I didn’t see the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards live because the day coincided with the funeral of a bosom friend’s father. But I followed him on Twitter. When I got back I read our post about the winners and missed an important mistake in the post. The post had given the name Swanky JKA as the winner. I think I understand the mistake. The author likely expected Swanky to win the best actor award in a drama or television series and tagged his name (WINNER), but forgot to change it when the name Egbuson was read out.
It wasn’t until I watched the show again on Monday that I discovered the mistake – Swanky actually won the Trailblazer Award and not the Best Actor Award. For a long moment I watched TV in disbelief – how can that be! Swanky’s performance was solid in “Living in Bondage: Breaking Free”. While I haven’t seen any other acts nominated in this category, I’ve seen part of Elevator Baby and Timini’s performance was average at best and mostly flat.
I was surprised that he was even nominated. I can count more than a dozen actors in the past two years who have had a better male lead. I took Timini’s nomination as a sign and didn’t expect him to win. But it’s Africa magic Viewer choice Forgive. spectator Make the choice. That brings me to the heart of this post: Multi-Choice should change the AMVCA format.
I read on Twitter that Timini Egbuson has taken the campaign too far. He is said to have fought shamelessly everywhere on the roadside, in the gym. Sharing the link on Twitter and Instagram is normal, but it is indecent to approach people at the bus stop and at a funeral. It is the choice of viewers, not a popularity contest; It’s not Big Brother Naija. If you get the public to vote for you, if you get family and friends to influence their followers to vote for you, it will no longer be a spectator. ” Choice. It is not even Spectator’ Choice because how many of the people Timini spoke to at the Oshodi bus stop saw “Elevator Baby”?
There is no serious creative award in the world that is entirely decided by the audience. Even AMVCA itself has many other categories that judges judge. Spectators are not critical experts and can easily be influenced by the herd mentality that has become the norm on social media and elsewhere. Since many of the winners of these awards have passed this testimony to their critical excellence, the decision in critical categories should not be in the hands of the audience.
My concern about the AMVCA format may have been sparked by the poor way Timini took Swanky’s award, but it’s not the only reason to suspect that viewers may not be the best voters. For example, take a look at the following nominees and winners:
Best Supporting Actress in a Film or TV Series Nominees:
Toni Tones – King of the boys
Eucharia anunobi – The god of the alien
Gloria Sarfo – The perfect picture: 10 years later (WINNER)
Tina Mba – The facility
Mary Lazarus – Size 12
Best Supporting Actor in a Film or TV Series Nominees:
Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD) – seven
Nkem Owoh – God is calling
Remilekun “Reminisce” Safaru – King of the boys
Pascal Tokodi – Disconnect (WINNER)
Ramsey Nouah – Life in bondage: liberation
Note that the non-Nigerian wins if there is a single non-Nigerian among the nominees. The belief is that while Nigerian viewers share their voices, Kenyans and Ghanaians win large numbers for their compatriots. This may only be coincidental and since the Nigerians dominate the awards, this can be overlooked. but it is a pointer.
How to improve the AMVCA format
The AMVCA should prohibit shameless voting. You should say something like that on the day of nomination your website and repeatedly on TV: “Nominees are prohibited from promoting votes. A candidate can share the link to the voting platform in their social media BIOS, but must not constantly share it online or bother people on the side of the road, in the gym, and elsewhere. Your family and friends are also not allowed to run campaigns on their behalf. The use of influencers is not permitted. Violation of any of these rules would result in the disqualification of the nominees. It’s called viewer choice and we want it to be the real choice of viewers. “
Something like that.
Or, the organizers can silently remove the “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” categories from the list of categories set by viewers. You can allow supporting actors and actresses as well as comedic categories ruined governed by spectators. The argument against this could be that this takes away more power from the viewers after whom the price is named. Well, the majority of the categories have never been decided by viewers, so the award will not fail if two more categories are struck from the parts set by the viewer. Judges are also spectators.
In the meantime, Timini Egbuson can continue to look forward to on Twitter and elsewhere, as if his appearance on “Elevator Baby” earned him the award. This has not been the case, and AMVCA with a small Twerk of its format can ensure that future Swanky JKAs are not deprived of their earned prizes.
Image source: FRCN
