation? Basically what happened was that the sound from the microphones would go off and on. That was not “Ayoba” .
You know the sound that makes you squint your eyes and cover one side of your ear? Yeah that one. Power point and the whole nominee name saying. Good idea but I guess something went wrong there. However the stage set up and the lighting was lovely. I liked the colour mixtures and the smoke on the stage.
Should a sponsor become a nominee as well? Is that not a guarantee of an award or awards? In my opinion I was not too chuffed about the idea of sponsors scooping the awards again. It’s like saying your donating to charity £5 and after donating you get the money through some clothing perhaps.
Thank you though to the sponsors, I must say the canapés was delicious and I had a waiter following me around like paparazzi. Guess what I did have my fantasy moment come true. I had the paparazzi on me for a while and yes they did call my name. Vickie here! Vickie look here! Vickie turn this way please! Oh yes what’s my name?
I had a couple of my favourite moment such as Lance Guma almost dropping a tear during his speech after receiving the Journalist of the year award. King Alfred speech involved some one dear to his heart being “ugly”. The intimate moment between Tinashe and his mother after getting the video of the year award.
I still didn’t get the Kanye West moment on stage. I do hope next year that can happen, not to me of course. Oh Yes! Not forgetting “….and the award goes to….Zimbabwean…something like that” No names mentioned but somethings need to be done properly and with respect.
Overall I had a blast, so much fun and great treatment. Not every one was happy of course. I think the Zim achievers awards still have a lot of planning and analysing to do. This was definitely better than the 2009 ceremony.
Organisation was done well to a certain extent and am sure they worked all hard to deliver such a huge task. Perhaps there were certain ends which needed tightening. I don’t know of any one person or organisation that has managed to have a really huge number of celebrities under one roof but certainly Conrad Mwanza and his team did. To all the nominees and winners, congratulations.
